Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaleditions.com/i/111460
artspace Jam-packed Simone Henderson-Smart discovers the art and soul of adelaide at jamfactory, the birthplace of the design duo known as Mono. It seems appropriate that an arts From top: JamFactory gallery space; Mono's Link modular knife block made from American walnut and rare earth magnets. establishment that encourages collaboration and innovation should give birth to something as singularly beautiful as Mono. Six years ago John Quan and Kumiko (Kumi) Nakajima met at Adelaide's renowned JamFactory and they have since joined as husband and wife and as design team Mono. Their studio is based in the building where they met. Established 40 years ago by the South Australian Government to promote and support outstanding design and craftsmanship, Adelaide's JamFactory is now nationally and internationally recognised as a centre for excellence. Named after its first home in an old jam factory in the suburb of St Peters, JamFactory now sits proudly in the middle of the city's West End arts precinct in a purpose-built facility that includes studios, exhibition spaces and a store. What sets JamFactory apart is its all-in-one approach – artists can create, network, inspire, teach, exhibit and sell under the one roof. It's a mecca for lovers of great handcrafted design, and Adelaide locals and tourists flock here to buy original artworks and take a behind-the-scenes peek at the artists at work. The building houses four main studios – ceramics, furniture, glass and metal – as well as smaller, subsidised studios rented by independent artists and designers such as John and Kumi. Each day these studios are abuzz with hammering and shaping, moulding and soldering, as the designers and artists set their creativity free. Paper-thin porcelain emerges, XXIII