Belgrade Design Week to launch at National Library

Belgrade Design Week to launch at National Library What makes this festival so unique is that in its 7th ongoing edition since 2006, its still strictly non-profit, a rarity in the design world, and still not significantly supported by any governmental institution in Serbia, Belgrade or the EU, making it quite an uncertain privately funded affair each year, until it somehow miraculously raises from the ashes each spring - the more fiercely independent, noncommercial and without quality compromises – with another fresh, relevant topic and its nonpareil line up. The heart piece of BDW is certainly its now world-famous international design conference, which presents "The greatest creative minds of the XXI century"TM, who in fact render Belgrade Design Week the leading stage where the global creative industries meet the Southeast European region of 100 million people between Vienna and Istanbul. This year's theme is "FREEDOM SQUARED". The seventh Belgrade Design Week, from 4 to 10 June 2012, is honored to be invited to present all its programs under the iconic roof of the landmark seventies building by architect Ivo Kurtovic - the National Library of Serbia. This way, BDW participates in the celebration of the 180 years anniversary of this institution - significant for the education and preservation of Serbian national heritage - the keeper of one of the most valuable global cultural treasures for all mankind. In its renovated interior designed by the young Serbian architect Zoran Radojicic, an outstanding example of progressive development for venerable institutions with help of the local creative community, BDW will host leading international creatives from all walks of creative industries, carefully balancing between architecture, advertising, industrial design, fashion, publishing, music, art, graphic design, branding, new media… Italian-British industrial designer Martino Gamper, British design studio Troika, new Austrian and French design superstars Thomas Feichtner and Mathieu Lehanneur, Dutch agency 180 AMSTERDAM and UK agency FALLON, outstanding German advertisers Jung Von Matt and the famous creative publisher Robert Klanten of Die Gestalten fame, progressive Norwegian designers Non Format and Heydays, the amazing Jörg Boner and Punkt from Switzerland, Matti Klenell from Sweden and Ole Jensen from Denmark, Jenni Carbins presenting Matilda from Australia, followed by Brazilian and British star-architects Isay Weinfeld and Patrik Schumacher, arguably the freshest Spanish design star Héctor Serrano, the Aalto University from Finland, the NYC photographer Dusan Reljin of VOGUE fame, are some of the names among 30 creative leaders from over twenty countries around the world that will present their work during the three days of the "FREEDOM SQUARED" conference, with help of the more regional representatives such as the Austrian architects Querkraft, the Slovenian studio Enota, Croatian atelier 3LHD, Lasvit from the Czech Republic, Kitchen Budapest from Hungary and Beetroot from Greece, and finally, in a sort of host role, NLS’s interior designer Zoran Radojicic from Serbia. At the inaugural press conference, media professionals were welcomed by the director of the National Library of Serbia, Dejan Ristic, who expressed his satisfaction that this festival is held in Serbia’s oldest cultural institution. “The National Library of Serbia, as the oldest and most prestigious cultural institution in the country and in the region, sees Belgrade Design Week as a great challenge and a special creative experience that will leave a lasting mark on future activities of the Library.” BDW’s chairmen and curator, Jovan Jelovac, talked about a special inspiration for BDW: "I have visited the newly renovated “diamond” of the National Library of Serbia with undisguised excitement and pleasure, finding it a modest and well balanced project, but nonetheless striking with its respectful but uncompromising contemporary treatment of the original building’s equity. A much needed, sound proof that the local creative industry can, in rare and exceptional cases, compete with global leaders and inspire them as selfunderstaningly as harvesting inspirations from great global design cases. Being part of this creative community myself, I also observed, with equally undisguised jealousy, the "Legal Library", “Musical Library” and other specialized reading rooms in the new National Library, and made it BDW’s mission to help establish a matching collection of design books, as our support for the National Library of Serbia’s new “Foundation”. For that purpose BDW will dispatch invitations to our more than 200 alumni who have held lectures at BDW in past seven years, including at least a dozen world famous publishers, to donate their signed monographs and other editions as a base of a new books-stock for this new creative library of the world in Serbia.” The international creative Conference will be held on 7, 8 and 9 June in the new Central Reading Room of the National Library of Serbia, under the topic of FREEDOM SQUARED, providing the backdrop once again for the probably funkiest creative conference in the world, as stated by so many global opinion leaders: Edwin Heathcote, Financial Times, UK “I was hugely impressed by the ambition, internationalism and joie de vivre of Belgrade Design Week. The concept of a non-profit festival which puts ideas before commerce and which emphasizes a subtle shift eastwards in an expanding Europe symbolizes a significant moment. The