IKEA Konstrunda collection offers 'affordable art' for all

IKEA has launched a new collection worldwide that explores a less familiar approach to home decor. For the new Konstrunda collection, seven creators came together to produce 18 distinctive art pieces, suggesting how art can be used to style everyday living spaces at affordable prices. Karin Gustavsson, creative director for the collection that was unveiled earlier this month, said the project is “democratization” of art, emphasizing the pieces’ comparatively low prices, ranging from 29,900 won ($21.50) to 349,000 won. Setting affordability as a key condition for the collection, she gave the artists broad creative freedom in how they expressed their ideas. As the leader for Range Identity at IKEA Sweden, Gustavsson said preserving each artist’s spirit and ideas was just as important as keeping the works affordable. “When I choose people to work with, I make sure that they understand the ethos of IKEA, and even if there is freedom to design, we do work on an entirely different scale and have other factors to consider — affordability being one of the most important,” said Gus