Transnational Discourses in Nordic Design

Rachel Gotlieb, PhD is an independent design historian and curator.Astrid Skjerven is Professor of Design Theory in the Department of Product Design at Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway.

• Introduction, Rachel Gotlieb (Independent Scholar) and Astrid Skjerven (Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway)Section 1: Transnational Exchanges1. Nordic Style as a Model for Soviet Estonian Design (1955-1970), Triin Jerlei (Estonian Academy of Arts, Estonia)2. Design, Disability and Human Rights for Everyone? Sweden’s Cold War Visit to ICSID’75 Moscow, Margareta Tillberg (Uppsala University, Sweden)3. Packing up the House: Standard Buildings in the Nordic Countries, Laura Berger, Philip Tidwell and Kristo Vesikansa (Aalto University, Finland)4. Scandinavian Design, Thai Teak and Material Availability as Methodology, Maggie Taft (Independent Scholar, USA)5. Mid-Century Modernist Jewellery: Influences and Parallels between the Nordic Countries and Britain, Sarah Rothwell (National Museums of Scotland, UK)Section 2: Exhibitions and Branding6. Branded as Supermodernism or Minimalism? Danish Design Identity seen from Canada and Japan, Anders V. Munch (University of Southern Denmark)7. Brief Encounter: The Nordic Industrial Design Exhibition at the Museum of Decorative Arts, Oslo, Denise Hagströmer (The National Museum, Norway)8. Finnish Design 2.0 at the XXII Triennale di Milano: Everyday Experimentation in its Historical and Policy Contexts, Guy Julier and Kaisu Savola (Aalto University, Finland)9. Out of the Woods or the Nature of Identity, the Identity of Nature and the Complexity of Contemporary Canadian Design, Michael J. Prokopow (OCAD University, Canada)10. Norway in the United Nations Security Council: How a Discarded Tapestry and a Pair of Pink Socks became the Nucleus of a Promotion Campaign, Astrid Skjerven (Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway)Section 3: Makers and Educators11. Finnishing Touches: Donald Lloyd McKinley and Ruth Gowley McKinley, Rachel Gotlieb (Independent Scholar)12. A Design Journey: Impressions from a Trip to Sweden, Finland and Denmark, Paul Epp (OCAD University, Canada)13. The Challenges of Sámi Design, Anne Gerd Eira14. From Higher Education of Duodji to Higher Education in Duodji and Sámi Design, Gunvor Gutorm (Sámi University of Applied Sciences, Norway)

This collection makes a valuable contribution understanding of the varied currents of transnational exchange that shaped Nordic design. The collection uncovers some of the diverse rhetorics employed to shape the reception of Nordic design to different purposes, particularly in the context of the Cold War.