Pure Gold



The design exhibition Pure Gold – Upcycled! Upgraded! is a worldwide touring exhibition initiated by the Institute for International Cultural Relations (ifa). 



At every venue of the exhibition we organise and hold design workshops in cooperation with the local Goethe Institutes, supported by the ifa and in collaboration with the seven curators from Europe, Latin America, North Africa and the Middle East, East Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia.

INITATORS, CONCEPT Studio Lapatsch|Unger, Axel Kufus

Commissioned by ifa (Institute for International Cultural Relations) in cooperation with;
2022 | Goethe-Institut São Paulo and Instituto Tomie Ohtake
2019 | Goethe-Institut Philippines and Vargas Museum Manila
2019 | Goethe-Institut Vietnam and Heritage Space Hanoi
2018 | Goethe-Institut Myanmar and Ministers' Building Yangon (The Secretariat)
2018 | Goethe-Institut Thailand and Thailand Creative & Design Center (TCDC)
2017 | Hamburg University of Fine Arts and MK&G Hamburg

2017 – ongoing
More about the project here.

June 2018 – Thailand, Bangkok at TCDC (Thailand Creative and Design Center) Workshop with design students of King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Lat Krabang (KMITL), Kasetsart University (KU), Silkapakorn University and the makers of the FabLab (TCDC) Bangkok May. 2022 – Brazil, São Paulo at Instituto Tomie OhtakeWorkshop May. 2022 – Brazil, São Paulo at Instituto Tomie OhtakeWorkshop May. 2022 – Brazil, São Paulo at Instituto Tomie OhtakeWorkshop

The Pure Gold project consists of two complementary parts: the physical and material exhibition with the local workshops and the virtual platform as a space for dialogue, discussion and the storage of knowledge gained by the workshops. A direct result of the workshops are Instructables, simple and non-verbal video instructions in stop-motion format that invite the spectator to imitate and gain a new perspective on waste materials. The workshops foster a community and a cross-cultural exchange of practitioners such as designers, activists, artists, artisans as well as non-profit organisations, to explore the social, economic and geopolitical aspects of discarded materials. Within the workshops the participants are guided to exchange, reinterpret and prototype regional practices and to extend their individual approaches on recycled waste steams in a creative process.

Dec. 2019 – Myanmar, Yangon at the Secretariat / Ministers' Building Workshop with local artists from Yangon Dec. 2019 – Myanmar, Yangon at the Secretariat / Ministers' Building Workshop with local artists from Yangon Diliman - College of Arts and Letters, Quezon City, Manila, Philippines Diliman - College of Arts and Letters, Quezon City, Manila, Philippines June 2018 – Thailand, Bangkok at TCDC (Thailand Creative and Design Center) Workshop with design students of King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Lat Krabang (KMITL), Kasetsart University (KU), Silkapakorn University and the makers of the FabLab (TCDC) Bangkok June 2018 – Thailand, Bangkok at TCDC (Thailand Creative and Design Center) Workshop with design students of King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Lat Krabang (KMITL), Kasetsart University (KU), Silkapakorn University and the makers of the FabLab (TCDC) Bangkok. April 2019 – Vietnam, Hanoi at Heritage Space Workshop with local artists and designers from Hanoi. Dec. 2017 – Germany, Hamburg at HFBKWorkshop with the students of the "Grundklasse Design" from HFBK in cooperation with Prof. Julia Lohmann. Dec. 2017 – Germany, Hamburg at HFBKWorkshop with the students of the "Grundklasse Design" from HFBK in cooperation with Prof. Julia Lohmann. May. 2022 – Brazil, São Paulo at Instituto Tomie OhtakeWorkshop