Sydney Design Festival highlights announced

A raft of international speakers and a new design exhibition have been announced for the Sydney Design Festival, running from 2 – 11 March 2018 at Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences and associated venues throughout Greater Sydney. Curated and produced by MAAS around the theme of Call to Action, this year’s Festival will examine the expansion of design disciplines across materials technology and sustainable production, design-led community engagement, digital communication and speculative practice.

Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences (MAAS) Director and CEO, Dolla Merrillees said “Sydney Design Festival is about bringing together the best of design practices and practitioners from around the world to celebrate, and examine future directions of the industry. From architects to interior designers, social researchers to industrial designers, this year’s festival is shaping up to be a truly cross-disciplinary program of thought-leaders addressing global issues.” said Ms Merrillees.

The Festival will open with a new design exhibition at the Powerhouse Museum. Common Good explores design trends in Australia and neighbouring regions and the positive design-lead responses to social, ethical and environmental challenges.

Tim Ross, comedian, writer, TV personality and design enthusiast, will also curate his first exhibition as part of Sydney Design Festival. Design Nation will celebrate the ingenuity of Australian design, showcasing Ross’ picks of Australia’s most iconic, everyday inventions from the Museum’s collection. From the Ford Capri to the famous Stackhat helmet of the 1980s, take a trip down memory lane when Design Nation opens at the Powerhouse Museum on 2 March. Ross will present curator talks on 9 and 10 March.

David Gianotten, managing partner architect of OMA will deliver a keynote address for the Festival at the Powerhouse Museum on 4 March. OMA is best known in Australia for its MPavilion in Melbourne. Other major OMA works include Taipei Performing Arts Centre, the masterplan of Feyenoord City and the New Museum for Western Australia. Join David Gianotten as he shares insights into OMA’s architectural philosophy and practice.

Eisuke Tachikawa, the founder of Japanese design collective NOSIGNER, will share his passion for design solutions to social issues in a talk at the Powerhouse Museum on 5 March.

Zhang Ke, award-winning architect and founder of ZAO/standardarchitecture 标准营造, will give a keynote address delving into his design process at Powerhouse Museum on 6 March. Heralding a new era in Chinese architecture, the ZAO/standardarchitecture studio has designed large-scale works in Shanghai, Beijing and Tibet.

Architect and design researcher Joshua Bolchover will deliver a talk at the Powerhouse Museum on 2 March. Following international accolades for Rural Urban Framework and with 15 projects currently running in villages across China, Bolchover will discuss the power of design in not-for-profit projects.

Designer Pamm Hong will also present her design process on 2 March, including her commission for the Common Good exhibition; the Watermelon Sugar Wellness Lab. Recently listed as one of the Top 20 Disruptors by the Global Futures Forum 2016, Hong’s design approach combines art, science and technology to produce interactive digital works.

Good Natured brings together Waverley Council’s best and brightest creatives for an afternoon of short talks on 3 March. Hosted by Superlocalstudio in Bondi and curated by Liane Rossler, hear from The Organic Tea Project, Jennifer Kwok, The Republic of Everyone, Julia Champtaloup and Valentina Zarew as they discuss how nature informs their design processes.

Join a panel of designers and social researchers to discuss The Dangers of Empathy on 6 March at Freda’s in Chippendale. The panel will explore the role of empathy in designing solutions in sectors such as financial services and government.

With fewer than 10 per cent of Wikipedia editors being women, Hack the Canon: Women in Design Wikipedia-edit-a-thon is a step towards addressing this huge gender imbalance. Be a part of the solution and get editing at St Peters Library on 10 March.

The full Sydney Design Festival program will be announced on 29 January 2018.

Sydney Design Festival

2 – 11 March 2018

sydneydesign.com.au