Rok Oblak completed his undergraduate studies of Industrial Design at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Ljubljana and later obtained his MA in Applied Arts program at Emily Carr University in Vancouver, BC, Canada.
During his studies he specialized in developing DIY cooking stoves for developing countries made of local clay using home-made biomass briquettes as a sustainable energy solution. His projects ‘Mdula’ and ‘Holey Roket - open source vernacular design’ won a gold medal award at BIO19 as well as Canadian Governor General gold medal for special academic achievement.
Rok now works in Ljubljana, Slovenia, as a freelance creative in experimental design, ceramics and wood craft, product development, visual arts, video and sound editing. He co-founded a multidisciplinary Studio Levo and collaborates with a local initiative Društvo Trajna and their creative laboratory Krater.
Recently he also established Salto Dionys, a micro craft enterprise, specializing in developing custom manufacturing methods to make limited edition tableware and other objects or prototypes in ceramics, wood and various biocomposite materials.
He occasionally runs DIT workshops and organizes pop-up shops for talented local craft designers.
During his studies he specialized in developing DIY cooking stoves for developing countries made of local clay using home-made biomass briquettes as a sustainable energy solution. His projects ‘Mdula’ and ‘Holey Roket - open source vernacular design’ won a gold medal award at BIO19 as well as Canadian Governor General gold medal for special academic achievement.
Rok now works in Ljubljana, Slovenia, as a freelance creative in experimental design, ceramics and wood craft, product development, visual arts, video and sound editing. He co-founded a multidisciplinary Studio Levo and collaborates with a local initiative Društvo Trajna and their creative laboratory Krater.
Recently he also established Salto Dionys, a micro craft enterprise, specializing in developing custom manufacturing methods to make limited edition tableware and other objects or prototypes in ceramics, wood and various biocomposite materials.
He occasionally runs DIT workshops and organizes pop-up shops for talented local craft designers.
Contact / rok.obk@gmail.com / #orodendrum
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Work & exhibitions
2021 Made in Slovenia, Centre for Creativity, Ljubljana, SLO
2021 VOYAGE, online curated selection of Slovenian design, adorno.design
2021 Pazljivo Lomljivo, Maribor, SLO
2021 Summer School Krater, Ljubljana, SLO
2021 Design Dining, MAO, Vienna AT, Maribor SLO
2020 1000 Vases, Superstudio Piu, Milan, IT
2020 Made in: crafts-design narratives, Museum of Arts and Crafts, Zagreb, CRO
2019 Made in, international workshop in ceramics, MAO + Manufaktura, Radovljica, SLO
2019 Public workshop, invasive plant species briquette making, Društvo Trajna, Teren, Ljubljana, SLO
2019 πr kvadrat, contemporary ceramics exhibition, Layer house, Kranj, SLO
2018 Permanent ceramics exhibition, Museum of Šenčur, SLO
2018 13th symposium of ceramics, V-oglje, Šenčur, SLO
2016-2018 Full-time work on Skadi, geospatial navigation system, MA, Vilnius, LT
2015 Mednarodni videofestival Narave 12, Bežigrajska galerija II, Ljubljana, SLO
2015 Isola Cinema, video installation, Izola, SLO
2014 Past Future Perfect, Volkskundemuseum Wien, Vienna, AT
2014 30 Years of ALUO (Academy for Arts and Design), Ljubljana, SLO
2014 Pop-Up Dom, Venice, IT
2013 Pop-Up Dom, Ljubljana, SLO
2013 Mednarodni videofestival Narave 10, Bežigrajska galerija II, Ljubljana, SLO
2012 PechaKucha, Ribnica, SLO
2012 Eco-Centric Philosophy in the creative process, ALUO, Ljubljana, SLO
2012 Silent Revolutions, London, Eindhoven, Moscow, Milano, Ljubljana, Maribor, SLO
2010 Altered States. Little Mountain Gallery, Vancouver, CAN
2009 Always, Almost. Charles H. Scott Gallery, Vancouver, CAN
2009 Governor gold medal award, Emily Carr University of Art + Design, Vancouver, CAN
2009 A4. 1612 Gallery, Vancouver, CAN
2008 Grant for research and development, Kampala, Uganda
2008 Grant for research and development, Eugene, OR, US
2006 BIO20, Ljubljana, SLO
2006 Creating for 3rd world countries, KLIK, Ljubljana, SLO
2005 Slovene Design Presentation, Design Simposium, Budapest, Hungary
2005 Territories, Identities, Nets – Slovene Art 1995 – 2005, Modern Gallery, Ljubljana, SLO
2004 BIO19, Gold medal award, Ljubljana, SLO
2003 ZONE, Intellectual Property Workshop Exhibition, Helsinki, FIN
2003 Silversmith Workshop Exhibition, Helsinki, FIN
2002 BIO18, Ljubljana, Slovenia
2002 ALUO Final Exhibition, Jakopičeva galerija, Ljubljana, SLO
2001 Glass Workshop, Rogaška, Mestna Galerija, Ljubljana, SLO
2000 BIO17, Ljubljana, SLO