beautiful, vibrant and hospitable city of Belgrade is the perfect host to concretize that moment.” Gavin Lucas, Creative Review, UK "Belgrade Design Week was a lot of fun. There was a great range of speakers from architectural, graphic and product design practices who all delivered insightful presentations about their work and their particular approach to design. Also, the organizers’ choice of post-conference restaurants was also superb – it was great to get a real flavor of Belgrade at the end of each day’s conference activities and meet, talk with, and hang out with the festival’s illustrious speakers. In short, BDW is a brilliant event. Please, can I come back again next year?” Bjarke Ingels, BIG, Denmark “Belgrade Design Week is a masterpiece in the art and science of conference design – and a hell of a good way to spend 3 days in Serbia!” Konstantin Grcic, Germany “The participant’s list is impressive! Belgrade Design Week is the best professional event I ever participated in. But to me it also has emotional significance. I am in Belgrade again, twenty years later. I was not sure what to expect but I encountered a fantastic atmosphere and amazing people. I have a feeling I have old friends here.” Other BDW programs have found their place in the NLS – such as BDW’s creative workshops and master classes “BDW DIZAJNLABS”, with free entry for creative industry professionals from Serbia and the region, on 5 and 6 June in the conference hall of the National Library, where additonaly “BDW DIZAJNFILMS” will be shown every night starting at 8.00 pm. Turning the entire National Library in a truly sensational way into a unique exhibition space for design, BDW will co-produce several premier exhibitions under the moniker BDW DIZAJNPREMIERES, such as the Croatian exhibition "Common sense&sensibility," the Slovenian exhibition "Silent Revolutions", the Serbian exhibitions "Creative Space Serbia", organized by SIEPA, the Korean "Samsung Experience", the Italian “En&Is Megaphone”, the Swiss exhibitions showcasing Jörg Boner, the Spanish "Disegñ" and finally, the Belgrade premiere of BDW’s own multimedia exhibition, whose world premiere was held in Paris this May - "APOSTLES OF DESIGN - BDW superstars’ lectures 2006 - 2011." All these exhibitions will be opened at the official BDW launch on Wednesday, June 6, at 8.00 pm at the National Library of Serbia, with a vibrant fashion, musical and movie program, premiering the “FUTURE SQUARED – BDW 2011” film. Outside the Library at the Vracar plateau, the now already traditional, true small urban music festival of "design-music", the “BDW DIZAJNIGHTS”, will start as an open-air event every day at 22h, starting on Thursday, 7 June, with the performance of DJ Goldierocks, presented by the British Council’s "Selector" radio, and on 8 and 9 June musical attractions Gabin and Luminodisco will perform, with warm up program and after-parties produced by the festival’s partner SHARE. Entrance to all these programs is free for all visitors. For the first time ever, this year Belgrade Design Week has also its own pre-premiere night, on Sunday June 3rd, with the launch of the “100% FUTURE SERBIA” project, which we organize under the patronage of the Serbian Ministry of Culture, kicking off Belgrade’s summer festival - BELEF - summer of culture. In cooperation with the SUPERKVART, BDW will produce a true urban summer block-party for Belgrade’s citizens and their guests, on the closed streets of Kralja Petra, Zmaja od Nocaja and Uzun Mirkova, and organize an all night happening to remember with DJs, fashion shows, culinary delights, decoration. At the launch, awards will be handed to the participants of the 100% FUTURE SERBIA competition in cooperation with the SIEPA agency. This party will mark the opening of this quite unique city-wide exhibition in more than 100 shop windows in Belgrade’s city center from Kalemegdan to Slavija, where young designers will mix with established forces to present their artwork to the widest possible audience, during two weeks between 3 and 19 June 2012. But perhaps the most sensational news of this year’s BDW, a sort of cherry on top for all our efforts, is a huge compliment given to us by our dear friends at Wallpaper. For the first time since the festival’s foundation in 2006, the entire course of BDW from opening to closing, will be broadcasted LIVE on the arguably most important design paper’s in the world web portal: www.wallpaper.com! This broadcast of BDW TV is enabled by kind donation of Luxembourg’s high-tech new media and over-the-top provider NOTOLA, and Belgrade’s own amazing SOUNDRAY system, as the main technology partners of the festival. We are very excited about this breakthrough, and eager to find out the new possibilities of such an outstanding collaboration effort. Until 25 May you can purchase tickets at an early-birds price of 150 EUR for the three-day Conference FREEDOM SQUARED. The price for students is 100 EUR regardless of the time of purchase. To purchase tickets, you need to register at www.belgradedesignweek.com, where those who are interested can find detailed instructions and all the required information. All other BDW programs are free. More at belgradedesignweek.com Belgrade Design Week is arguably the key international event in Serbia’s cultural calendar, as well as the most significant creative festival in the whole region. Belgrade Design Week announces its annual festival - arguably the key international event in Serbia’s cultural calendar, as well as the most significant creative festival in the whole region.

