May 31st, 2012
By Lidija Butkovi? | Edited by Jerry Kann
Belgrade, Serbia — One of the greatest quotes about design comes from David Craib, who said: “Design should never say, ‘Look at me.’ It should always say, ‘Look at this.’”
One of the most important regional creative festivals in Europe, Belgrade Design Week, starts next Monday. So, let’s look at it!
Running from June 4th to 10th, the theme of the seventh annual Belgrade Design Week (BDW) is Freedom2 (“freedom squared”). The core of the festival will be the three-day International Creative Conference. The conference will present all its programs under the roof of the renovated National Library of Serbia (NLS). By taking up residence at the NLS, Belgrade Design Week is helping to commemorate the 180th anniversary of this institution, which has so much significance for the preservation and celebration of Serbian national heritage.
The event will gather a slew of leading creative minds. Among many others, the participants include Spanish design star Hector Serrano, Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza Vieira, new Austrian and French design superstars Thomas Feichtner and Mathieu Lehanneur, and NLS interior designer Zoran Radoji?i?. Also gracing the festival will be team members from the Dutch agency 180 Amsterdam, the UK agency Fallon, Austrian architecture firm Querkraft, Slovenian studio Enota, and Croatian atelier 3LHD.
Belgrade Design Week will open with 100% Future Serbia, showcasing the work of the most renowned Serbian artists in more than 100 shop windows in Belgrade’s city center. This presentation will be followed by creative workshops and master classes, exhibitions, promotions, premieres, films and concerts.
“Design is an opportunity to continue telling the story, not just to sum everything up.” (Tate Linden.) Therefore, if you give this year’s BDW a chance, surely you will note down next year’s edition to pop up automatically on your 2013 cultural calendar!
The entire course of Belgrade Design Week will be broadcast live on what is arguably the most important design publication of the World Wide Web Portal, www.wallpaper.com For more information, log on to BDW’s official Web page: www.belgradedesignweek.com.