My name is Lisa Hardon and I work as a curator, writer and project manager.
My work centers around topics such as: anti-consumerism, connected living, locality, craft and value/meaning.
It focusses on the disciplines: design, architecture and clothing/textiles, and specifically on the daily, ordinary aspects.
My main interest lies in how objects and spaces are carriers of stories, of meaning, and the role people and design have in this. I grew up with two parents obsessed with beautiful stuff. They turned it into their life by running an antiques and art shop. Together they roamed auctions, markets and thrift shops– restored whatever needed restoring, and took me along. They thought me that even the most ordinary item can be a masterpiece and showed me how every object represents a story of materiality, history, identity or craft. It resulted in a great love for things and a determination to make my life about things too.
After finishing my bachelor Cultural Science (UvA) and one year Fashion Curation (ArtEZ) I completed my masters Design Cultures (VU). After some time at Fair Wear Foundation I started working for Dutch Design Awards in 2013. This job turned out to be a great ‘school’ in the contemporary Dutch design discourse. I learned a lot about the different design disciplines (for example: when is something a product, a research project or a spatial design, and how do you distinguish them), what is considered ‘good’ and what is considered ‘not so good’ design, and how to bring this across to a broad audience.
But after I visiting the exhibition ZAKKA in Toyko, I knew it was time to speak my own voice. I launched my own curating and writing practice in 2018 and called it Zakka Stories, referring to the Japanese term Zakka, which means: to see the beauty in everyday things. I now focus on creating work that shows how objects and spaces are carriers of meaning, with the idealistic hope that shining a different light on this will change how people value them in their lives.
I am Dutch, born in The Hague and living in Amsterdam. I work for a diverse range of clients based all over The Netherlands and sometimes abroad. I have a small work space located at De School.
You can reach me via info@zakkastories.nl or +31 (0)6 44776530
Zakka: 下 雑貨 or ‘miscellaneous things‘
is a fashion and design phenomenon that has spread from Japan. The term refers to everything and anything that improves your home, life and appearance. Zakka has also been described as “the art of seeing the savvy in the ordinary and mundane.”