Belgrade Design Week to launch at National Library

What makes this festival so unique is that in its 7th ongoing edition since 2006, its still strictly non-profit, a rarity in the design world, and still not significantly supported by any governmental institution in Serbia, Belgrade or the EU, making it quite an uncertain privately funded affair each year, until it somehow miraculously raises from the ashes each spring - the more fiercely independent, noncommercial and without quality compromises – with another fresh, relevant topic and its nonpareil line up.

The heart piece of BDW is certainly its now world-famous international design conference, which presents "The greatest creative minds of the XXI century"TM, who in fact render Belgrade Design Week the leading stage where the global creative industries meet the Southeast European region of 100 million people between Vienna and Istanbul. This year's theme is "FREEDOM SQUARED".

The seventh Belgrade Design Week, from 4 to 10 June 2012, is honored to be invited to present all its programs under the iconic roof of the landmark seventies building by architect Ivo Kurtović - the National Library of Serbia. This way, BDW participates in the celebration of the 180 years anniversary of this institution - significant for the education and preservation of Serbian national heritage - the keeper of one of the most valuable global cultural treasures for all mankind. In its renovated interior designed by the young Serbian architect Zoran Radojičić, an outstanding example of progressive development for venerable institutions with help of the local creative community, BDW will host leading international creatives from all walks of creative industries, carefully balancing between architecture, advertising, industrial design, fashion, publishing, music, art, graphic design, branding, new media…

Italian-British industrial designer Martino Gamper, British design studio Troika, new Austrian and French design superstars Thomas Feichtner and Mathieu Lehanneur, Dutch agency 180 AMSTERDAM and UK agency FALLON, outstanding German advertisers Jung Von Matt and the famous creative publisher Robert Klanten of Die Gestalten fame, progressive Norwegian designers Non Format and Heydays, the amazing Jörg Boner and Punkt from Switzerland, Matti Klenell from Sweden and Ole Jensen from Denmark, Jenni Carbins presenting Matilda from Australia, followed by Brazilian and British star-architects Isay Weinfeld and Patrik Schumacher, arguably the freshest Spanish design star Héctor Serrano, the Aalto University from Finland, the NYC photographer Dusan Reljin of VOGUE fame, are some of the names among 30 creative leaders from over twenty countries around the world that will present their work during the three days of the "FREEDOM SQUARED" conference, with help of the more regional representatives such as the Austrian architects Querkraft, the Slovenian studio Enota, Croatian atelier 3LHD, Lasvit from the Czech Republic, Kitchen Budapest from Hungary and Beetroot from Greece, and finally, in a sort of host role, NLS’s interior designer Zoran Radojičić from Serbia.

At the inaugural press conference, media professionals were welcomed by the director of the National Library of Serbia, Dejan Ristić, who expressed his satisfaction that this festival is held in Serbia’s oldest cultural institution. “The National Library of Serbia, as the oldest and most prestigious cultural institution in the country and in the region, sees Belgrade Design Week as a great challenge and a special creative experience that will leave a lasting mark on future activities of the Library.”

BDW’s chairmen and curator, Jovan Jelovac, talked about a special inspiration for BDW: "I have visited the newly renovated “diamond” of the National Library of Serbia with undisguised excitement and pleasure, finding it a modest and well balanced project, but nonetheless striking with its respectful but uncompromising contemporary treatment of the original building’s equity. A much needed, sound proof that the local creative industry can, in rare and exceptional cases, compete with global leaders and inspire them as selfunderstaningly as harvesting inspirations from great global design cases. Being part of this creative community myself, I also observed, with equally undisguised jealousy, the "Legal Library", “Musical Library” and other specialized reading rooms in the new National Library, and made it BDW’s mission to help establish a matching collection of design books, as our support for the National Library of Serbia’s new “Foundation”. For that purpose BDW will dispatch invitations to our more than 200 alumni who have held lectures at BDW in past seven years, including at least a dozen world famous publishers, to donate their signed monographs and other editions as a base of a new books-stock for this new creative library of the world in Serbia.”

The international creative Conference will be held on 7, 8 and 9 June in the new Central Reading Room of the National Library of Serbia, under the topic of FREEDOM SQUARED, providing the backdrop once again for the probably funkiest creative conference in the world, as stated by so many global opinion leaders:

Edwin Heathcote, Financial Times, UK

“I was hugely impressed by the ambition, internationalism and joie de vivre of Belgrade Design Week. The concept of a non-profit festival which puts ideas before commerce and which emphasizes a subtle shift eastwards in an expanding Europe symbolizes a significant moment. The beautiful, vibrant and hospitable city of Belgrade is the perfect host to concretize that moment.”

