Kaamos Group to illuminate the Highlight Valaistus Gallery

Plop, an exhibition by Kaamos Group, continues the series of events held at the Highlight Valaistus Gallery. The designers Matti Syrjälä, Anna Palomaa, Katriina Nuutinen, Vesa Kattelus and Erik Bertell are no strangers to international design events. The Plop exhibition, showing now, is a fresh collection of necessary everyday domestic objects seen in a new and insightful way. The products show respect for handicrafts and understanding of industrial production.

Kaamos

Kaamos Group, a collective of designers, was formed following the Stockholm Furniture Fair in February 2007. The designers felt that the light fittings shown at the fair were about just a pretty exterior with no deeper understanding of the essence of light, and they decided to do something to improve the situation.

The group draws strength from its multidisciplinary and heterogeneous background. Group members have studied at the Lahti Institute of Design and the University of Art and Design Helsinki and possess expertise in many disciplines, including spatial, furniture and graphic design. Kaamos designers value authentic natural materials. Product designs by the group have been shown in Stockholm, Milan, Tokyo and New York.

The name Kaamos came about from the concept of polarity, seeing things in terms of opposition or reversal. Indeed, Kaamos Group offers a new approach to lighting. The core idea is to understand the purpose of light and tame it to serve many human needs. The aim is to create a healthy, safe and functional living environment using light – not to produce new design relics.

Polar night (or kaamos in Finnish) is a period that takes place every winter in the Earth’s polar regions. During the polar night, the sun does not rise above the horizon, which means little or no sunlight in the daytime. The polar night affects everyone living in the northern regions, although total darkness is only witnessed in the far North. However, in places like southern Finland, the darkness can be even more overwhelming, as there may not always be snow: contrasts disappear and what you see turns into a grey mass. This is when the importance of lighting ranks high for people’s well-being and artificial light becomes an absolute necessity for all activity.

www.kaamosgroup.fi

Objects of beauty and insight

The Plop exhibition by Kaamos Group presents beautiful light fittings, each of which has its own strong character. You readily sense in each piece how important material and light are to the designers. Designs shown at the exhibition include the aircraft-plywood Arkki, the modern storm lantern Loiste, the free-standing Kartio, the gigantic glass jewel Hely and the spinning top-inspired Riippu.

Highlight Valaistus Gallery

Opened in early September at Mannerheimintie 37 in Helsinki Finland, the Highlight Valaistus Gallery is a design gallery specialising in light fittings and lighting. The monthly changing exhibitions present the latest lighting projects from exciting designers. The gallery offers young up-and-coming designers an opportunity to showcase their designs. Projects will also be shown from more established designers. The gallery is run by the company Highlight Valaistus. The Plop exhibition by Kaamos Group is the second display of its kind. The next exhibition is scheduled to open in early November.

Highlight Valaistus

Highlight Valaistus is a company specialising in the import, retail and project sales of interior light fittings, with an office in Annankatu in Helsinki Finland. The company offers a versatile collection of light fittings for public spaces and homes.

www.highlight.fi

Highlight Valaistus Gallery
Mannerheimintie 37, 00250 Helsinki, Finland

Open: 1–30 October 2011, Saturdays and Sundays 10am–2pm
or upon request – Matti Syrjälä, mobile +358 50 3300544