A municipality in Skåne gives away thermos cups made on the other side of the planet; shoulders are warmed by plastic blankets adorned with a moose picture from the tourist office, and tea is drunk from generic mugs with a yellow and red flag motif. Gifts and souvenirs are often of dubious quality in terms of their design, materials and production.
Skåne has a host of both fantastic designers and skilled manufacturers, and SPOK saw an opportunity to develop more sustainable souvenir alternatives. SPOK therefore sent out an open call in October 2017 with the challenge to submit proposals for objects that could fit into a collection of contemporary souvenirs from Skåne. More than 100 ideas came in. A jury selected 10 projects, which each received SEK 10,000 to use to develop their idea.
The target group for the Skåne souvenir collection is primarily municipalities, institutions, administrative bodies, government authorities and agencies, museums and companies in Skåne’s 33 municipalities. A secondary target group consists of private individuals and retailers throughout Skåne and Sweden.
On 22 May the new Skåne souvenir collection will be launched at Form/Design Center and will be for sale in the shop. The items can also be ordered directly from their respective designer. On 24–26 May it will also be possible to see the exhibition at the Swedish Embassy in Copenhagen during 3daysofdesign. This project is possible thanks to funding by the County Administrative Board of Skåne.
JURY
Terese Alstin – Developer, design field, Form Design/Center
Anki Dahlin – Project manager for the museums’ spring meeting 2018 (previously director of Kulturen in Lund)
Marianne Grenander – In charge of the Region Skåne gift programme
Jenny Nordberg – Initiator of the souvenir collection plus designer and founder of SPOK
Helene Persson – In charge of the City of Malmö gift programme
ABOUT SPOK
SPOK – contemporary production and consumption – is a platform for production that aims to gather and spread knowledge about local manufacturing possibilities, ranging from handicrafts to industries. SPOK has Skåne as its starting point and aims to promote the development of local production and in the long term also a more local consumption.
