Expressions of interest are now open to participate in Melbourne Design Week 2018. A platform for both local and international designers and design-led organisations, the program will take place from 15 – 25 March 2018 and includes talks, exhibitions, studio tours and a host of industry events.
The theme of Melbourne Design Week 2018 is Design Effects, exploring how design delivers change for people and the environment. As a means of further interrogating this subject, the 2018 program will introduce the Victorian Design Challenge, in partnership with VicHealth. The Challenge invites the Victorian design community to join with other sectors to generate design solutions that look to strengthen young people’s resilience and wellbeing.
Minister for Creative Industries Martin Foley said, ‘Melbourne Design Week is an opportunity to celebrate the best of local design and take inspiration from design leaders from around the world. But more than that, it’s about showing what good design can achieve – for individuals and communities, for businesses and for our society as a whole. Now in its second year, Melbourne Design Week is part of a suite of the Andrews Labor Government’s initiatives to strengthen our design industry and capability, promote the value and use of design, and put design at the heart of our creative state.’
Tony Ellwood, Director, NGV, said, ‘Melbourne Design Week 2018 will feature varied and innovative design practitioners. The NGV is proud to support the inaugural Victorian Design Challenge which will demonstrate the importance of design in addressing youth resilience and offer audiences’ the opportunity to hear finalists present their designs at a live presentation during Design Week.’
An initiative of the Victorian Government in collaboration with the NGV, Melbourne Design Week strives to connect creativity and design with business and communities around Melbourne and Victoria. Events throughout the week will be held at NGV International, NGV Australia and partner venues throughout the city.
Melbourne Design Week 2018 highlights include:
- Satellite program: A diverse program of events throughout Melbourne and the regions – from workshops to talks, exhibitions, tours and launches – individuals and organisations will present and celebrate the best of Victoria’s design community. Highlight events include:
- Exhibitions of new works by leading designers and makers including Elliat Rich, Eugenie Kawabata, Ben Landau and Lucile Sciallano
- Melbourne’s leading design showrooms responding to the theme of Design Effects through a program that explores the legacy of materials
- Jury Day of the Victorian Architecture Awards presentation where visitors can hear leading architects discuss Victoria’s most innovative buildings
- Victorian Design Challenge: In partnership with VicHealth, the NGV’s inaugural Victorian Design Challenge invites designers to form multi-disciplinary teams and respond to the question ‘how might we increase the resilience of today’s young people?’ Run as a two-stage open competition, the winning team will receive $30,000 towards prototyping their design idea. Registrations for the Victorian Design Challenge open on 16 November 2017.
- Open State: 20 Victorian businesses across retail, health, innovation, industry and manufacturing will open their doors in a special series of tours by Open House Melbourne. Revealing the ways in which design has been used to transform processes and add value to the workspace, these tours will illustrate each organisation’s strong design DNA.
- Telstra Creativity and Innovation Series: This collaborative initiative enabled by the NGV’s partnership with Telstra will present a world-leading design innovator who will speak at the NGV in a one-off event during Melbourne Design Week 2018. This designer will share the ways they have used technology to harness creativity and realise innovative ideas.
- Melbourne Art Book Fair: The fourth Melbourne Art Book Fair will bring together international and local publishers and practitioners in a weekend of free talks, book launches, performances, and stalls from 16 – 18 March 2018. Since its launch in 2015, the annual Melbourne Art Book Fair has attracted more than 50,000 visitors making it the most visited publishing event in the Asia-Pacific region.
- Experimental Jetset symposium and exhibition: Iconic Amsterdam graphic design studio Experimental Jetset will make their Melbourne debut as keynote guests at the Melbourne Art Book Fair 2018. The NGV, in conjunction with RMIT School of Design, will host Experimental Jetset for a full-day symposium exploring their practice on 15 March 2018. A major exhibition of their practice entitled Experimental Jetset – Superstructure will also be presented at RMIT Design Hub in association with the NGV and Melbourne Art Book Fair.
- NGV Triennial: The inaugural NGV Triennial presents an unprecedented and large-scale exhibition of international art, design and architecture. Opening on 15 December 2017 the NGV Triennial is free and exclusive to Melbourne. Showcasing major works by more than 100 artists and designers from 32 countries, the exhibition will take over all four levels of NGV International and includes large-scale commissions by Formafantasma, Alexandra Kehayoglou, teamLab and Estudio Campana working with Australian designers Yarrenyty Arltere Artists and Elliat Rich. The NGV has also acquired works by Joris Laarman, Iris van Herpen, Brodie Neill and Nendo for the Triennial.
Expressions of interest to take part in Melbourne Design Week 2018 are now open and close on 8 December. Apply at DESIGNWEEK.MELBOURNE.
For further information on the Victorian Design Challenge 2018 and the Challenge Information Session please visit NGV.MELBOURNE/VDC2018
Further information about Melbourne Design Week 2018 is available at DESIGNWEEK.MELBOURNE.
The NGV Department of Contemporary Design and Architecture is generously supported by The Hugh D. T. Williamson Foundation.
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