The MANUBA GDD collection is a short series of products that is expanding every year with new products made especially for the needs of the festival. The fifth and unique edition of the MANUBA project is a continuation of the idea of crafts recovery in Pomerania. As part of the latest collection, a series of limited products was created, which were inspired by the current situation in the world.

Experience of isolation has shown that we should be more concerned about our own well-being. That's why MANUBA 2020 encourages you to pay more attention to your body. This idea is the result of cooperation between Agata Nowak, Kamila Niedzwiedzka and Dominika Kulczyńska and Mateusz Peringer from Zakwas Studio, who were invited to create this year's collection.

They designed and made all products in the studios of the Pomeranian Science and Technology Park in Gdynia. The designers used their craft skills and experience in working with ceramics and fabric. The result of their cooperation is a limited collection of three products that fall under the "selfcare" trend. Each of them was made in 25 copies based on manual production, traditional techniques and natural materials.

All products will be available for purchase online at the Manuba store, which will be created especially for this year's edition of the Gdynia Design Days festival.

It is already the fourth edition of the Manuba project – a collection of objects designed and manufactured especially for the Gdynia Design Days festival. This year the production of all items took place within workshops and studios based at the festival’s premises – the Pomeranian Science and Technology Park in Gdynia.

Manuba 2019 attempted to respond to the question of how to continue working as a designer, with the awareness of ceaselessly increasing overproduction around us. The collection is composed of unique products, manufactured in a limited series of approximately 25 items each. They are only available for sale during the GDD festival.

Previous editions of Manuba focused on the subject of rediscovering the forgotten crafts and concentrated on the collaboration between the designers and local craftsmen.

The GDD festival takes place at the Pomeranian Science and Technology Park in Gdynia (PPNT), and therefore this year we decided to utilise their existing workshops and studios. The designers invited to work on the Manuba collection were all craftswomen with several years’ experience in their field. They took advantage of the ceramics studio, the 3D printing and tailoring workshops based at the PPNT. Even though each designer used a different material and different technology, they were brought together by their knowledge and skills. These allowed them to lead the projects themselves all the way from initial concept to final production.

In the fourth edition of Manuba we wanted to show that traditional craftsmanship can continue to develop and​ ​ that the modern Design Thinking methodology can be applied. This year’s design process started with an intense two day design sprint led by Manuba’s curator. The team’s work culminated in a week-long studio based residency. The final collection comprises of ceramics, textiles and jewellery that are complimented by the items from previous editions. All of which you can pick up during your visit to the summer design festival.

The third edition of MANUBA project is a continuation of the Pomeranian craftsmanship recovery.

By rule this is a very analogue initiative, appreciating the tangible and direct contact with the substance. The aspect of authenticity, reality and uniqueness is even more visible in the context of this year’s festival keyword “ERROR”.

In this year’s edition we leave the four walls and go out to physically experience the reality. We mindfully observe and touch. We check the smell, texture and structure of the REAL. Moderation becomes out favourite word. We don’t need much. We set off in the OFFLINE mode and take only a few items with us. You may wish to do the same so we might see each, exchange thoughts and experiences. See you at Gdynia Design Days 2018.

We have invited two designers and three craftsmen from Pomerania to wander and create the MANUBA – GDD Collection 2018 with us. Together we will struggle with the matter, search for errors which may be a value, look for solutions and functions needed outside the network and four walls. Let us go then.

MANUBA – GDD Collection is a series of products created especially for the Gdynia Design Days festival. Each product is the fruit of a designer's collaboration with a craftsman. Apart from the final effect the exchange of experiences between the designer who comes up with a new design idea and a master craftsman is also important.

The first series of MANUBA products was launched in 2016 in the 9th edition of Gdynia Design Days under the curatorial supervision of Paulina and Jacek Ryń.

This year's edition continues the idea of recovering the forgotten crafts, launched last year. Referring to the festival's theme, the 2017 collection is inspired by the landscape of a beach after a storm. When the strong wind rises the waves and turns the tides the sea washes its wealth ashore and in the calm which comes after the storm patterns of sandprints are revealed.

This year we have invited three designers: Stanisław Czarnocki, Natasza Grześkiewicz and Karolina Navus-Wysocka, who had seen the magic created by the storm and combined it with traditional techniques of artistic smithery, upholstery and bee wax craftsmanship. Thanks to their cooperation with craft workshops, every participant of the Gdynia Design Days Festival will be able to take a piece of the Baltic coast back home.

It is through the contemporarily interpreted crafting methods that the viewers will learn about the centuries-old history of Necel pottery, the achievements of artisans from the southern Kashubian Folk Crafts House in Swornegacie, the craftsmanship and passion with which Leszek Supiński works in his forge in Oliwa or how Bohdan Szczudło combines artistic experience with his knowledge of wood and finally how the knowledge about Pomerania’s hand spinning and weaving is passed along.

Materials such as wood, ceramics, wicker, natural fibers and hand-forged steel – their uniqueness – allows us to move into the analog world, full of history and extraordinary skills of people who create them.