CURTAINS AS POETIC STORYTELLING
For the 3daysofdesign-exhibition Cover / Uncover, the Danish design duo Hvass&Hannibal created textile artworks based on the Stilling® Bistro Collection. We spoke with Hvass&Hannibal about elevating curtains from pure function into a poetic narrative and an artistic field.
IT ALL STARTS WITH A STORY
“When we work on a new creative project, we usually begin with a narrative, which later becomes decisive for our choice of colours and techniques,” says Hvass&Hannibal.
“For this exhibition, the narrative emerged from the Stilling® Bistro curtain rods, which are designed for half curtains and café curtains that shield the room from street level while still allowing daylight to flow in.
We found it interesting to explore what might take place behind such a curtain, and the idea of directing the gaze became an exciting theme to work with. In the finished work, what the eye is allowed to see is therefore carefully controlled. The viewer is given an insight into the interplay between the different layers of textile, but not into the space that lies behind them.”
Portræt Sofie Hannibal og Nan Na Hvass/ Foto: Birgitta Wolfgang
AP 0689 / Custom Coloured & Bistro / Brushed Steel
CURTAINS IN DEPTH
The textile works are suspended on four Bistro rods from Stilling®. This gives the café curtain a spatial depth, where textiles, motifs and colours shift in relation to one another.
“What captured our interest in the collaboration with Stilling was the opportunity to work spatially with our motifs. Here, we are working with several layers of textiles, each suspended at a slight offset,” says Hvass&Hannibal.
“Multiple layers make it possible to combine different textiles with different qualities, such as light versus heavy, or dark versus bright. It gives us more room to play with the expression.”
THE WINDOW AS A FRAME FOR ART
“We also found it interesting to work with a window decoration in which the curtain appears as a decorative element within the space. Curtains are often associated with a practical function: shielding from light or creating privacy. In this project, an aesthetic dimension was added, allowing the practical function to recede into the background.”
“As a half curtain is rarely drawn open or closed, but typically hangs in a static position, the Bistro curtain rods allowed us to free ourselves to a greater extent from practical considerations and instead view the window as a frame for aesthetic possibilities.”
THE VISUAL RHYTHM OF NATURE
As in their shared textile project Kibun, Hvass&Hannibal take inspiration from stylised motifs rooted in the cycles of nature, translated into a graphic and textile language.
“In this window decoration, we worked with two graphic elements: the circle and the semicircle, which symbolise the movement of a celestial body across the sky. The second graphic element is a line, either straight or wavy, symbolising the movement or stillness of water.”
WHEN THE MOTIF EMERGES
The simple forms are repeated across layers, colours and materials, creating a visual rhythm that slowly reveals itself:
“We invite the viewer’s gaze to move through the different layers of the work. Quite literally, an otherwise hidden reverse side is made visible through the cut-out motifs. In other places, transparent textile pieces act as veils, partly concealing what lies behind them while still allowing colours and forms to be sensed.
When the work is viewed directly from the front, it appears as a unified motif. But as the viewer moves to the side, the work opens up, and a new dimension emerges.”
DENSITY AND TRANSPARENCY
Hvass&Hannibal selected textiles from Stilling’s partner Kvadrat.
“We consciously chose to work with these textiles both because they are extraordinarily beautiful in themselves and because they are available in a wide range of shades. In this project, we worked with colour contrasts, where, for example, the delicate yellow transparent textile is set against the dark red, dense wool. This also creates a material contrast,” says Hvass&Hannibal.
“To emphasise the idea of the hidden and the private, we left all edges of the wool textile raw and unstitched, as a symbol of something raw or unfinished. The transparent, lightweight textile has a laser-cut edge, which underlines its light and fleeting nature.”
”“Curtains can move beyond pure practicality. They can shape the space, filter the light and become a deliberate, personal design gesture within the interior.”
DYNAMIC COLOURS
Colour plays a crucial role in the experience of the works. Not only as surfaces, but as something that emerges in the meeting between materials.
“When the dense wool is seen through the veil of the transparent textile, new colour tones also appear, becoming a way of creating additional nuances from the four layers. The colour becomes dynamic. It emerges through layers, light and materiality.”
RECURRING MOTIFS
The fabrics from Kvadrat are used both in the two artworks and for the wave curtains featured in the Cover / Uncover exhibition at Stilling Studio.
The curtains are mounted on specially rolled AP 0689 and AP 1170 CURTAINLIGHT™ curtain tracks. With the undulating and circular tracks, the motifs from the textile artworks extend into the rooms and become part of the overall installation. The colours from Hvass&Hannibal’s textile works are also echoed on the curtain tracks, which have been custom lacquered in the shades Soft Yellow, Terracotta Sun and Maroon.
THE CURTAIN AS ARCHITECTURE
A curtain is, in essence, functional. It filters light, creates privacy and softens acoustics. But through Hvass&Hannibal’s graphic expression and curated colour scheme, the curtain fabrics, Bistro rods and curtain tracks step out of their practical roles and come forward as active design elements:
“The curtain has an obvious potential as an atmosphere-creating element through the choice of textile texture, patterns, form and colours,” says Hvass&Hannibal.
“We hope the audience will feel inspired to play more with expression in their own choice of curtain design. To free the curtain from a purely practical function and turn it into a work of art. To combine different textiles, to see how even a half curtain can offer opportunities to express personal style, and to become a place for aesthetic choices.”
HVASS&HANNIBAL
Hvass&Hannibal was founded in Copenhagen in 2006 by Nan Na Hvass and Sofie Hannibal while they were studying at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Design. The duo works at the intersection of illustration, graphic design, textiles, spatial design and artistic installations. Hvass&Hannibal has received several awards, served on juries for a number of competitions, and given talks and workshops at conferences and educational institutions across Asia and throughout Europe.
Alongside their design studio, they have since 2018 run the textile project Kibun, where stylised motifs inspired by the cycles of nature are translated into hand-sewn textile works that can hang on a wall or freely within a space.
STILLING® BISTRO COLLECTION
In interior design, we are currently seeing a longing for calm, presence and small, intimate moments. It is precisely here that the café curtain is making a gentle comeback. It filters the light, softens the room and creates defined zones without shutting the world out completely.
The Stilling® Bistro Collection was created for this very balance. The collection consists of slim Ø12 curtain rods in selected metal finishes and a variety of aesthetic expressions, from romantic finials to more refined details. Bistro offers elegant solutions that support a tactile and calm spatial experience, where function and form work together.
THE COVER / UNCOVER EXHIBITION
The Cover / Uncover exhibition was presented at Stilling Studio in Copenhagen in connection with 3daysofdesign 2026 and was created in collaboration between Stilling, Hammel Furniture and Hvass&Hannibal.
Taking the Stilling® Bistro Collection and half curtains as its starting point, the installation explores the relationship between the visible and the hidden. Through layers of textiles, transparency and spatial depth, an artistic interpretation of curtain design emerges. Here, the curtain moves beyond the purely functional and becomes an exploration of light, layers and the deliberately concealed.
