A roundup of our latest exhibition

This past week in Berlin, Pamono debuted Origin Stories: Every Inspiration Has Its Roots, a pop-up exhibition and event spotlighting standout contemporary designs from the Netherlands and Germany.  We were thrilled to team up with the Dutch Embassy here in Berlin and our friends at aptm to celebrate some of today’s most exciting designers—both established and emerging names—including Studio Wieki Somers, Pepe Heykoop, Arnout Meijer, Anna Badur, Johannes Hemann, Utopia & Utility, and Studio Gutedort, among others—and to do our part to bring Berlin’s fabulous design community together once again. And the designs were so beautiful, we just had to share! 

Curated by Pamono editors Anna Carnick and Wava Carpenter, the pieces on display offered a window onto the influence that designers’ unique locations and environments have on the work they produce. In addition to their objects, the designers provided photographs, sketches, handwritten notes, and more, creating an added layer of storytelling to the show. The settings that inspired the pieces were as varied as the designs themselves, ranging from meditative moments spent alone in nature (as in Johannes Hemann's wood-adoring Wrap Lamps or Germans Ermičs' colored-sky-inspired glass work) to energetic, lighting-like flashes felt in the thick of major metropolises (as in Tina Roeder's fabuluosly Art Deco, skyscraper-like Garniture Set)—and everywhere in between. Throughout, however, the designs were unified by one very clear and unchanging thread: the fundamentally human inclination to absorb our individual surroundings and to share our experiences with the wider world. These designers tell their stories using form and craft, and, as was visible here, often the most personal tales are the most universally resonant.

A full list of participating designers is below. Thanks again to all who made this very special project possible and to all the wonderful design lovers who came out to celebrate inspiring design with us!

Designers representing the Netherlands included: Atelier NL / Germans Ermičs / Pepe Heykoop/ Nienke Hoogvliet / Merel Karhof / Arnout Meijer / Isaac Monté / Studio Wieki Somers / Hongjie Yang

Designers representing Germany included: Anna Badur / Johannes Hemann / Joa Herrenknecht / Anastasiya Koshcheeva / Tina Roeder / Studio Gutedort / Utopia & Utility / Philipp Weber

Special thanks to our opening night speakers, including Thomas Widdershoven, Claudia Banz, Anna Badur, Johannes Hemann, Maurizio Montalti, and Lucas Verweij, and to our sponsors, P&T-Paper and Tea and Magic Movers.

• Photos by

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    Ramtin Zanjani

    Beyond his role as Pamono’s Head of Photography, Ramtin has honed his keen eye through years of product shoots, art direction, advertising, and documentary work. He doesn’t like to talk about it, but he has some searing photographs available at SaatchiArt.com.