**** (4 stars)
“a welcome splurge of colour”
Think ‘IKEA’ and if you’re me, you think of furniture. Simple, affordable, flatpack items designed to be functional and make life easier. What I don’t really think of is IKEA as a textile manufacturer – but then I tend to think of rooms as neutral spaces against which Life happens. Other people think of them as blank canvases on which to splurge stunning designs and vibrant colour – and this is what’s very clear in the new exhibition, part of Fringe 2025. Originally created and displayed by the IKEA museum in Älmhult, Sweden, Dovecot is the first non-Swedish venue to receive this collection, which showcases the talents of many designers.
I was fascinated to learn that IKEA began in the early 1940s in a small shed in Elmtaryd, in the parish of Agunnaryd, in Sweden. The shed belonged to the family of Ingvar Kamprad, who sought to increase the family income by selling ballpoint pens and other household items. On 28 July 1943 he registered his company name, created from his initials and those of his location: I.K and E.A… When the business proved inconsistent, Ingvar shifted his attention to furniture, and the company began to grow. In the 1950s, he and designer Gillis Lundgren decided to move to selling flatpacks – and the rest is history.
The textile part of the story blossomed in the 1960s. Ingvar knew that textiles – curtains, rugs, upholstery and other fabrics – were an essential part of interior design. Swedish interiors in the early 60s were many variations on grey: Danish designer Bitten Højmark and her successor Inger Nilsson brought colour, life, and vigour to textile design, and IKEA’s designers have continued this trend to the present day. Women started to play an increasingly important part in the development of the company, working as designers and managers, and moving the company away from a male-dominated organisation. Filmed interviews with some of these women make an interesting introduction to the show.
And the exhibition itself? Strangely two-dimensional – large pieces of fabric hanging from the ‘ceiling’, sometimes grouped in curved arrangements, mostly in flats. There are gaps between them, allowing panoramic views of the astonishing range of design and colour on display. Display cases give insights into the designers’ thought-processes and ways of working – very much hands-on, analog, rather than sitting in front of a screen playing with a mouse or digital pen.
The fabrics are loosely grouped – different sorts of pattern, influences from the natural world, imaginative story-telling, free-form. Many designers are named and showcased. There are giant bananas, stylised broccoli heads, slices of oranges, mushrooms, raindrops, small horses, clowns, mouths, eyes, random doodlings, beautifully accurate drawings of leaves and flowers, brightly-coloured splurges, fantastical landscapes, restrained monochrome patterns – something to please almost everyone at some time.
Like most viewers, I found designs I really loved, and ones I couldn’t conceive of living with, and everything in between. One piece I particularly loved looked almost like a batik design of beautifully-drawn hands on which perched small finches, while a couple of exquisitely-drawn monochrome pieces also caught my eye. One of the brightest groupings in the show was the collection of designs produced in collaboration with British designer Zandra Rhodes – KARISMATISK – which gave people dazzingly eye-popping colours and designs with which to light up their living space.
My favourite part of the exhibition was near the end, where a small Aladdin’s cave-like ‘room’ had been set up and crammed with a breathtakingly gorgeous collection of fabrics. A patchwork sofa strewn with a motley collection of brightly-coloured cushions, and a wooden rocking chair with a jewel-bright patchwork cushion invited you to sit and enjoy the feast of colour. Not somewhere one might go in search of peace and quiet, but certainly somewhere to hang out when life’s dreary drabness, or the dreich winter weather, threatened to get you down.
The more interested you are in design, the more there is to discover in Dovecot’s latest exhibition. It’s certainly broadened my appreciation of the extent of IKEA’s product range and influence on the world of interior design, and brought a welcome splurge of colour into my life. I will continue to be profoundly grateful for my Billies, but won’t be rushing to buy new fabrics any time soon – the Fringe is just beginning, and there’s so much else to see…
IKEA: Magical Patterns, Dovecot Studios, Edinburgh, runs till 17 January 2026 for more information go to: https://dovecotstudios.com/exhibitions/ikea-magical-patterns
ScotsGay Arts 