Dezeen Magazine

Camille Walala Supermarket pop-up shop

Camille Walala creates pop-up Supermarket food store at the Design Museum

Designer Camille Walala has turned the London Design Museum's shop into a pop-up supermarket selling artist-designed foods.

Opening to the public tomorrow, the shop at the Design Museum aims to help people "nourish their creativity" as the UK emerges out of a three-month coronavirus lockdown when supermarkets were one of the few places to remain open.

Camille Walala's Supermarket at the Design Museum
Above: the installation will be located in the Design Museum shop. Top image: it is called Supermarket

Named Supermarket, the initiative is curated by Walala with artists Charlotte Edey, Holly Warburton, Isadora Lima, Jess Warby, Joey Yu, Katherine Plumb, Katie Kimmel, Kentaro Okawara, and Michaela Yearwood-Dan designing foods for the store.

"The past year has been really challenging for artists who haven't been able to show work or collaborate as normal," Walala said.

"Supermarket is a great way to not only support the Design Museum but also shine a spotlight on the ten brilliant young artists who through this project have a new platform for their work."

Supermarket at the Design Museum
Products will include fruit and bread

Each artist has designed a different product, including tea, loo rolls, pasta sauce, porridge oats, washing up liquid, rice, tonic and gin bottles.

The installation, which has the slogan "Creativity is Essential", was created in collaboration between the museum and Bombay Sapphire, with the products' designs informed by the gin brand's classic blue-coloured bottles.

Supermarket pop-up shop
Ten artists have designed products

Supermarket is housed within in the Design Museum's high street shop designed by Walala in her signature colourful, Memphis Group-informed style.

The installation will be allowed to open, although the museum is currently closed, as non-essential shops reopened on 12 April. Cultural attractions in the UK including museums have to stay closed until 17 May at the earliest.

Pasta
Pasta is one of the essentials on sale

"Our high streets, museums and galleries have been hit hard by the pandemic; this is an opportunity to get people back to enjoying our cultural institutions safely and creatively," said Design Museum director and CEO Tim Marlow.

"This installation is an opportunity to rethink about what we buy, who profits and what we consider to be essential. We can't wait to welcome visitors back to our museum."

Charlotte Edey's bread bag
Charlotte Edey's bread bag is a dreamy blue

The limited-edition items will be sold in-store at Supermarket and online from 21 April until they sell out, with proceeds going to the museum's new Emerging Designer Access Fund, which gives free design museum tickets to emerging designers and is supported by Bombay Sapphire.

The Design Museum's next exhibition will be Sneakers Unboxed: Studio to Street, which opens on 18 May.

Trolley park
A small trolley park has been placed outside the store

The coronavirus pandemic has inspired multiple creatives to come up with designs specially tailored to issues such as social distancing. Recent examples include Studio Hay's socially-distanced Nomo Fomo benches and a "pandemic-proof" school in Peru.

Photography is by Ed Reeve.

Supermarket is on from 21 April at Design Museum. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

More images

Fever Tree tonic by Ruff Mercy
Rice box by Joey Yu
Toilet roll by Michaela Yearwood-Dan
Face mask by Kentaro Okawara
Camille Walala outside the Supermarket
Walala at Design Museum
Colourful interior of Design Museum shop
Camille Walala Design Museum shop design
Supermarket store by Camille Walala
Camille Walala Supermarket design for Design Museum
Kidney bean tins designed by artist