13th Zagreb Design Week: From Creative Process to Quality Design
Zagreb Design Week is a meeting place for experts from Croatia and the world who think about design, make decisions about it and with their creative process contribute to quality and sustainable development.
All phrases of design process are permanently the focus of Zagreb Deign Week, which will, for the first time, last for two weeks - from 8 to 20 September. This year it has a special topic, “Friction” as part of creative process marked by a moment of conflict, reconsideration, decisions and creative rupture which result in a clear idea and therefore quality design.
The festival starts with a programme taking place in 30 partner locations, and from 15 to 20 September it will be held in the newly-renovated Academy of Fine Arts, for the first time since 2022. The exhibitions will span on three floors of the building and in the park with sculptures where visitors will be able to attend an eventful festival programme.
Within the framework of Zagreb Design Week, Italian Design Day will take place. It is organised by the Italian Trade Agency in collaboration with the Embassy of Italy in Zagreb. This will be a chance to talk about Italian design from various aspects. Recognisable worldwide, it will be presented in two thematic exhibitions.
There is a glimpse in the future brought by the Universities and Schools Exhibition, gathering Croatian institutions as well as international guests: Universidad Diego Portales from Santiago de Chile, Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez from Mexico and the Tomáš Bata University in Zlín. All of them showcase different approaches to design.
In collaboration with the Łódź Design Festival and the Embassy of the Republic of Poland, this year Zagreb Design Week presents two exhibitions of contemporary Polish design. Also, three design studios will be presented separately within the Studio Space – Regular programme.
The ZGDW AWARD, an international design award, is handed out at Zagreb Design Week. This year a record 339 finalists from 16 countries are competing for it. There are six areas in which designs were registered and an international jury decides on the winners. Their names are going to be announced on 15 September, and the awarded designs will remain on display until the festival finishes.
Without any ambition to provide a single definition of design, the festival, with its eventful programme of expert discussions, exhibitions, designer fashion shows and varied entertaining events, provides a meeting point for all those who think about design, work on its improvement and address the issue of its future and sustainable development.