Interact and create at Sydney Design 09
Australia’s longest-running design festival, Sydney Design 09, this year is “more interactive than ever” and also offers an $18,000 design scholarship.
Highlights at the festival’s main venue, The Powerhouse Museum, include a talk from renowned designer/inventor/artist Paul Cocksedge, a temporary sustainable restaurant Eat Green Design, the Young Blood: Designers Market and the announcement of the Design NSW Travelling Scholarship, worth $18 000.
The festival is also more interactive than ever. “We’ve pulled together a whole series of workshops this year so people can come along and actually participate, rather than just view design in a passive way,” said Event Coordinator Jane Latief.
The workshops cater for both beginners and the experienced, and include glassblowing, silver smithing, shoemaking, conservation and restoration, fashion design, electronic media arts and more.
As well as inviting the public to discover new areas of design, the festival has a solid reputation for fostering young and local talent, including Sydney-based designer Damien Butler.
“In Australia there can be fewer opportunities for designers to get their work out there because we’ve got such a small population and traditional manufacturers only allow for larger runs. What Sydney Design does is give designers a yearly platform to showcase their work,” said Mr Butler.
It seems a lot of young designers this year are also going beyond aesthetics.
“A lot of programs also have a sustainable focus this year”, reports Ms Latief. “It’s a topic of the now and I don’t say that in a flippant way. What you are probably seeing is the design community really taking that sustainable message on, making it a fundamental part of what good design is and not just an add-on.”
Mr Butler believes the Festival can help people better understand the true purpose of design: “that design is not just something that’s a luxury, but a necessity. That well designed objects are something that will last a lifetime.”
The festival presents more than 70 events held across 35 Sydney locations from 1–16 August. Find out more at sydneydesign.com.au.
by Drew Sullivan
