Riba is a project based on design and research of new possibilities in the art and design field. The main goal is to find a way how to blur lines between waste and beauty in a solid contrast way to create new kind of aesthetic and to challenge our today’s expectations of beauty. This project is mainly interested in creating wearable art pieces which can put any person in a spotlight of unique presence and look. Furthermore, the main focus is to make people aware of the materials around them and to educate and provide new ways of creatively repurposing them instead of discarding.

 

Riba fully supports sustainability, care for the environment, individuality, repurposing, education and innovation in art and design.

 

Inspiration was found in Icelandic culture, history and economy.

Iceland is one of the world's leaders in total fisheries but has in recent years also become a leading country in the advancement of marine technology, fishing equipment, navigational techniques and fish detection instruments, as well as maintaining a sophisticated seafood sector, exporting world-class produce so it seemed logical to start this company on this exact ground.

What Aleksandra noticed living in Iceland was there is one thing which seems to be missing in this bi industry of fishing and that is to educate and show the overall importance, significance and impact of the fish to the general population. Thus as an artist, Aleksandra decided to play with it and try to make something new which could put the Icelandic fish on the higher artistic and cultural ground which is well deserved.

 

Our start is simple but at the same time complex - the creation of small and bigger pieces made out of fish bones and pearls.

Since the emphasis in the fishing industry worldwide is put on the meat and the bones are mostly being discarded as waste the idea was to breathe new life back into the bones and to create the most intricate wearable sculptures while showing how something 'wasteful' can become useful. "