Dr Mark Ian Jones

My current research activity examines Swedish and Australian design history, and their intersections, transnational design exchange and design diplomacy between 1945 and 1975.

My previous contributions to the field of design history is new knowledge on Swedish design history, design as national identity and the Swedish designer Vicke Lindstrand - disseminated across a monograph, book chapters, journal and catalogue articles, exhibition and public programs in both Sweden and Australia. As a leading figure in Australia in research into post-war Swedish modernism, my research emerges from an extensive design industry practice and focuses on Swedish and Scandinavian design histories developed over the past 15 years. My scholarly monograph is published in the peer-reviewed Figura Nova academic series, dating from 1951. The book is held in numerous international collections including Swedish Royal Library, Powerhouse Museum Research Library, Yale University, Getty Research Institute and Institut national d'histoire de l'art Paris.

Lindstrand is a significant, yet underrepresented figure in twentieth-century Swedish and Scandinavian design histories. My research contributions have revealed the breadth and depth of his work and have repositioned Lindstrand as an important figure in twentieth century Swedish and Scandinavian design history through demonstrating that his work has not been critically examined because of inherent bias. My PhD dissertation and subsequent monograph are the first studies to critically examine his work within the social, cultural and political contexts of his time. The outcomes of this research were disseminated across a series of conference presentations, invited lectures, publications and exhibitions. This large knowledge gap in design history was first addressed in my PhD dissertation (which one Swedish examiner described as an “impressive achievement”) through an interrogation of Lindstrand, his ‘fit’ in official narratives and his peculiar fate. I have been researching Lindstrand since 2005 when I identified an important design innovator whose reception and significance had been compromised. I sought to understand how and why. My authority on Lindstrand’s life and work gained momentum and was recognised through the award of strategic funding from the Swedish Government, Swedish Royal Household and several Swedish philanthropic foundations. My publications are the first scholarly outputs on his life and work.

Re-evaluating Swedish design in Australia 1945-75 

This project aims to investigate Swedish-Australian design-cultural exchange through a new transnational design history of Sweden’s role as an exemplar for Australian design between 1945-75. By making accessible undocumented and at-risk knowledge held in Australian and Swedish archives, this untold history probes the emergence of this relationship at a critical time in the development of modern Australian design. The project expects to generate new knowledge of international design relations in a significant historical re-assessment that locates Australia in the current global re-evaluation of the mid-century period providing increased benefit to Australian-Swedish relations and wider understandings of design and cultural exchange. 

Design diplomacy at David Jones. Nation building through the diffusion of design ideas in post-war Australia

This project aims to investigate the transmission, diffusion and promotion of international design ideas and practises through Australian department store exhibitions between 1950-75. Positioning David Jones’ department store’s sustained program of international expositions, exhibitions, fairs and promotions as a case study, the project expects to advance understandings of the historical role of department stores as agents of change. By examining the impact of these events against nation building exercises and increased migration the project expects to advance important knowledge of their contribution to the broader cultural development of Australia. Expected outcomes include highlighting their ongoing legacy and resonances to today, the vital role of retail in the present and amplifying the social value and impact of Australian design exhibitions.