What to See at Melbourne Design Week 2021
From exhibitions and screenings to talks and tours, our editor-in-chief rounds up her pick of events coming up during Melbourne Design Week 2021
Image by Grimshaw
The Australian creative community’s anticipation of Melbourne Design Week 2021 is palpable, and given this year’s extensive programme of live and online events, talks, exhibitions and tours involving creative practitioners from around the country, they won’t be disappointed. Organised once again by the city’s beloved NGV (National Gallery of Victoria) and supported by Creative Victoria, Melbourne Design Week 2021 runs from March 26th to April 5th and looks set to be a resounding success. Here we present our list of top recommendations, with more info and live updates on our Instagram page. We look forward to seeing you there!
Text by Suzy Annetta
Exhibition
A World We Don’t Want
Presented by Friends & Associates, this exhibition explores the idea that sometimes, to find out what we want, we need to look to the opposite to understand what we don’t want. A World We Don’t Want presents 13 ideas by leading Australian creatives, including Flack Studio and Foolscap Studio.
Windgate. Image by Jonathon Griggs
Exhibition
Broached Recall
Broached Commissions will be showcasing 12 new limited and open edition pieces that showcase an archive of precious timber veneers from Elton Group, alongside a short film by Paul Barbera that explores the fabrication of the works.
Broached Commissions, Broached Recall Monolith, 2020. Image by Claire Summers
Exhibition
Cultivated: Creating a Circular Economy for Authentic Furniture and Lighting
Presented by Cult Design, Cultivated is a new sustainability programme for authentic furniture and lighting. This two-part event includes the Cultivated exhibition, which maps the life cycle of design pieces from ideation and raw material extraction to manufacturing and beyond, and a short film of sustainability-related interviews with design industry professionals.
Refurbishment of a Louis Poulsen Artichoke pendant by Astor Metal Finishes. Image by Fiona Susanto
Exhibition
Drift
Presented by Sydney-based designer Tom Fereday, Drift is a dramatic series of 100 unique cast quartz glass forms that explores the notion of natural passive finishing. Harnessing the unique finishing agent of tidal water for a collection of glass objects, Drift is an exploration into natural, non-powered processes promoting a conversation about how we can better work with nature
Exhibition
Form From: Alternative Materials from Fungi/Algae/Dirt
Presented by Studio Flek, OTHER MATTER and Grounded Practice, Form From focuses on the use of alternative materials, with works made from fungi, algae and dirt.
Image by Chris Miller
Film
Past Futures — Dystopias, Utopias and Back to Futurism on Screen
Including cult classics like Fritz Laing’s Metropolis, Andrew Niccol’s Gattaca and Spike Jonze’s Her, this series of films asks what futures filmmakers were imagining for our present world, and whether those sci-fi prophesies have come true. The Past Futures film series looks at the imagined dystopias and utopias that made their way into the collective consciousness — into the design of now — and considers what might be in the making to come.
Andrew Niccol’s Gattaca
Exhibition
The Nature of an Island
Presented by James Makin Gallery, in The Nature of an Island designer and curator Dale Hardiman and ceramic artist James Lemon present new works created in collaboration but without any communication between the two creators.
Film
Aalto
ACMI will screen Virpi Suutari’s documentary showcasing the life and work of one of the great pioneers of modernist architecture and furniture design, Alvar Aalto.
29 March, 2021
Image copyright Alvar Aalto Museum
Panel Discussion
Museums as Agents of Change
Moderated by frieze magazine deputy editor Amy Sherlock and featuring the NGV’s senior curator of contemporary design and architecture Ewan McEoin and others, this discussion asks, ‘In a time of crisis — social, health, climatic — how can design institutions effect real-world change? How can they best support game-changing projects and new ways of thinking?’
24 March, 2021
The online event will be hosted live, but will also be available on the MDW website after.
Installation by Refik Anadol. Image by Tom Ross
Panel Discussion
Designing Change Through Cross Cultural Collaboration
This virtual panel discussion explores collaborative design experiences and the challenges and rewards that can come with cross-cultural collaboration. Panellists are strategic communications designer Tash Miles, design researcher Manami Ray, Christine Thong of Design Factory Melbourne at Swinburne University, Sushi Suzuki of the Kyoto Institute of Technology and KYOTO Design Lab, and Falk Uebernickel of the Hasso Plattner Institute for Design Thinking and Innovation Research in Germany.
29 March, 2021
Image by Tash Miles and Manami Ray
Panel Discussion
Artists & Designers: Collaborations in Hospitality
Presented by BAR Studio and moderated by Suzy Annetta, this panel includes artists Robert Bridgewater, Maree Clarke and Geofffrey Nees. The livestreamed discussion will delve into each artist’s individual practice and commercial collaborations, and how the two can help inform the other.
30 March, 2021
Image by BAR Studio
Tour
Bendigo Pottery Guided Pottery Tour and Interpretive Museum Entry
A guided tour of Australia’s oldest working pottery and its manufacturing processes, including a look at its notable collection of wood-fired kilns.
30 March, 2021
Image by Kristoffer Paulsen
Symposium
Shared-Value Cities
Presented by architectural and master-planning practice Grimshaw, this symposium will examine and discuss a critical approach to planning and infrastructure for our future cities.
31 March, 2021
Image courtesy of Grimshaw
Panel Discussion
Maddox Talks: Future of Wellness Design
A recent addition to the health and fitness scene in Melbourne, Maddox Fit is no ordinary gym. Join Maddox founders Annie Nguyen and Davey Ramburuth, interior designers Hecker Guthrie and others for an immersive discussion about the future of design for wellness.
31 March, 2021
Image by Shannon McGrath
Panel Discussion
Gender Diverse in Design
What has increased visibility for the trans community meant for design? This panel features trans and gender-diverse designers discussing their experiences being trans in the design industry, how their relationship with gender has contributed to their practice, and how they envision the future of design with, for, and by trans people.
31 March, 2021
Image by Ruby Quail
Exhibition
Opus Vincula: Mattresses Bound
An exhibition of conceptual and experimental furniture by Charlie White, all made entirely of discarded mattresses soaked in cement.
Panel Discussion
Creating Community Through Design
Boutique property developer Milieu and frequent collaborators architects Freadman White and architecture and interior design studio Fieldwork host a panel discussion on how the design community continually adapts and responds to the physical environment, current issues and how solutions are driven by the desire to improve quality of life.
1 April, 2021
Image by Sean Fennessy
