FUTUREOBJEKT
FUTUREOBJEKT is a collectable design salon conceived by Melbourne Art Fair as a platform for the most compelling ideas in contemporary design, architecture, and the crafted object. The program brings a sharpened curatorial lens to the design landscape, amplifying the voices, practices and material narratives shaping culture today.
Envisioned as both stage and showcase, FUTUREOBJEKT assembles leading studios, galleries and makers whose works challenge convention, celebrate material intelligence, and propose new ways of living with design. Anchored by a central Design Lounge and framed by a tightly curated Talks program, it offers collectors, architects, designers and the design-curious a space to discover, connect and engage. A Fair sector built for encounter, disruption and the thrill of the not-yet-known.
Exhibitors
In 2026, twenty galleries and studios presented tightly curated selections of work — from new collections created exclusively for Melbourne Art Fair to covetable pieces by some of the world’s most recognised design talents. Each FUTUREOBJEKT exhibitor was invited by the Fair for their distinctive practice, their commitment to Australian design and craftsmanship, and, in some cases, their longstanding relationships with renowned international designers whose work they represent in Australia.
2027 FUTUREOBJEKT Exhibitors:
Adam Cornish (Naarm/Melbourne)
Agency Projects (Naarm/Melbourne)
Andrew Carvolth (Tarntanya/Adelaide)
BIEËMELE (Bunurong Country/Red Hill)
Canberra Glassworks (Ngunnawal Country/Canberra)
Charlie White (Naarm/Melbourne)
CHRISTOPHER BOOTS (Naarm/Melbourne)
Dean Norton (Naarm/Melbourne)
Don Cameron (Gadigal Country/Sydney)
Edward Linacre Studio & BARBERA (Naarm/Melbourne)
FEARON (Yugambeh Country/Gold Coast)
Fomu Studio (Naarm/Melbourne)
Gabelich Gallery (Naarm/Melbourne)
Jordan Fleming (Naarm/Melbourne)
Lost Profile Gallery (Naarm/Melbourne)
Marlo & Martyn (Gadigal Country/Sydney)
newInstance() (Gadigal Country/Sydney)
Objects for Thought (Naarm/Melbourne)
OIGÅLL Projects (Naarm/Melbourne)
Rick Hayward (Meanjin/Brisbane)
Snelling Studio (Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland)
Thomas Maxam Studio (Naarm/Melbourne)
TOM FEREDAY (Gadigal Country/Sydney)
Twenty Twenty (Naarm/Melbourne, Gadigal Country/Sydney, Boorloo/Perth)
MAF X NGV Design Commission
The inaugural MAF X NGV Design Commission was awarded to Naarm/Melbourne-based artist and designer, Anna Varendorff.
The commissioned work was unveiled at Melbourne Art Fair 2026 before settling into its permanent home within the NGV collection.
U lights and vases, 2025
For the Commission, Varendorff presented her most ambitious composition to date, her iconic U lights and vases, expanding her hallmark of tubular forms into a striking installation of ceiling lights, suspended vases and monumental floor vessels. The suspended elements are fabricated from aluminium U-shapes, mirrored in pairs — one upright, one inverted — to create rhythmic compositions that can both hold floral and cast light. Spanning ceiling and ground, the installation is anchored by monumental floor vessels that echo the suspended forms above, grounding the work with scale and gravity.
ANNA VARENDORFF
Anna Varendorff is an artist and designer whose practice spans jewellery, sculpture, product and lighting design. Since 2013, she has worked under the moniker ACV Studio, producing design works that are at once minimal and expressive, achieving cult recognition in Melbourne and beyond. Trained as a metalsmith, Varendorff fabricates with precision in metal, yet her works retain a poetic lightness. Defined by pared-back tubular forms, graceful arcs and slender brass or steel lines, they culminate in refined objects that merge craft discipline with industrial clarity.
