Objects May Vary is an annual exhibition platform that focuses each edition on a single object typology as a shared starting point, inviting emerging and independent designers to reinterpret familiar forms through their own material and conceptual approaches. Founded on the belief that typologies are generative frameworks rather than fixed conventions, the exhibition creates space for exploration beyond traditional design expectations.

The 2026 exhibition explores the coat rack as an open typology: defined by function, yet open to interpretation. Through a series of works, participating designers reconsider the coat rack’s form, materiality, and cultural role. Each piece responds to a simple premise: a coat rack must hang a coat, but how it does so is open to reinterpretation.

Known in Scandinavian languages as stumtjener, or “silent servant,” the coat rack mediates between body and space, marking moments of arrival and departure. Existing within transition rather than rest or work, it reflects rituals of hospitality and everyday behavior, inviting visitors to reconsider how a familiar object can be reshaped through design.