Ómós Digest #187: A Different Kettle of Fish Altogether
Fort’s exhibition brings together radical makers and the launch of the Ómós Lounge Chair.
Dear readers,
I want to tell you about a revolutionary Irish exhibition taking place this week in the fitting home of 18 Ormond Quay Upper; a rare 17th-century merchant’s house, beautifully restored by the Dublin Civic Trust on the banks of the River Liffey. It’s called A Different Kettle of Fish Altogether and is the debut exhibition from Fort - a new platform dedicated to documenting and celebrating artists, craftspeople, companies and their work. Sitting at the meeting point of tradition and contemporary, Fort explores the relationship between craft and industry. It values all ways of engaging with this space, whether through objects, images, or words, and sees collaboration across disciplines and generations as essential to keeping craft alive and evolving.
About A Different Kettle of Fish Altogether
ADKoFA is born from a curiosity of the process of craftwork, its representation, and the potential for doing things differently. This exhibition asks what happens when we throw things at the wall and sees what sticks: connection between people, expression through material, and the recovery of meaning in a world increasingly disconnected from making.
ADKoFA brings together a remarkable group of 14 craftspeople, artists and companies who challenge conventional narratives around making. Exhibitors include:
• Laura Mays - Woodworker and Loewe Craft Prize nominee
• Róisín de Buitléar - Artist and founder of Ceird
• Relief Gallery - Creative agency and interior architecture practice
• Sam Gleeson (This Is What I Do) - Award-winning knife maker
• J Hill’s Standard - Renowned glass and material design house
• Michael ‘Muck’ Murphy - Sculptor and designer behind Non Violent Cutlery
The exhibition space itself reflects the tension and harmony between past and present, and tradition and contemporary, to create a setting where material speaks and memory is made tangible. Fort was founded by my dear friend, Danielle Morgan-Smyth (Dee). She has been working with me on Ómós almost from its inception, offering creative direction and branding. Dee sees the world in a way that others fail to. There’s a joy that transcends through everything she touches. Her kindness, her passion for people, and her unwavering eye for detail, design and craft make this an exhibition not to be missed.
“I’ve always held deep respect for craftspeople and artists, especially those rooted in Ireland. But I’ve witnessed gaps where commercial interests overshadowed quality, story, and the people behind the work. These makers were left without the platforms or recognition they deserve. I want to navigate that in an honest and sincere way. I’m captivated by the material, but even more by the lives and stories behind it. Craft is a kind of exposure, something deeply personal made physical. Fort emerged from that space where tradition and contemporary meet, between rural and urban, the sensual and the precise. As Architect Tom de Paor put it, I too am ‘after the silent power of material.’ Let’s not allow these languages to disappear.” — Dee Morgan-Smyth, Founder of Fort
At its core, ADKoFA is about the sensuality of craft: the deep, physical relationship between body, material, and form. These makers work not just with their hands, but with their whole selves. The objects they produce are extensions of their attention, their gestures, their instincts. This is craft as an act of intimacy, where the gratification of the senses is not only the maker’s experience, but the viewers too. To touch, to see, to feel: this exhibition invites the audience into a shared, sensual space where making becomes a form of connection. A connection to not only ourselves but to the land - a reclamation. What brings this even closer to home for us at Ómós is that one of the pieces in the exhibition is our very own chair, designed by Relief Gallery.
About the Ómós Lounge Chair - Exhibited at Fort, designed by Relief Gallery
The Design Process
The Ómós Lounge Chair has been designed for the Ómós restaurant and guesthouse. It is shaped by collaboration and a desire to learn, share, and understand others’ craft and inspiration. Influenced by Irish furniture traditions, it embraces a familiar, tactile charm and welcoming form. From early on, the connection between Swedish and Irish material scarcity, alongside creative resourcefulness, impacted the design direction. Irish vernacular furniture described in ‘Irish Country Furniture and Furnishings 1700-2000’ by Claudia Kinmonth also helped inform the design. Finally, it was important that the values guiding the Ómós project - homage, duty, and respect - were represented in the furniture. In terms of the design itself, the Ómós Lounge Chair is a humble interpretation of holiday nostalgia; a time when days were slower, lawns were dotted with daisies, and nature offered quiet places to pause. It is inspired by memories of childhood summers and the peaceful rhythm of countryside homes. The chair captures the feeling of carefree days and restful observation. Just as daisies serve as gentle landing spots for insects in a sunlit meadow, the Ómós Lounge Chair invites you to settle, reflect, and recharge. With a form that is both simple and enduring, it echoes the timelessness of solid wooden furniture found in cottages and vacation retreats around the globe.
