Aanaa
Julie Skerning
Kolding School of Design
Aanaa explores how traditional Greenlandic craft knowledge can inspire new ways of designing and constructing furniture. Drawing on construction techniques found in kayaks and dog sleds, the project focuses on lashings as a flexible, repairable, and sustainable method of joining. The outcome is a series of three stools, each exploring a different way of integrating lashings into contemporary furniture. Together, they form a series of investigations into lashing as an alternative to screws and glue. Rather than recreating the past, Aanaa explores how knowledge from it can gain new relevance today, and showing how traditional craft can offer alternative approaches to circular design and continue to evolve through new applications. For me, the project is not about recreating the past, but about exploring how knowledge from the past can gain new relevance today. Sustainability does not necessarily have to come from new technological innovations or complex composite materials. It can also mean looking back, reconnecting with knowledge that is at risk of being lost, and rebuilding a more caring relationship with the materials and resources around us.