It's Australia's turn! We're excited to announce that Eames: The Architect and the Painter is premiering at The Australian Centre for Moving Image (ACMI) in Federation Square this Tuesday 8th May. We are partnering with Living Edge to give away a limited edition framed set of Eames Stamps as a prize in honour of the films Australian premier. The film will screen from the 1st - 17th June 2012 and as an added bonus for filmgoers, Living Edge is running a special promotion, which will give patrons a 15% discount off their furniture. It's a film any design lover will enjoy, giving an in-depth look into the minds of two of mid century modernism's greatest heroes. And with the added benefit of purchasing your very own Eames piece at a discounted price after the film, it's an opportunity not to be missed. For session times and more details see the ACMI website. Here's the trailer to whet your appetite...

The documentary Eames: The Architect and The Painter debuted in New Zealand last week (see our previous post) and to pay homage to the film our New Zealand dealer Matisse held a fabulous party which also marked the launch of their Eames inspired pop-up shop. Fans of the film will find all sorts of Herman Miller goodies available at the store which will stay open until the 29th April. New Zealand readers can head on down to 254 Broadway, Newmarket and snaffle up a little piece of Eames history for themselves.

Great news for Eames lovers in the Asia Pacific region! The much awaited documentary portrait of Charles and Ray Eames' lives, Eames: The Architect and the Painter debuts in Auckland this Saturday 31st March as part of the New Zealand's World Cinema Showcase film festival. The film explores a range of archive material, films, photographs and artifacts to examine the forty year epoch of the Eames Office and the key relationship between Charles and Ray. Check out the fabulous timeline on our website that allows you to thoroughly explore the Eames great legacy of furniture that we at Herman Miller are so proud to be the trustees of. From here you can also view the film's trailer. Australian viewers stay tuned, we'll have news for you shortly!

For more details and session times in New Zealand click here.

Indonesian Eames' enthusiasts will be thrilled to know that the Essential Eames exhibition which opened last September at REACH in Hong Kong, will be installed in Gandaria city, Jakarta for a limited time. Our Indonesian friends will be able explore the life and works of Charles and Ray Eames first hand. Based on the book “An Eames Primer” by Eames Demetrios, the exhibition is segmented into various sections, corresponding to the chapters of the book. Visitors are first greeted by the walls of Charles and Ray’s life, where we explore the humble beginnings of Charles Eames who as a young teenager lost his father and had to support the family to his travels in Mexico with only 75 cents in his pocket to his tenure at Cranbrook as design lecturer. Ray’s wall explores her artistic endeavours, particularly in painting and textile design. Visitors then dive deep into the many facets of their work from architecture to film, toys, products and furniture.

The Jakarta exhibition will feature a unique interpretation of the Eames Case Study House #8. Marcello Sidharta, project lead of appointed design partner Sidhart Architect was inspired by the design philosophy and approach of the Eames. He embraces the high ceiling of the Gandaria space recreating the facade of the iconic Eames House Case Study #8. The space is proudly sponsored by Herman Miller authorised dealer in Indonesia - PT forum.

Visitors to the space will be able to explore a range of the latest Herman Miller products including the Eames Lounge and Ottoman in white leather and Yves Behar's SAYL chair. The exhibition will be officially opened by Eames Demetrios on the 25th April. This exhibition is open to public, admission is free.  We're really looking forward to the launch and meeting our Jakarta audience. The Essential Eames page and our facebook page will keep you up to date with what's happening.

March will be an exciting month for India as New Delhi hosts the country's very first international design event, the India Deign Forum. The nine day event will begin with Design Week, an instructive week of workshops, screenings and exhibitions around the city (March 2-8) and will culminate in a Design Forum, two intense days of design talks (March 9-10) with some big international names making the list ( a few speakers featured above). It's being described as Christian Louboutin meets Subodh Gupta meets Rem Koolhaas - all on home turf. It's great to see India taking the stage for the first time as the host of an international design event, it's sure to lead to good things. See the website for more details on speakers and events.

We are excited to learn that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government has designated 2012 as Hong Kong Design Year (HKDY). The year long program aims to nurture young talent, create value for businesses, focus on sustainable design and celebrate excellence and the city's strengths and achievements as a creative, design led city. Some of the exhibitions sound fantastic, such as the Toys Paradise Exhibition featuring around 800 toys made in Hong Kong over the decades. We've also marked the Greater China Illustration Awards Exhibition on our must see list, as well as the Hong Kong International Jewellery show but there are plenty more to choose from - check out the calender for more information. We'll aim to bring you some highlights as the year progresses, as 2012 is looking like a year ripe with potential for design afficionados in Hong Kong.

