Folklore and Artistry
Kit Kemp Design Studio’s design director, Minnie Kemp, has teamed up with MindTheGap to create a collection of wallcoverings that are a perfect blend of MindTheGap’s Transylvanian roots and Kemp’s maximalist design aesthetic. “MindTheGap is such a colourful treasure box – I was honoured when I was asked to do this collaboration,” said the designer, speaking recently at the collection’s launch at Focus/23. “It’s been so inspiring and thought-provoking, and I learned so much.”
Kemp visited MindTheGap’s headquarters to look through its archives to come up with the collection, and was strongly influenced by what she found. As MindTheGap’s founder Stefan Ormenisan explained at the launch, Transylvania has been a meeting-point of civilisations and cultures for centuries, with Slavic and Central Asian influences and a strong storytelling, folklore culture. There is the bold ‘Ikat Carnival’ (above left) originally created with a hand-carved block; ‘Wallflower’ (below centre), inspired by the patterns that were traditionally applied straight on to walls with a roller; and ‘Chimney Cake’ (below right), named after the spiral-shaped pastry that is a Romanian sweet treat.
Kemp worked with MindTheGap’s team of in-house designers, who draw and paint everything by hand before it is turned into the finished product – and this was the first time that the brand had worked with an external creative to realise a new collection.
The final result is an explosion of colour and pattern, but there are calmer moments, too: ‘Pin Up’, a pinstripe reminiscent of sackcloth, comes in a delicate mint green on a white ground, while the new buff-coloured ‘Enchanted Woodland’ lends a quiet sense of mystery to this already beloved pattern.