Gavin Lucas, Creative Review, UK

"Belgrade Design Week was a lot of fun. There was a great range of speakers from architectural, graphic and product design practices who all delivered insightful presentations about their work and their particular approach to design. Also, the organizers’ choice of post-conference restaurants was also superb – it was great to get a real flavor of Belgrade at the end of each day’s conference activities and meet, talk with, and hang out with the festival’s illustrious speakers. In short, BDW is a brilliant event. Please, can I come back again next year?”

Bjarke Ingels, BIG, Denmark

“Belgrade Design Week is a masterpiece in the art and science of conference design – and a hell of a good way to spend 3 days in Serbia!”

Konstantin Grčić, Germany

“The participant’s list is impressive! Belgrade Design Week is the best professional event I ever participated in. But to me it also has emotional significance. I am in Belgrade again, twenty years later. I was not sure what to expect but I encountered a fantastic atmosphere and amazing people. I have a feeling I have old friends here.”

Other BDW programs have found their place in the NLS – such as BDW’s creative workshops and master classes “BDW DIZAJNLABS”, with free entry for creative industry professionals from Serbia and the region, on 5 and 6 June in the conference hall of the National Library, where additonaly “BDW DIZAJNFILMS” will be shown every night starting at 8.00 pm. Turning the entire National Library in a truly sensational way into a unique exhibition space for design, BDW will co-produce several premier exhibitions under the moniker BDW DIZAJNPREMIERES, such as the Croatian exhibition "Common sense&sensibility," the Slovenian exhibition "Silent Revolutions", the Serbian exhibitions "Creative Space Serbia", organized by SIEPA, the Korean "Samsung Experience", the Italian “En&Is Megaphone”, the Swiss exhibitions showcasing Jörg Boner, the Spanish "Disegñ" and finally, the Belgrade premiere of BDW’s own multimedia exhibition, whose world premiere was held in Paris this May - "APOSTLES OF DESIGN - BDW superstars’ lectures 2006 - 2011." All these exhibitions will be opened at the official BDW launch on Wednesday, June 6, at 8.00 pm at the National Library of Serbia, with a vibrant fashion, musical and movie program, premiering the “FUTURE SQUARED – BDW 2011” film.

Outside the Library at the Vračar plateau, the now already traditional, true small urban music festival of "design-music", the “BDW DIZAJNIGHTS”, will start as an open-air event every day at 22h, starting on Thursday, 7 June, with the performance of DJ Goldierocks, presented by the British Council’s "Selector" radio, and on 8 and 9 June musical attractions Gabin and Luminodisco will perform, with warm up program and after-parties produced by the festival’s partner SHARE. Entrance to all these programs is free for all visitors.

For the first time ever, this year Belgrade Design Week has also its own pre-premiere night, on Sunday June 3rd, with the launch of the “100% FUTURE SERBIA” project, which we organize under the patronage of the Serbian Ministry of Culture, kicking off Belgrade’s summer festival - BELEF - summer of culture. In cooperation with the SUPERKVART, BDW will produce a true urban summer block-party for Belgrade’s citizens and their guests, on the closed streets of Kralja Petra, Zmaja od Noćaja and Uzun Mirkova, and organize an all night happening to remember with DJs, fashion shows, culinary delights, decoration. At the launch, awards will be handed to the participants of the 100% FUTURE SERBIA competition in cooperation with the SIEPA agency. This party will mark the opening of this quite unique city-wide exhibition in more than 100 shop windows in Belgrade’s city center from Kalemegdan to Slavija, where young designers will mix with established forces to present their artwork to the widest possible audience, during two weeks between 3 and 19 June 2012.

But perhaps the most sensational news of this year’s BDW, a sort of cherry on top for all our efforts, is a huge compliment given to us by our dear friends at Wallpaper. For the first time since the festival’s foundation in 2006, the entire course of BDW from opening to closing, will be broadcasted LIVE on the arguably most important design paper’s in the world web portal: www.wallpaper.com! This broadcast of BDW TV is enabled by kind donation of Luxembourg’s high-tech new media and over-the-top provider NOTOLA, and Belgrade’s own amazing SOUNDRAY system, as the main technology partners of the festival. We are very excited about this breakthrough, and eager to find out the new possibilities of such an outstanding collaboration effort.

Until 25 May you can purchase tickets at an early-birds price of 150 EUR for the three-day Conference FREEDOM SQUARED. The price for students is 100 EUR regardless of the time of purchase. To purchase tickets, you need to register at www.belgradedesignweek.com, where those who are interested can find detailed instructions and all the required information. All other BDW programs are free.

More at belgradedesignweek.com