Why was Danish modern furniture so popular, and why does it remain so? How did Scandinavian immigrants to the United States in the 1920s shape American design culture in the 1950s? Did IKEA invent flat-pack, DIY furniture? Bobbye Tigerman will share thoughts about these questions and more in a conversation about her recent exhibition Scandinavian Design and the United States, co-organized with past ADAF speaker Monica Obniski. The exhibition examines the design exchanges between the United States and the Nordic countries of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden over the 20th century and includes a wide range of design media, from iconic Dansk kitchenware to a Volvo.

Bobbye Tigerman is a curator of design, craft, and architecture and has served as the Marilyn B. and Calvin B. Gross Curator, Decorative Arts and Design at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) since 2006. Her mission is to connect with museum audiences by communicating the relevance of design and craft to everyday life and to provide a platform to underrepresented designers. Her exhibitions include Scandinavian Design and the United States (2022), Beyond Bling: Jewelry from the Lois Boardman Collection (2016), California Design, 1930-1965: Living in a Modern Way (2011), and From the Spoon to the City: Design by Architects from LACMA's Collection (2009). She has earned degrees from Harvard University, the Courtauld Institute of Art, and the University of Delaware/Winterthur Program in Early American Culture. She is currently working on the inaugural installation of the David Geffen Galleries for LACMA’s permanent collection, scheduled to open in April 2026.