Isn’t the coffee better from your favorite mug, and an attractive plate makes lunch even better? In connection with our TASTE thematic month, we’ve rounded up our favorite brands that make the dining experience even more enjoyable. Tablecloths, cutting boards and ceramics from all over the world.
Sarah Espeute | France
Sarah is a Marseille-based artist who revives the tradition of embroidery in a minimalistic yet poetic way. She uses two types of embroidery, traditional hand embroidery in Marseille, and Cornely embroidery on an old 19th-century handheld machine in Paris. She loves the old materials, so she collects linen and cotton sheets from individuals all over France and makes her unique tablecloths from them. These pieces are usually between 50 and 100 years old, thus each fabric has its own family history, which Sarah continues to write.
Gunia Project | Ukraine
Gunia Project is one of our favorite brands in the East, and now they need our support more than ever. Natalja Kamenska and Marija Gavriljuk first intended to create Gunia as a hobby project, for which they carried out various ethnographic researches in Ukraine. Then they grew bigger: they are currently producing interior design and fashion products, together with rural craftsmen. Inspired by naïve art and Christian and folk traditions, their tablewares are a fresh reinterpretation of traditions, while they are full of playfulness and humor.
In August Company | Czech Republic
“Our products were born of passion and love for the objects around us. We have a certain need to surround ourselves with beautiful things. It doesn’t matter if it’s a ceramic cup, a wooden table or a cotton blanket. We simply realized that living together with well-made things with a story puts us in a good mood and makes us who we are,” say Karolína Stryková and Teodorik Menšl, the designers of In August Company lifestyle brand in Prague. Human-faced ceramic mugs and vases are the most well-known products of the brand, but there is also a huge selection of other food accessories: tablecloths, kitchen towels, cutting boards, wooden knives, coasters, all made of natural materials.
Viki Hitka | Hungary
Viktória Hitka graduated and worked as a contemporary artist for a while, but recently she has moved to other forms of creation and become famous, among other things, for her clever texts on porcelain. Three, four words, sometimes just one, which describe social phenomena and everyday situations, which are easy to identify with, with incredible sharpness and mostly humor: a small jug with Gyere öntsd ki a szíved (Come and pour out your heart) caption, or a plate with Remélem lefotóztad (I hope you took a picture of it).
Karla Sutra | France
French artist Karla Sutra’s works depicting lovemaking characters express the overheating of carefree, hot summers. They’re both bewildering and liberating. Karla is convinced that people desperately need to find their way back to sensuality. Painting outdoor tiles was the first thing that made her really popular, later she learned the tricks of ceramics and designed a tableware collection. Thanks to this new medium, she became increasingly aware of the sensual nature of our relationship with food.
Sarah Espeute | Web | Instagram
Gunia Project | Web | Facebook | Instagram
In August Company | Web | Facebook | Instagram
Viktória Hitka | Instagram