Melbourne Design Week is back with an exciting new line-up of talks, demonstrations, and workshops all across the city.
The 11-day program explores this year’s theme of ‘design the world you want,’ promoting sustainability and social justice through art. We’ve put together a list of unmissable events to help you make the most of the exciting opportunities on offer.
Accoustic Ecologies
Accoustic Ecologies is an immersive walk through Birrarung. It is designed to help participants uncover the creativity found in sound walking, a process of listening closely to the landscape in order to create a deeper connection with your surrounds. On the walk, you will also be taught how to take field recordings to begin your own sound designing. The workshop is led by Andrew Skeoch, one of Australia’s leading nature sound recordists, and is bound to leave you inspired by the power of nature.
ArchitectureAU Social Impact Award Exhibition
ArchitectureAU is an award celebrating architectural projects that focus on collective development. It will showcase designs that prioritise meaning over aesthetics, exploring how architecture can encourage change. The selected projects focus on issues such as racial justice, inclusive housing, accessibility, and more. ArchitectureAU is the only prize in Australia that recognises architecture in this light. Participants will be amazed by the impact that architecture and design can have on all aspects of society, a concept at the forefront of this exhibition.
Australian Fashion: Past Present and Future
Hosted at Bendigo Art Gallery, Australian Fashion is an event for aspiring designers and fashion experts alike. It will include a panel of speakers such as Linda Jackson, Paul Yore, and more. Interviewed by Katie Somerville, NGV’s Senior Curator of Fashion and Textiles, these fashion superstars will discuss the history of fashion in Australia, mainstream and underground trends, as well as how diversity is increasing in the field. Prepare to view Aussie fashion in a whole new light.
Design your own scent
Perfume Playground will host a workshop unlike any other. Participants will work with master perfumers as they are taught how to harness the wonderful scents of Australia’s natural flora and produce unique perfumes to take home. Plus, each ticket also comes with a cocktail and canape menu specially curated to work alongside the scents of the class. Become inspired by the world of fragrance and design, and leave with a wonderful keepsake.
Pavilion 1 Biodome by Design Futures Lab © Melbourne Design Week
Design Futures Lab
Design Futures Lab is a collective of students who present thought-provoking and challenging design projects. The initiative seeks to push students beyond the bounds of the classroom, encouraging them to make real world discoveries and promote change in their community. For Melbourne Design Week, this has resulted in a collection of pavilions, each designed as sensory walkways to highlight experimental ideas for waste management. Participants will be encouraged to think deeper about the future of our planet, and how to protect it.
Planetarium Nights
This adults only event will be held at the Melbourne Planetarium after dark. Each night will include two fulldome film screenings. The first screening, “From Dream to Discovery”, is a tour of the night sky from the safety of a theatre. It explores NASA engineering and the vast universe surrounding us through breath-taking videos. The second screening, “Chaos and Order” is all about the connection between science and art. It celebrates the joining of maths and reality through the lens of space exploration. With a bar to keep the drinks flowing all night, Planetarium Nights will be an evening to remember.
‘Marebu’ by Djibigula Djayhgurrnga © Melbourne Design Week
Nahnan
Nahnan is an exibition of fibre works created by a talented group of First Nations artists from Gunbalanya in the Northern Territory. The works are inspired by traditional fibre techniques, and the landscape from which the fibres come. Nahnan means ‘to care for’, and the exhibition is all about Indigenous traditions of caring for the land, and how these traditions have passed on to First Nations people living in Australia today. It is presented by Injalak Arts, an Indigenous-owned organisation located in the community of Gunbalyna.
To discover more exciting things to see and do in Melbourne, click here.
