Sydney Design 2014 will showcase talented designers and creative excellence over nine days in August. Taking centre stage from 16 to 24 August at the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney Design 2014 will celebrate beautiful objects and their impact on everyday life.
Sydney Design, now in its 18th year is a cutting-edge design festival produced by the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences in conjunction with over 50 cultural institutions and creative brains across greater Sydney. Featuring exhibitions, talks, tours and workshops, the nine-day event is a must-see for all design enthusiasts and lovers of innovation.
Describing Sydney Design as a showcase of talented designers and thought leaders breaking new ground in design industries across New South Wales and around Australia, Minister for the Arts, Troy Grant comments that the festival is an important part of the NSW Government’s ongoing commitment to growing and developing the State’s creative economy.
This year’s festival theme ‘Design Futures’ will show how new technologies and platforms are changing the way one designs, produces, consumes and interacts, with the changes dissolving the traditional borders between designer, producer and consumer, and opening up endless possibilities for innovative design practice while shattering long-standing production and design methods.
Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences Director, Rose Hiscock explains that Sydney Design aims to nurture and support design excellence at a local and national level and expose audiences to new and engaging ideas around design.
A highlight of the festival is the Powerhouse Museum’s Interface: people, machines, design, an exhibition that explores the evolution of information technology design from over a century ago till today. The exhibition draws on the Museum’s collection to display products designed and manufactured by Olivetti, Braun and Apple among others and includes iconic examples of radios, typewriters, calculators, computers, digital media players, smart phones and tablet computers.
Program highlights at the Powerhouse Museum will also include FabLab (Fabrication Lab), an evolving working space showcasing contemporary and cutting edge applications of digital fabrication and design practice; Hack the Collection, which brings together the creativity of a group of designers and the unlimited design possibilities of digital fabrication; Sydney Mini Maker Faire showcasing more than 60 makers demonstrating the various ways they are harnessing new technologies for innovative design practice; and Design Futures Late Night, where performance artist Michaela Davies will demonstrate how bodies can act as a technology interface.
Feral Experimental, presented by COFA will dissect the 2014 festival theme through a diverse program of exhibitions, panel discussions and workshops, bringing together leading practitioners exploring the intersections of experimental design, design thinking and service design.
WORKSHOPPED14, a regular feature of Sydney Design, will showcase the talent of a select group of Australian designers. Featured works will be on show this year at the Supa Centa Moore Park.
The full Sydney Design 2014 program will be announced soon on sydneydesign.com.au.
