DANUBE PORCELAIN SET

Danube is commonly called blue. In fact its color changes depending on degree of pollution and due geological surroundings from teal to turquoise. Thanks to Google Maps we have virtually traveled through the entire flow of the Danube River and picked up its specific colors for each region. Of these colors, we created a sampler of different shades, which we applied to the porcelain prints. Rococo pattern known in Europe as Zwiebelmuster was adapted in the 18th century the original Chinese ornament of the period of the early Ming Dynasty. In Europe the china with this pattern was manufactured in several different variations, its most known forms come from Meissen and Eichwald. The ornament is internationally known under the name Blue Onion, Blue Europe or Blue Danube. We have created a set with a traditional onion pattern in slightly modified shades, which documents the colours of the Danube as you travel from region to region, from the river’s source to the mouth. Oversized ornaments on china is followed with a color sample with a CMYK code and GPS code with an information about the color source. Danube porcelain set was designed for the exhibition called “Modrá …. je zelená. / A kék …. zöld. / Die blaue …. ist grün. / The blue … is green.” which was brought to life on the occasion of the Hungarian Presidency of Council of the European Union within the framework of the program series, called Cultural Flow. First presented in Vienna in the UngArt Gallery of Collegium Hungaricum and second time during Budapest Design Week in the Ponton Gallery, the exhibition moving on the frontier of installation, design and fine arts is the result of a common concept developed by the artists of the three countries of the Danube Strategy. Gábor Miklós Szőke from Budapest, the designers of the Vienna-based Walking Chair Studio (Fidel Peugeot and Karl Emilio Pircher), together with Daniel Pošta and Zdeněk Vacek from Prague work with the Danube as a natural phenomenon representing an unconcealed green approach. Our thanks go for a great support to the manufacturer of traditional Zwiebelmuster Český porcelán Dubí a.s. and its general manager Ing. Vladimír Feix and to the head of Czech Centre in Vienna PhDr. Taťjana Langášková. — design Daniel Pošta & Zdeněk Vacek photo Johana Pošová, archive of www.designhet.hu, archive of Český porcelán Dubí a.s. — Supported by the Hungarian Intellectual Property Office, the Hungarian Design Council, BUM BUM Gallery and the Czech Centre Vienna Organised by Collegium Hungaricum Vienna, Budapest Design Week and Ponton Gallery Cooperating partner Czech Centre