This series, COLLECTIBLE In-Depth, unveils the backstage of contemporary creation. Tackling various topics from personal designer processes to the position of collectible design on the global design market, COLLECTIBLE In-Depth offers different views to suit all tastes. Today we speak with Augusta gallery.

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C:  How does your approach to contemporary collectible design reflect current cultural or societal trends?

Augusta gallery: We created Augusta in 2023 to shed light on the work of designers who work with a sustainable approach. They all research potential solutions for introducing more environmentally-friendly production processes into the world of design. Our objective is to highlight the diversity and vibrancy of innovation in contemporary collectible design by presenting unique pieces created by designers using repurposed or bio-based materials. The common thread of our selection is an approach to design based on the transformation of materials: natural materials, offcuts and damaged products are cut up, combined or modified to create new materials.

C: Can you talk about the designers you present at COLLECTIBLE this year, what makes their practice/pieces unique?

Ag: We’ll exhibit the work of six Belgian-based designers who are exploring the possibilities of materials and showcasing a distinctive and high-end aesthetic :

• Roxane Lahidji, creates furniture, objects and lamps in an innovative material she has developed from sea salt.

• Mathilde Wittock presents furniture covered in reclaimed tennis balls.
• La Gadoue Atelier is specialised in the creation of large hangings and curtains assembled from fabric scraps.
• The patterns of Laure Kasiers’ rugs are composed by juxtaposing recycled wool and linen ribbons that she creates in her workshop in the centre of Brussels

• Ariane van Dievoet combines traditional assembly methods with digital technologies to upgrade the offcuts she collects.

C: What is the relation you hold with the designers you work with?

C: What have you been up to recently? What are the next projects/exhibitions you wish to highlight?

Ag: Until the 30th of March, Augusta presents an exhibition that brings together the pioneering work of Frédérique Hoet (1929-2022) and the research of 26-year-old designer Mathilde Wittock.

For over thirty years, Belgian architect, designer and artist Frédérique Hoet created wall pieces, jewellery and objects from leather scraps coming from la Maison Delvaux.

Mathilde Wittock is a Belgian bio/eco-designer specializing in sustainable innovation and acoustic design. Her work includes Bounce, a line of furniture and panels made from tennis balls recovered from Belgian tennis clubs.

In addition to the transformation of existing materials, the two designers' work is characterized by an almost obsessive repetition and juxtaposition of geometric elements.

More info : www.augustagallery.be