Posted by Lauren Evans

We'd like to wish all our readers a happy and healthy Chinese New Year. 2012 is the Year of the Dragon, the mightiest of the Chinese zodiac signs - dragons symbolize such character traits as dominance and ambition. There are some wonderful celebrations and festivals going on around the world to celebrate the Chinese New Year, check out what's happening in your local city to take part. Our not so ferocious dragon friend above, was created by the amazing Japanese paper artist Shin Tanaka.

If you are a regular reader of the blog you'll have read about our volunteer project, Project Japan, to assist the community of Ishinomaki through design workshops creating furniture and printed graphic templates. The volunteers are back and from all reports it was a very successful project with some very impressive material objectives achieved. The furniture team (below) designed and built 220 stools, 145 benches and 110 storage boxes. The design team (above) created many different greeting cards, posters, post cards and calenders, culminating in an art exhibition at the end of the project. Both teams taught the locals skills to aid them in their continuing recovery. But it was the experience shared between the Herman Miller teams and the locals that has made the biggest impact, as expressed so eloquently by Ben Matsuzaki, President of Herman Miller Japan;  

"During the 14 days in Ishinomaki working for the local communities, we were given by the locals more than we gave to them...
We made 450 pieces of furniture. We created 65 kinds of greeting cards, post cards, poster and calendar. We saw hundreds of smiles on the people's faces. We saw some teardrops on their faces and our faces as well. We worked with and for a number of local children, high school students, senior citizens, and business owners most of whom lost their homes, relatives, and jobs. And at the end of the trip, we all realized that we'd fallen in love with Ishinomaki and its people."

Here are some of the photos documenting the wonderful experience Project Japan enabled. We'll be featuring an interview with Kate Lochrin from the design team about her experiences in Ishinomaki in the coming week, so do check back.

(above) The design team, three of the pieces designed and made and the children's workshop

(above) A calender created with the design team and (below) the exhibition at the end of the project and a heartfelt letter to the design team from one of the teachers involved.

Herman Miller has had a presence in Japan for over 23 years and like many others were shocked by the devastation caused by the earthquake and tsunami in March. Those of you who read the blog regularly will be aware of our 'Make a Difference' campaign and the various things we've done to support the relief effort. 'Project Japan' is a new way we're able to support the Japanese community. This November a team of twelve Herman Miller volunteers from around the world will travel to the city of Ishinomaki, which was severely impacted by the earthquake and tsunami - virtually all the local businesses and homes were destroyed.  

The project consists of two groups. The first group will be producing furniture for the temporary houses in Ishinomaki, in collaboration with Japanese architects and product designers such as Keiji Ashizawa, Jun Hashimoto, and Taiji Fujimori.  This team will be working in a furniture production workshop, helping the residents build small furniture items for the temporary houses in Ishinomaki. The second group will be led by Steve Frykholm, Herman Miller’s vice president and creative director. His team will set up a design workshop with the locals to develop templates to produce items such as holiday cards, calendars, and postcards. The goal of this particular project is to help the people of Ishinomaki develop new skills, so they can continue this work and potentially generate income after we leave.

We're really excited at the potential of this very special project and will be holding a series of events to report on progress - below are the dates and we'll also keep you posted here on the blog.

Nov. 25, Fri – 18:30 – 20:30 TRUNK in Sendai
Nov. 28, Mon – 18:30 – 20:30 Roppongi Midtown, Tokyo
Nov. 29, Tue – 19:00 – 21:00 Herman Miller Store Tokyo

Thank you to everyone who joined us yesterday at REACH. We had a spectacular turn out for the event with the auditorium overflowing to hear from design greats including Don Chadwick, Steve Frykholm, Phunk Studios and Eames Demetrios. Their diverse lectures kept the crowd engaged, amused and fascinated. The crowds then toured our gorgeous Retreat zone, designed by the multi-talented Phunk Studios and were given the very rare opportunity to be taken on a guided tour of Essential Eames by Eames Demetrios: grandson of the legendary design couple. The excitement was palpable as teams from Australia, India, Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Indonesia, Japan and Thailand lined up to start the inaugural Pan Asia Pacific Aeron Hockey Championships. Every match was hard fought with the team members really battling for every point. In the end the Australian team were victorious and take home the honour and glory of being crowned the best in the region! Congratulations to India who played hard and came in as runners up and also to Indonesia for coming in third. The crowds of spectators lived every point with the teams and we have had requests for more Aeron Hockey tournaments so watch this space.

For those of you living in Hong Kong, don't forget, Essential Eames is free and open to the public from 10am - 5pm until December 2nd (closed Tuesdays). Don't miss your chance to view this fascinating and inspiring exhibition.

Below are a few of our favourite snapshots from the day, check out our facebook page for more highlights.

(above) The Essential Eames exhibition official opening by the Charles and Ray's grandson, Eames Demetrious

(above) Steve Frykholm and (below) Don Chadwick enthrall the crowd at REACH

(Below) Aeron Hockey action at the first ever Pan Asia Pacific Championships