The Ómós Lounge Chair was designed by Relief Gallery and made in Finland by Made by Choice. I have had the pleasure of working with Rebecca Norberg of Relief Gallery on this project, who is co-designing the new Ómós Restaurant and Guesthouse together with Asca Studio and Ryan W. Kennihan Architects. It's been a complete dream to collaborate with these companies and the people behind them for the past 3 years. I’ll always remember sitting in an M&L Chinese restaurant in Dublin after our first design meeting as a team with RWKA Architects, and realising that Rebecca and I were born on the same day and same year. By default we naturally understand each other, and as result, have each found the design process inspiring and free flowing. There’s a natural affinity that I believe is seen in the Ómós chair.
Connection with Finland
Rebecca is a Swedish architect, designer, and creative director. She has spent the last decade working with businesses to build, implement and maintain positive, long-lasting cultural change. In 2022 Rebecca relocated from Copenhagen to the island of Bornholm and started Relief Gallery - a creative agency making holistic and elevated experiences across multiple touchpoints, from hospitality strategies to interior design and brand identities. Relief’s vision is to create novel solutions that move entire industries toward sounder futures. The studio embraces partnerships and collaborations, with clients spanning global commercial companies, organisations, local artisanal brands, individual designers, and craftspeople.
This chair design is the result of a collaboration between Rebecca, Anna-Kaisa Liehu, and Made by Choice. Anna-Kaisa is an interior architect and product designer whose Copenhagen-based practice, Studio Liehu, focuses on contextual awareness and circular principles. During the early stages of the Ómós project, Anna-Kaisa was interning for Relief and helped bring the furniture piece to life. When the internship ended, Rebecca and Anna-Kaisa continued to work together on the Ómós Lounge Chair as co-designers. Anna-Kaisa’s experience from studying and working in France, and for the likes of Studio David Thulstrup, helped shape the design outcome. However, it was her Finnish roots that brought Made by Choice into the picture.
Made by Choice is a design brand from Finland focusing on collective creation and the promotion of sustainable Nordic values and traditional design. The company has a strong commitment to producing durable, bold, and innovative products combining modern woodcraft with the latest technology. As all products are manufactured in their own factory in southwestern Finland, Anna-Kaisa and Rebecca travelled to the factory and met with two of the partners: founder Lasse and CEO Antti. A mutual passion for design and collaboration ignited the partnership and resulted in the final product. After prototyping, perfecting and adapting the design and materiality of the chair, it is now launching during 3 Days of Design in Copenhagen (Scandinavia’s biggest design event) and during the 'A Different Kettle of Fish Altogether' exhibition in Dublin. Yet the story of how the chair came to be is an unexpected one. Over a year ago, Rebecca sent drawings to Made by Choice, wondering if they would be interested in building the chair. As often happens in the busyness of life, dialogue broke down and all was forgotten. But one day, Rebecca received an email with news that they liked the design and decided to build the chair out of curiosity. With that, Rebecca booked a flight and sent us exciting correspondence, informing us that the chair was perfect.
A Chair Made to Last
Built for comfort and longevity, The Ómós Lounge Chair is designed to feel at home anywhere - both indoor and outdoor. It celebrates connection, conversation, and the pure pleasure of simply enjoying the moment. It is a comfortable, durable and sturdy chair made for moments of pause, conversation and reflection. In other words, it serves as a great place to sit when reading a book, having a drink, observing or chatting. As it is made primarily for hospitality use, the size is generous and the construction is solid. This gives the chair a pleasant heaviness which speaks to the quality and craftsmanship. The chair is made from solid wood and can be oiled, painted or heat-treated depending on the visual preference and desired need for maintenance. This is another nod to the past, celebrating traditions of furniture-making and preservation. All over the world, including in Ireland and Sweden, furniture was (and still is) often painted to hide imperfections, extend the lifespan of products, and personalise belongings, whereas applying oil brings out the natural beauty and lustre of the wood. Heat-treating the wood allows it to endure exposure to the elements better, and quickly makes the colour tone transition from dark brown to silvery-grey. These techniques all have their own charms and characteristics suitable to different uses and contexts.
The Ómós Lounge Chair is now available to purchase. If you're in Dublin this week, don’t miss the chance to see A Different Kettle of Fish Altogether.
About A Different Kettle of Fish Altogether:
21–27 June 2025, 11AM-7PM | 18 Ormond Quay Upper, D07 AK15, Dublin
Ómós Lounge Chair Availability:
The chair is available exclusively through Made by Choice and its partners.
These are such exciting times, can’t wait to share more with the Ómós audience and community ❤️