Crockery, vases and more: Peter Smalun gave shape to many everyday objects produced in the GDR. His life story and designs have now been taken up in an exhibition at Leuchtenburg Castle in Seitenroda, Thuringia. "Many of his designs are anchored in the visual memory of East Germans - even if they cannot name the designer behind their everyday objects," announced the Leuchtenburg Foundation at the start of the exhibition on Saturday. Smalun (1939 - 2023) created services and decorative shapes for Weimar Porzellan, Henneberg Porzellan and other Thuringian companies, "which appear almost timeless with their functional and simple design and still inspire porcelain connoisseurs today".
The exhibition is part of the "Unlost" project, which aims to preserve designs, craftsmanship and company histories. To this end, photographer Susanne Katzenberg from Hamburg and design scientist Claudia Zachow from Radebeul are also working on Smalun's life story. In the last years of his life, the designer gave them an insight into his archives and talked to them about his life and career. The State Chancellery of Thuringia and the Thuringian Porcelain Route Association are supporting the project.
Smalun shared the same professional fate as many other designers from the GDR, they said. "During their creative period, they were often anonymized and were lost in the so-called "designers' collective"." Only a few managed to become known in connection with their designs after reunification.
In 2018, he was still misjudged as the legitimate designer of his own designs. He failed in his attempt to transfer them back from the insolvency estate of Weimar Porzellan. It was said that his authorship could not be clearly proven.
The exhibition "Peter Smalun - a tribute. The life and work of an industrial designer" will be showing design sketches and utensils as well as private and historical photographs until August 25.
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