The Shakers: A World in the Making

EVENTS

The Shakers: A World in the Making
OPENING (EN)
Friday | 6 June 2025
Opening Talk 6 pm, Dome
Exhibition Opening 7 pm, Vitra Design Museum

The Vitra Design Museum's major exhibition »The Shakers: A World in the Making« presents timelessly functional objects that have had a profound influence on modern design, inspiring generations of artists, architects, and designers up to the present day. Established in the eighteenth century, the Shakers were a free church community that embraced social equality, communal property, and pacifism, viewing labour and design as crucial expressions of their faith. Throughout the show, works by contemporary artists and designers create moments of interaction and tension, inviting visitors to reflect on the Shaker legacy's enduring relevance. For the Opening Talk, Exhibition Curator Mea Hoffmann has invited designer Chris Halstrøm and artists David Hartt and Amie Cunat to discuss how the pieces they created especially for the exhibition engage with the Shaker aesthetic and way of life. The Exhibition Opening gives you the chance to be among the first to view the new exhibition. Experience unique Shaker objects alongside commissioned works by contemporary designers and artists. Enjoy the festive atmosphere of the opening night and join us for a drink on the lawn in front of the Vitra Design Museum.

Free admission, limited numbers; please book your ticket at events@design-museum.de

Reading Circle #1: A Shaker Text Discussion
CURATORS SPECIAL (EN)
Sunday | 27 July 2025
11–12.30 am, Vitra Design Museum

Established in the eighteenth century, the Shakers were a free church community that embraced social equality, communal property, and pacifism, viewing work and design as crucial expressions of their faith. The Exhibition Curators invite you to read and discuss texts from the publication accompanying the exhibition »The Shakers: A World in the Making«. This includes a number of in-depth essays addressing the Shakers' impact on design, architecture, and art as well as detail studies on selected items and texts by contemporary artists and designers.

Reading Circle #1 will be held in English.
Texts will be mailed to you upon booking.
Free admission; please book your ticket at events@design-museum.de

Theological Imagery: Faith and Design
TALK (DE)
Wednesday | 27 August 2025
6.30 pm, Vitra Schaudepot

Vitra Design Museum Director Mateo Kries and theologian and art historian Johann Hinrich Claussen discuss religious approaches to design and how these are reflected in Shaker theology and material culture. Born in Hamburg in 1964, Johann Hinrich Claussen studied Protestant Theology in Tübingen, Hamburg, and London. He holds a doctoral degree in Systematic Theology. He has written extensively on culture and theology for German newspapers, journals, and radio and has published numerous books, including works on church architecture (»Gottes Häuser«, 2010) and church art (»Gottes Bilder«, 2024). Dr Claussen has been spokesperson on cultural affairs for the Council of the Protestant Church in Germany (EKD) since 2016.

Free admission. Please book your ticket at events@design-museum.de

Formafantasma: Utopia in the Making?
TALK (EN)
Thursday | 4 September 2025
6.30–8 pm, Vitra Schaudepot

The research-based design studio Formafantasma was established in 2009 by Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin. At their studios in Milan and Rotterdam, the two Italian designers explore the ecological, historical, political, and social forces impacting contemporary design. Their practice embraces a broad spectrum of typologies ranging from spatial design to product design and strategic planning. In 2020 the Serpentine Galleries presented the studio in a solo exhibition. Vitra Curator Mea Hoffmann and Formafantasma's Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin will talk about the creative process behind their design for the exhibition »The Shakers: A World in the Making« and discuss present-day attitudes to ideal worlds and utopias.

Free admission; please book your ticket at events@design-museum.de

The Shakers: Tea and Cake
SPECIAL (DE)
Saturday | 6 September 2025
3 pm, Vitra Design Museum

Tour: 3–4 pm
Tea and Cake: from 4 pm

Get together for tea, coffee, and a choice of baked goodies to round off your Curator's Tour of the exhibition »The Shakers: A World in the Making«. Our bakers use the original Shaker recipes! Preparing food and planning meals was an important part of Shaker community life. Many traditional recipes for apple pie, nut cake, or doughnuts date back to the nineteenth century – and taste as good today as they did back then.

The tour will be held in German.
€ 39 per person including guided tour, snacks and beverages
Please book your ticket at www.design-museum.reservix.de/

Reading Circle #2: A Shaker Text Discussion
CURATORS SPECIAL (DE)
Sunday | 14 September 2025
11–12.30 am, Müller Palermo, Basel

Established in the eighteenth century, the Shakers were a free church community that embraced social equality, communal property, and pacifism, viewing work and design as crucial expressions of their faith. Exhibition Curator Mea Hoffmann and Assistant Curator Irina Selzer invite you to read and discuss texts from the publication accompanying the exhibition »The Shakers: A World in the Making«. This includes a number of in-depth essays addressing the Shakers' impact on design, architecture, and art as well as detail studies on selected items and texts by contemporary artists and designers.

Reading Circle #2 will be held in German.

