The opening of the exhibition will take place on Thursday, 21. 5., at 18: 00.
The fundamental highlights that Biba Bertok has consistently followed in her design work are functionality, form, production and technological requirements (especially typification and standardization), market performance and the humanity of living. During her professional career, she designed more than forty furniture programs, mostly dedicated to series production.
She was among those architects and industrial designers who firmly advocated the view that design was an important part of any product. In the profession, she recognized two fundamental paths: on the one hand, the path of top designers who pave visions of the future, and on the other, those – often overlooked in the Slovenian space – who work within everyday life and production. As she wrote, these others are "diligent designers" who, while raising the aesthetic level, also tend to "raise quality at all levels" – living, developing and producing. And among them, undoubtedly, is the protagonist of the present exhibition.
Despite the proverbial slowness and rigidity of furniture system manufacturers – which is also confirmed by the fact that despite numerous awards and market successes in cooperation with large companies, Biba Bertok often faced resistance from conservative – oriented commercial structures-highlighted as one of the key goals of her work "the humanity of living in today's concrete cells of sleeping settlements". She achieved this goal through the use of paint and textiles, as well as a high degree of adaptability of furniture to different user needs, spatial conditions and financial capabilities.
At the same time, she thoroughly understood the technical conditions of highly industrialized production and systematically upgraded her work in accordance with them. As she wrote, she sought to "effectively exploit the available production and technological possibilities" in order to achieve "a quality level that is above average compared to related programs".
She already clearly outlined all of the above with her first wardrobe compositions created at Alples. She chose the path of systematization of furniture elements, which remained her guide throughout her career. As part of this approach, she also pioneered the development of universal furniture binding, for which she later obtained a patent. It is significant that the much more recognized industrial designer Niko Kralj followed her on this path with his version of the furniture system (Futura).
Biba Bertok's well – thought – out systemic approach to design enabled her furniture programs-among them Manta-to transcend the Slovenian and Yugoslav space and opened the way for the Slovenijales trading company to demanding foreign markets, with its own knowledge. At the same time, Manta became the main production program, which for the manufacturer meant "the end of several years of general decline, program improvisations and business failure". Among the important innovations of the late Bibe Bertok period is also the furniture program Tide (1988), which included a dining table with an originally designed expansion mechanism and with diverse uses.
With her work, the designer has decisively marked the development of system furniture in Slovenia and is one of its pioneers. The exhibition within the framework of the preview series encourages further research, additions and reinterpretations – including in the context of understanding and evaluating the role of women in the everyday objects industry and in design in general.
Curators
Dr. Barbara Predan and Spela Shubic
Odprtje razstave bo v četrtek, 21. 5., ob 18.00.
Temeljni poudarki, ki jim je v svojem načrtovalskem delu dosledno sledila Biba Bertok, so funkcionalnost, oblika, proizvodno-tehnološke zahteve (zlasti tipizacija in standardizacija), tržna uspešnost in humanost bivanja. V svoji profesionalni karieri je zasnovala več kot štirideset pohištvenih programov, večinoma namenjenih serijski proizvodnji.
Bila je med tistimi arhitekti in industrijskimi oblikovalci, ki so trdno zagovarjali stališče, da je oblikovanje pomemben del vsakega proizvoda. V stroki je prepoznavala dve temeljni poti: na eni strani pot vrhunskih oblikovalcev in oblikovalk, ki utirajo vizije prihodnosti, na drugi pa tistih – v slovenskem prostoru pogosto spregledanih – ki delujejo znotraj vsakdanjega življenja in proizvodnje. Kot je zapisala, so ti drugi »prizadevni oblikovalci«, ki ob dvigu estetske ravni težijo tudi k »dvigu kakovosti na vseh ravneh« – bivanja, razvoja in proizvodnje. In mednje nedvomno sodi tudi protagonistka pričujoče razstave.
Navzlic pregovorni počasnosti in rigidnosti proizvajalcev pohištvenih sistemov – kar potrjuje tudi dejstvo, da se je Biba Bertok kljub številnim nagradam in tržnim uspehom pri sodelovanju z velikimi podjetji pogosto soočala z odporom konservativno usmerjenih komercialnih struktur – je kot enega ključnih ciljev svojega dela izpostavljala »humanost bivanja v današnjih betonskih celicah spalnih naselij«. Ta cilj je dosegala z uporabo barve in tekstila ter z visoko stopnjo prilagodljivosti pohištva različnim uporabniškim potrebam, prostorskim danostim in finančnim zmožnostim.
Ob tem je do potankosti razumela tehnične pogoje visoko industrializirane proizvodnje in v skladu z njimi svoje delo načrtno nadgrajevala. Kot je zapisala, si je prizadevala »učinkovito izkoriščati razpoložljive proizvodno-tehnološke možnosti«, da bi dosegla »kakovostno raven, ki je nad povprečjem v primerjavi s sorodnimi programi«.
Vse našteto je jasno začrtala že s svojimi prvimi garderobnimi sestavi, ustvarjenimi v Alplesu. Izbrala je pot sistemizacije pohištvenih elementov, ki je ostala njeno vodilo skozi celotno kariero. Kot del tega pristopa je pionirsko razvijala tudi univerzalno pohištveno vez, za katero je kasneje pridobila patent. Pomenljivo je, da ji je na tej poti s svojo različico pohištvenega sistema (Futura) sledil tudi v slovenskem prostoru veliko bolj prepoznani industrijski oblikovalec Niko Kralj.
Premišljeni sistemski pristop Bibe Bertok k oblikovanju je omogočil, da so njeni pohištveni programi – med njimi zlasti Manta – presegli slovenski in jugoslovanski prostor ter trgovskemu podjetju Slovenijales odprli pot na zahtevna tuja tržišča, in to z lastnim znanjem. Hkrati je Manta postala nosilni proizvodni program, ki je za proizvajalca pomenil »konec večletnega splošnega nazadovanja, programskih improvizacij ter poslovne neuspešnosti«. Med pomembne inovacije poznega obdobja Bibe Bertok sodi tudi pohištveni program Plima (1988), ki je vključeval jedilno mizo z izvirno zasnovanim mehanizmom za razširitev in z raznolikimi načini uporabe.
S svojim delom je oblikovalka odločilno zaznamovala razvoj sistemskega pohištva v Sloveniji in sodi med njegove pionirje. Razstava v okviru serije Predogled s prvo razgrnitvijo njenega opusa spodbuja nadaljnje raziskovanje, dopolnitve in reinterpretacije – tudi v kontekstu razumevanja in vrednotenja vloge žensk v industriji vsakdanjih predmetov ter v oblikovanju nasploh.
Kustosinji
dr. Barbara Predan in Špela Šubic