Making Room for Play: Design through the eyes of childhood

INNER CHILD: Playing with Design is the title of Artipelag’s major autumn exhibition. Curated by trend forecaster and design curator Lidewij Edelkoort and curator, art historian, and trend analyst Philip Fimmano, the show brings together more than 100 designers from around the globe. Longtime collaborators, the two have worked together on a number of international exhibitions exploring design and material culture.

Structured across eight thematic sections, the presentation explores play, making, and curiosity through furniture, textiles, objects, and installations. “Through works by established designers and new creators, this exhibition offers an uplifting sense of hope,” say curators Edelkoort and Fimmano.

The exhibition design has been developed by Dutch designers Kiki van Eijk and Joost van Bleiswijk together with their two children. The family collaboration echoes the subject of the show, not only in the works on view, but in the way it has been conceived.

Among the participants are Maarten Baas, Yinka Ilori, Max Lamb, Gustaf Westman, Victoria Yakusha, Pierre Yovanovitch, and numerous other designers and makers.

“The exhibition is an international investigation into design and fantasy as a creative force in our challenging times,” says Dragana Kusoffsky Maksimović, Artipelag’s newly appointed museum director.

INNER CHILD: Playing with Design opens at Artipelag on October 10, 2026, and remains on view through April 11, 2027.