Meet the GMIT students exhibiting at Stockholm Furniture Fair next week

The students have been chosen to exhibit their work alongside the world’s leading furniture and lighting designers at the internationally-renowned fair

Five students and graduates from GMIT Letterfrack’s National Centre for Excellence in Furniture Design and Technology will be exhibiting their work at Stockholm Furniture Fair this week.

Running from February 4-8, this prestigious event sees furniture and lighting designers from around the world come to showcase their work. The students’ designs will be exhibited in the Greenhouse section where up-and-coming designers and leading design schools show their creations to future partners, producers and customers.

The first Irish college ever selected to appear at the fair, GMIT Letterfrack lecturer Jeremy Madden says “It is a considerable honour and acknowledgement that the standard of work our students produce is on a par with international standards of excellence.”

The five students selected are Kay Woodcock from Letterfrack, Co Galway; Roscoe Holt from Claremorris, Co Mayo; Maciej Dubiel from Ballymahon, Co Longford; Conor Cremins from Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin and Declan Barrett from Kilcullen, Co Kildare. All are students or graduates of the Furniture Design & Manufacture course at the Letterfrack campus.

GMIT Letterfrack Head of Department Paul Leamy says “Our presence at this fair will help raise awareness, internationally, of the quality of furniture design and making in Ireland and in particular in GMIT Letterfrack. We also see this as a significant prospect for our students to use this as a platform to showcase the value of their work, and potentially negotiate production contracts with manufacturers”.

Furniture design and making has been gaining traction in recent years in Ireland, with some exceptional makers helping to raise the profile of the craft. The designs chosen show the fascinating range of style and craftsmanship that are possible within this sphere.

From the fluid lines of Conor Cremins’ elm stool to the punchy, graphic design of Declan Barrett, each student has created a piece of furniture with its own distinct style. These are all certainly talents to watch for the future.

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