Calls for the Habitare 2025 Talents and Protos exhibitions are now open
The Habitare Block area features emerging designers and fresh product ideas alongside companies that manufacture products. The calls are now open for the Habitare Talents and Habitare Protos exhibitions and will continue until February 11, 2025. Habitare, the leading furniture, design, and interior decoration event in the Nordic countries, will be held at the Helsinki Expo and Convention Centre from September 10 to 14, 2025.
Habitare’s beloved area of new design, The Block, brings together emerging designers, fresh product ideas, and manufacturers. The calls are now open for the Habitare Talents and Habitare Protos exhibitions, to be featured in The Block area.
The Habitare Talents exhibition will feature four designers who are in the early stages of their careers, but who have already established a recognisable designer identity and shown proof of their skills. The exhibition has previously showcased work by designers such as Ville Aakula (2020), Hanna Anonen (2015), Antrei Hartikainen (2016) and Lotta Maija (2024).
Every year, Habitare Protos presents 10–12 ideas for future products. The exhibition, which will be held for the 15th time next autumn and has showcased some 160 product ideas, has presented prototypes from furniture to small objects, with some of the featured products becoming production items for several companies. Prototypes exhibited at Habitare have been created by designers such as Tatu Laakso (2022), Fanni Laukkanen (2019) and Laura Meriluoto (2019).
Elina Aalto and Saara Renvall from Imu Design will be responsible for curating and producing the exhibitions. In addition, the jury will include the creative lead at Habitare, Päivi Helander, and this year’s non-permanent member of the jury, the designer Antti Tuomi, who was featured in the Talentshop exhibition in 2023. The competition secretary will be the Habitare producer Ida Ågren.
“Exhibitions provide a unique platform to encourage designers to become active agents in their field. It has been valuable to closely follow the work of young designers over a long period and to celebrate the success of exhibition alumni. This year, for example, Antrei Hartikainen (Talents 2015) was awarded the Pro Arte Art Prize, and Didi Ng Wing Yin (Talents 2022 & Protos 2022) received the Emerging Designer of the Year 2024 award from Dezeen," say Elina Aalto and Saara Renvall.
Portfolios and entries must be submitted by 11 February 2025. Instructions on how to respond to the calls from the Habitare Talents and Habitare Protos exhibitions can be found here.
More information:
Pia Sievinen, communication & brand, Habitare, tel. +358 40 559 9155, pia.sievinen@messukeskus.com
Elina Aalto, designer, Imu Design, tel. +358 50 511 8888, elina@aaltoaalto.com
Habitare, the leading furniture, design and interior event in the Nordics, will next be held at the Helsinki Expo and Convention Centre from 10 to 14 September 2025. | habitare.fi | @habitarefair | #habitare2025
