The Auction

The Auction explores the relationship between design and value through the setting of a public auction. Inspired by the art auctions held in European cafés during the late eighteenth century, Café Neumärt becomes a place where contemporary collectible design is encountered through both display and exchange.

Craftsmanship, materiality, artistic reputation and innovation intersect with less tangible qualities such as narrative, collaboration and experimentation, questioning the mechanisms through which value is created.

Bringing together independent practitioners working across contemporary craft and collectible design, The Auction invites visitors to reflect on how objects acquire meaning and how value is negotiated.