Röhsska Museum – how does design shape society, the environment, and our lives?

The role of design over time

How does design shape society, the environment, and our everyday lives? It’s a question the Röhsska Museum has explored since it first opened its doors in 1916. As a museum dedicated to design and craft Röhsska examines, through its collections, exhibitions and public programmes, how architecture, form, fashion and design have influenced us throughout history, and what that might mean for the future.

The Design Stories exhibition

In a conversation with Vanja Hermelin, Programme Coordinator at the museum, the discussion turns to Design Stories, a thematic exhibition that draws unexpected connections across periods and styles. She reflects on themes such as creativity, innovation, consumption and belonging, while also highlighting the processes behind design: what shapes expression, who defines norms, and which narratives are carried forward.

Conversations on fashion and transition

These questions have also been central to Talent Talks at Röhsska, the public talk series organised by Textile Movement Talent. Across several sessions in 2024–2025, the series brought together diverse perspectives on belonging, circular business models and digital fashion. One discussion explored how fashion can create space for a wider range of voices and experiences. Another focused on what it takes to build a circular business in practice, and how the transition is reshaping the role of future designers. A third opened digital perspectives on how we design, use and value clothing.

Belonging and whose voices are heard

Asked whether anything in particular has stayed with her from these conversations, Vanja returns to the theme of belonging. She highlights a discussion between Abbas Mandegar, Viktorya Abraham and Charlotte Manning as especially memorable, pointing to the importance of whose voices are given space in the public realm.

The public sphere is not neutral, she notes. It is shaped by those who are allowed to be seen.

Several of the stories also challenged assumptions by showing how fashion, often dismissed as superficial, can instead serve as a tool for inclusion and representation. When more perspectives are made visible, it becomes easier for more people to feel recognised and at home.

Needs among creatives and entrepreneurs

Vanja also notes that Talent Talks has made visible a set of needs among creatives and emerging entrepreneurs in the region: the need to meet, to gain visibility, and to access networks, resources and technical expertise. The shift towards more sustainable and circular ways of working is moving quickly, but for it to take hold in practice, spaces are needed where ideas can be discussed, tested and translated into action.

For Röhsska, the collaboration with Textile Movement Talent offers a way to bring new perspectives, voices and contemporary experiences into the museum’s themes. For Textile Movement, it provides a public platform where inspiration can turn into connection, and where a community can grow through knowledge shared in the same room.

Röhsska Museum of Design and Craft is a collaborative partner in Textile Movement Talent and its talent programme. A key component of the project is to strengthen the recognition and visibility of emerging talents through a shared arena for networking, knowledge exchange and dialogue, developed in partnership with the museum.

Foto: Nana Sacko