Galerie kreo hosts a quietly political exhibition of works by Hella Jongerius

From April 25 - July 26, 2025, Galerie kreo in Paris, France, is showcasing works by Hella Jongerius, who speaks about her work with a sincerity and poetry that sets it apart from conventional notions of industrial design. As shared in the design exhibition’s text written by Anna Colin, curator and researcher (Kent, UK), Jongerius' works, more accurately described as 'practice-led design research', challenge the norms of an industry driven by speed and short-term gains. What stands out is the depth and longevity of her collaborations—with Maharam, Vitra and Nymphenburg—and most enduringly with Galerie kreo, with whom she has worked for over 25 years.

"What unites the designer to each of them is the sharing of common values. Her studio, Jongeriuslab, created in 1993, has likewise remained human in scale and cultivates long-standing collaborations with designers. Time thus holds a certain centrality not only to Jongerius’ ethos, but also and critically, to her material, colour and texture research," reads the show's press release.

Experimentation is integral to Jongerius' ethos. The Dutch designer continually develops new skills—currently delving into ceramic glazes, a medium that has resurfaced prominently in her recent work. Her self-initiated projects frequently test new materials, techniques and ideas, often leading to industrial applications or more conceptual outcomes. Past examples include her study of colour dynamics (Breathing Colour, Design Museum, London, 2017) and analogue 3D weaving (Interlace, Lafayette Anticipations, Paris, 2019).

This process of making embraces failure, unpredictability and imperfection—qualities that challenge traditional definitions of success. Jongerius calls for re-tuning materials and their messages, positioning attention, education and dialogue at the heart of her sustainable practice. For her, design is not just a profession but a mission: to shift the habits of producers and consumers and to reimagine one of the world's most environmentally impactful industries.

"Design mediates between humans and the world; that mediation ought to be virtuous rather than merely based on market demands and the illusion of novelty," the release states.

In conversation with Colin, Jongerius focuses on two new bodies of work—Bead Tables and Angry Animals—which she describes as the exhibition's 'main characters'. The Bead Tables, evolving from her 2009 Frog Table for Galerie kreo, are functional yet symbolic—conversation pieces in the most literal sense. The surfaces of the table designs are half claimed by amorphous, bead-laden forms that interrupt and participate in the setting, demanding attention.

They bring to mind a scene from Starhawk's 1993 ecotopian novel The Fifth Sacred Thing: "There is a place set for you at our table, if you will choose to join us." But here, the beaded forms are already seated—bold, tangled and present—inviting us to join their conversation, to listen as one might read the signals of nature: "It is now a matter of listening to them and reading their posture as signals, just as the gardener knows what it means when a certain plant invades a certain area, or a responsible human knows what to do when they see a turtle trapped in a discarded net," as Colin says.

The industrial designer believes objects can express what words cannot. Her handmade Angry Animals series began during the pandemic—ceramic jugs shaped like animal heads that unexpectedly 'mutated from friendly to angry looking'. A pig, a shark, a penguin, a walrus—each silent yet striking, echoing environmental unease. Made of clay, oxides, silica and glaze—all materials implicated in extractive and polluting processes—these pieces bubble, break and mutate in the kiln, becoming vessels of protest and emotion.

"Jongerius concludes our conversation by sharing that she is grateful for the wisdom of her hands. Not only are these hands wise and intuitive, but they are also making waves. Without presumption, they put themselves forward as conduits to tune into the more-than-human world. In this quietly political exhibition further composed by a bead curtain, chairs and vessels, each auratic object becomes an actor in this interspecies council of sorts," Colin mentions.

According to the gallery, "Hella Jongerius' archives have been added to the collections of the following museums: the Vitra Design Museum, the Textile Museum in Tilburg, the Netherlands, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, Die Neue Sammlung in Munich and the Centre Pompidou in Paris."