Please note that the venue, the bookshop Müller Palermo, is in Basel, not on the Vitra Campus.
Texts will be mailed to you upon booking.
Free admission; please book your ticket at events@design-museum.de

»Singing is what makes work possible«
SPECIAL (EN)
Sunday | 28 September 2025
2-5pm, Vitra Design Museum

On the last day of the exhibition »The Shaker. A World in the Making« we invite you a special participatory rehearsal by Bill Dietz and Hong-Kai Wang »Singing is what makes work possible«. Together, we will discover Shaker Songs and engage with the legacy of Mother Rebecca Cox Jackson during a public walk. Since Fall 2018, Bill Dietz & Hong-Kai Wang have been engaged in an iterative investigation into the relations between song, labor, and value. Dietz & Wang have pursued the practice of Shaker Song at its most radical, "era of manifestations" height. For »The Shaker. A World in the Making« Dietz & Wang offer a public rehearsal asking if and how we might feel toward remaining material traces of Shaker song and geography. Bill Dietz is a composer and writer, born in Arizona. His work on genealogies of reception and the »political aesthetics of listening« is often presented in festivals, museums, and academic journals, but also in apartment buildings, magazines, and on public streets. Currently based in Taipei, Taiwan, Hong-Kai Wang is an interdisciplinary artist working across exhibition making, curating, performance, writing, publishing and education. 

Free admission. Please book your ticket at events@design-museum.de

WORKSHOPS

Build Your Own Chair: Autoprogettazioneand Enzo Mari
TOUR & WORKSHOP (DE)
Saturday | 28 June, 19 July, 20 September
10.30 am, Vitra Design Museum

Tour: 10.30–11.15 am
Workshop: 11.30 am–6.30 pm

In this one-day course, you will draw inspiration from our temporary exhibition, develop new skills, and build your own chair. The day starts with a guided tour of the exhibition »The Shakers: A World in the Making«. Its focus on Shaker craft and design lets you discover the ethical and aesthetic values that guided this free church community. The workshop gives you all the time, space, and support you need to put your new insights into practice. Led by a skilled craftsperson, you will implement a famous design by Enzo Mari and build your own Sedia Uno. Experience the satisfaction of simple materials coming together in a functional design object! If you are a design enthusiast or have an interest in trying your hand at something new, this workshop offers a fabulous chance to use your hands and let your creativity flow while learning about sustainable design.

€ 230 per person
Please book your ticket at www.design-museum.reservix.de/

Masterful Craftsmanship: The Shaker Whisk Broom
WORKSHOP & TOUR (DE)
Saturday | 5 July 2025
1 pm, Vitra Campus Gallery

Tour: 1–2 pm
Workshop: 2–4.30 pm

The Shakers crafted implements and artefacts to meet their needs and ideals. These innovative, functional objects have had a significant impact on modern design. Join us on our guided tour of the exhibition »The Shakers: A World in the Making« to discover a unique religious community and learn more about eighteenth-century craft and design. The workshop following the tour gives you the chance to try your hand at broom-making and adapt the historical Shaker design to your own wishes. You will learn how to craft your own whisk broom using extra-long American broom sorghum.

The workshop will be held in German.
€ 49 per person
Please book your ticket at www.design-museum.reservix.de/

Make Your Own Whisk Broom!
DROP-IN WORKSHOP (DE/EN)
Saturday | 30 August 2025
11 am–3.30 pm, Vitra Design Museum

The timeless simplicity of implements and artefacts produced by the Shakers has had a profound influence on modern design. Get inspired by our exhibition »The Shakers: A World in the Making« and try your hand at creating your own whisk broom! Choose from a range of fibres to produce a broom in your favourite colour and be impressed with your new skill.
 
Drop-in Workshop: € 5 per person; no booking required, join in at any time
Recommended for ages 8+. Children must be accompanied by an adult.

TOURS

The Shakers: A World in the Making
Guided Tour (EN)
From 7 June 2025
Sundays and on public holidays, 3:30pm, Vitra Design Museum

The exhibition tour to »The Shakers: A World in the Making« gives deep insights into the fascinating design of the religious community of the Shakers. The Shakers were a religious group for whom design and architecture were an expression of beliefs surrounding community, labour and social equality. Bringing together a wide range of Shaker furniture, architectural elements, tools and commercial goods, paired with newly commissioned works by contemporary artists and designers, »The Shakers: A World in the Making« reveals the complex social, material and spiritual context that created the »Shaker style«, and what possibilities its values offer today.

10 € per person, reduced 8 € per person
No registration required, Tickets: www.design-museum.reservix.de/

FAMILY DAYS

Family Day (DE/EN)
Saturday | 9 August 2025
From 9.30 am, Vitra Campus

The Vitra Design Museum and Vitra invite you and your family to explore the Vitra Campus on our Family Day. Our family-friendly programme offers exciting events for all ages. Discover our interactive offerings and get closer to the exhibitions at the Vitra Design Museum and the Vitra Schaudepot. Immerse yourself in the colourful world of design and develop new creative skills in our workshops. You can dive in our drop-in workshops at any time. A range of culinary options on the Vitra Campus offers attractive meal and refreshment deals to replenish your strength. More information here