Melbourne Design Week 2020 Announced
In 2020 from 12-22 March, Australia’s leading annual international design event, Melbourne Design Week, presents its largest program to date, with more than 300 events over 11 days. Programmed around the theme ‘How Can Design Shape Life?’, the festival comprises 85 exhibitions, 94 talks, 15 films, 22 tours and 16 workshops celebrating the best of local, national and international design. The expanding, state-wide festival is an initiative of the Victorian Government presented by Creative Victoria and the National Gallery of Victoria.
Tony Ellwood AM, Director, NGV, said: ‘Melbourne has a well-deserved reputation for leading Australian design and innovation. The way Melbourne Design Week has grown is a testament to the way the city fosters its designers. This is a celebration of a growing industry and an opportunity for practitioners and design enthusiasts to discover and discuss the best of Australian and global design practice.’
The Melbourne Design Week 2020 theme poses the question ‘How can design shape life?’ This theme will be explored through a program of exhibitions, workshops, programs and events under five pillars:
Healthy Cities examines the effects of increasing urbanisation and how we can foster healthy cities in future
Design Cultures looks at how design can champion diverse cultural perspectives and inclusive practices
Waterfront explores Victoria’s waterways and Melbourne’s relationship with our rivers, bays and oceans
Waste continues to be a focus, specifically how design can alleviate the problem of e-waste
Design Evolution focuses on the new wave of design thinking through innovative supply chains and ground-breaking materials
Keynotes will be presented by internationally-renowned architect Francis Kéré; design polymath and host of the podcast Design Matters, Debbie Millman; Fairphone founder Bas van Abel and award winning Australian architecture studio NMBW. Comedian and design nerd Tim Ross premieres his new live show Designing a Legacy that takes audiences on an architectural adventure into some of Australia’s most significant modernist houses.
Kéré will present a keynote on 17 March that reveals how architecture has shaped his life and shares his vision for how the discipline will contribute to a positive and dynamic future for Africa. Millman will discuss how she has designed her life to fit her personal definition of success as part of a series of events with Creative Women’s Circle on 15 March. Sustainability crusader Bas van Abel will deliver a keynote on how design-led business can transform the environment and economy on 18 March.
Abel will also join ABC TV presenter Craig Reucassel on the jury of The E-Waste Challenge for the Victorian Design Challenge 2020. NMBW Directors Marika Neustupny, Lucinda McLean and Nigel Bertram will deliver the annual Robin Boyd Lecture drawing on over two decades of practice to consider how architectural processes can enrich the culture of the everyday on 18 March.
Amsterdam-based artists, filmmakers, and designers Metahaven will present a keynote lecture at the NGV on 12 March. Their work occupies the intersection of poetry and storytelling, and engages propaganda, interface and geography. Metahaven Field Report is their first solo exhibition in Australia and is Presented by RMIT Design Hub Gallery and Melbourne Design Week / Melbourne Art Book Fair.
