SELL OUT: DESIGN Canberra Opening Party

Join us to celebrate the opening of the 2017 DESIGN Canberra festival. Enjoy experimental lighting, an auction of contemporary studio-produced design, as well as music, Summerhill Road wines, Capital Brewing Co beer and locally distilled spirits. Place your bid on limited edition or one-off pieces from leading Canberra designers.

Bid online here or join us at the party.

Tickets are available at http://designcanberrafestival.com.au/event/sell-design-auction-party/

DESIGN CANBERRA 2019: UTOPIA

4-24 NOVEMBER

DESIGN Canberra 2019 employs the concept of utopia to harness the power of imagination to shape the future of design – in Canberra and the world. Derived from the Greek ou-topos meaning ‘no place’ or a place that doesn’t exist, Thomas More’s vision of a perfect imaginary world has spawned debate and inspiration among artists, designers and thinkers ever since.

Canberra is the perfect site for an examination of utopia – and dystopia – in 2019. Canberra might be best known in design circles for the Griffin’s vision of an ideal utopian city of democracy which would embody a bold, radical and big vision for a young nation. Perhaps less well known but more significant beyond a western lens is the local Ngunnawal People’s culture of invention, which has been in motion for more than 75,000 years. Ngunnawal ‘s positive engagement with each other contextualises the utopian lifestyle in the way they lived as one with country, environment, relationships and with all living things. The very first words spoken in this region were Ngunnawal words.

Utopian ideas are also expressed in Canberra’s iconic modernist architecture of the 1950s and 60s, experimental medium density developments and infrastructure and renewal programs today. In recognition of the 100th anniversary of the iconic Bauhaus design movement which redefined what design could do for society and reflected the utopian ideas of its time, DESIGN Canberra celebrates our city’s Bauhaus connections and enduring legacy.

Inevitably, attempts at utopia can succeed and fail but a spirit of experimentation endures as we pursue the promise of a better tomorrow. Canberra has been – and will always be – a living design laboratory and DESIGN Canberra 2019 looks forward to exploring responsible, sustainable, creative, equitable, kind and inspirational opportunities for the future.