Jenni Carbins the Founder of Matilda shares her insights from London Design Festival 2010

Describe the story behind Matilda. How did the idea come about?

There is a noticeable absence of Australian design in the UK and Europe and I wondered why? I had imagined there was a commercial, financial or cultural reason but after some research it appeared the only barrier was that no one had concentrated on it for a sustained enough period - either in Australia or the UK.

What attracted you to the London Design Festival?

The Festival is one of the top five global design events and differs from others in that it's about creativity and ideas. It's not just a furniture fair, there are major installations, the V&A Museum is transformed and everyone commits to presenting something new. It also falls naturally into Design Districts and as Australian design is not a 'go to' brand (yet), it was important that the Matilda showcase was based at the centre of one of those in order to capitalise on footfall to the destination.

What were the new trends emerging from London?

Sustainability continues to be a growing force and Australia is well ahead in that. It's something we intend to bring out more with Matilda's 2011 Festival project. Foraging, local production and sourcing was also a current theme, along with digital technology - in particular merging of virtual and physical spaces. With the inclusion of Origin, the UK Craft Council's annual showcase, as part of the Festival, there was also significant representation from designer makers.

Are there any new materials or techniques that impressed you? Polish designer Oskar Zieta's 'blown up' steel:
http://www.londondesignfestival.com/editorials/oskar-zieta-intervi

Xploff Lamp by Marc Pascal

How are the Australian designers perceived in London?

They're not! While everyone understands Scandinavian or Japanese or Italian design, no one has a sense of what Australian design is. They either think cork hats and didgeridoos or nothing at all. So although it will take many years, it is an opportunity to build an Australian design brand internationally.

Chuckel by Brian Steendyk

One of Matilda's key objectives, which began to achieve with the showcase, is to illustrate a sophisticated, urban side of Australian design. Our intention is to surprise people, which we achieved: the Director of Programming at the V&A Museum was one of the first visitors and said, 'Wow, who would have thought'. The Festival's Deputy Director, Will Knight, said 'It's brilliant'. And we can't ask for much more than that.

Why would you suggest others to visit the London Festival?

London is truly international with many of the designers not actually having British passports. So many international designers and students choose to live here because it is a melting pot and so close to Europe. The Festival argues that London is the creative capital of the world.

This year there were 30 countries participating in the Festival and audiences came from over 50 countries. That, combined with the scale (240 events) and breadth of the Festival, ensures 9-days of must-see activity for industry, audiences and media.

Coral by Brian Steendyk

What can we learn from the event?

The Festival is one of the only global design events which crosses all design disciplines and, increasingly, multi-discipline. The Festival covers architecture, interiors, digital, furniture, graphics, lighting and fashion.

You can see a huge trade fair (100% Design) to beautiful ceramics in an emerging designer's studio. I'm sure many people took a lot from Matilda - not only were there over 2000 visitors across the 2 weeks of the showcase, but so many people took photos and there was a lot of interest from bloggers.

Hext Tables by Alex Lotersztain

Was there anything that you did not like?

With 240 events there are naturally some which appealed more than others but all had their place is the spectrum of design styles in the capital.

What are the challenges and issues raised?

Financing design projects is always challenging, and particularly coming out of a recession. However, working in partnership - and with imagination and energy - that it is possible to get projects off the ground. Matilda's Festival project was entirely privately funded.

Rudolf by Volker Haug

What are the opportunities for Matilda?

The key difference with Matilda is that it is UK based and therefore provides ongoing commercial and promotional representation for the designers. It's most often the case that after an international showcase the designers and organisers return to Australia, leaving no one on the ground to follow up and act as a continued presence.

http://www.matilda-design.com/

Images: Peter Schiazza