Thanks to my colleague David Lamiquiz, a week ago I found out an exhibition of “La Caixa” Foundation about “Héroes Ocultos” (Hidden Heroes) that I visited in the Doña Casilda de Iturrizar park in Bilbao. The itinerant exhibition “Héroes ocultos. Inventos geniales. Objetos cotidianos” (Hidden heroes.Great inventions. Daily objects) will be open until the 15th of June of 2015. It brings us closer to objects that even though they have been produced a million times, they are still essential nowadays. But, what are we talking about? Who came up with the idea of making them? What necessity did they cover? Why are they still essential nowadays? May we say that their existence is thanks to entrepreneur people? If you want to find it out, keep reading.
According to educaixa.com, with the purpose of a daily object becoming a hidden hero, which “has to be something related to a clever idea but also easily understandable. The hidden heroes are objects that have been made a million times before but nowadays are still necessary. They have proven their worth every time and, basically, they have remained unchangeable during decades. In other words: daily classics”. I am referring to objects such as post-it, clothe pins, rubber bands, bulbs, zippers, loop tape, pens, LEGO parts or bricks, plasters, matches, tetra bricks, tea bags, umbrellas, “botijos”, cans, bottle openers, ring binders, snap clips, clips, pencils and mops. Each object is known worldwide, and they have made our lives easier since the moment of their creation, even though their creators had to try a little harder sometimes to get their object on the market, but even then, they showed that they were entrepreneur people.
Perhaps, the most interesting aspect of those objects are the functionality and durability features that have made them noticeable and nowadays are considered essential.
The exhibition that we can visit and enjoy these days in Bilbao, seeks to influence in four different aspects:
- Innovation: the exciting story of the invention of these objects
- Production: the technical conditions of their successful fabrication on a large scale
- Evolution: its historical development and amazing diversity of types and versions that have generated
- Inspiration: its aesthetic, which keeps stimulating the artist’s and designer’s work
If you are interested in knowing a little bit more about what you will find in the exhibition, I invite you to watch the following video:
Or to enter the following website and deepen in the more than 40 hidden heroes. I’m sure you will find “something” you didn’t know till now:
Because this exhibition can also be considered an inspiration for “new” entrepreneurs, those who need a little encouragement to accomplish their ideas, those which sometimes come up by chance or because someone thought that it was necessary for our workaday. The entrepreneurs who created these objects were capable of observing with the purpose of being inspired on their creations and/or in more innovative designs of these or other objects, sometimes, already existing; they had new ideas that gave solutions to daily problems; they visualized “new” necessities; they developed and adopted a critical attitude; they went for what they believed was good for humanity; they improved “something” in different areas; to put it briefly, they were brave people who knew how to take advantage of opportunities, how to come ahead of time and fight for what they believed it could improve the quality of life of many people. We thank each of them for being an inspiration to other entrepreneur people. Because due to their perseverance, willingness and illusion they wake up each day with a clear goal: to reach their dreams, those that will make ours easier to reach, no matter what kinds of dreams we have.
Enjoy your week and be brave.
Translated by María Ubierna Quintanilla and supervised by Arantza Arruti.