Organizer of the Lodz Design Festival Łódź Design

Organizer of the Lodz Design Festival Łódź Design Festival is organized by Łódź Art Center, one of the biggest International Art Centres in Poland. It was established in 2005 in the old post-factory complex in Łódź. Since that time over 260 cultural events have been organized there. The Center team consists of professional and dynamic culture animators, promotion experts and curators. Apart from periodical events, Łódź Art Center stages individual exhibitions, and organises conferences and educational workshops. Moreover, the centre develops artistic and promotional projects in cooperation with other cultural institutions from Łódź and other Polish cities.

History and structure During the last four years, the Festival has grown from a series of local exhibitions into the biggest event in Poland that presents various dimensions of design. Participation of renowned specialists and international audience earned the Festival international reputation. The character and structure of the Festival have also been clearly defined during that period. Two or three exhibitions selected by highly acclaimed curators constitute a themed programme that is always the central point of the event. A wide and open range of accompanying events complements the diverse repertoire of the Festival: make me!, Review of Schools, Portfolio Review, Remade Market, Lectures, Installations in urban space, Accompanying Exhibitions, banquet and parties.

Uniqueness of the event The event is truly unique thanks to: § the programme centred around the main subject; § rich and open range of accompanying events; § participation of international curators and audience; § combination of business and creative environments; § exhibitions arranged in atmospheric post-factory areas.

Audience The Festival has a very wide audience. In 2010, we hosted about 40000 guests. These are people of different ages, however, they are mostly young (between 20 -30 years old) and they are most active participants of the workshops, lectures, meetings, exhibition openings and other forms of integration with artists and people interested in various aspects of design. Every year, more and more organised groups from all around Poland visit us, and are provided with a professional guide. The Festival is addressed to the business environment, advertising agencies and their clients, high school students, students of art-related faculties, journalists and media representatives.

Lodz Design Festival 2007

Lodz Design Festival 2007 Polish House The first Festival took place on 18 to 31 October 2007. Its main attraction was the “Polish House” (Dom Polski) exhibition – a reliable overview of new Polish architecture and producers, who have appreciated the meaning of design in businesses development, and also the review of works by young Polish designers. We presented works of over 30 designers of furniture, lamps, ceramics and fabric, together with architectural projects of home interiors.

Lodz Design Festival 2007 Polish House Summary of the first edition: § 5000 people visited the Festival; there were 9 panels of lectures and workshops; § “Newsweek”, “Polityka” and “Gazeta Wyborcza” have positively evaluated the Festival; § The programme of accompanying events included: § PARTY PRINT, international exhibition of the club poster; § WEŹ TO UŻYJ! (Use It!), exhibition of future-oriented design. § The commandments of the good designer formulated by Tomek Rygalik became the Festival’s manifesto: Do not copy others, Do not lose energy, Do not waste time on decorations, Do not fake, Do not kill, Do not be egoistic, Do not talk, but create.

Lodz Design Festival 2008

Lodz Design Festival 2008 Play & Joke The second Festival was called “Play&Joke”, and it took place on 16 to 31 October 2008. The exhibition did not focus on the function, form, or price, but on the joy of creation and relations with things. Over 40 artists presented their works. They discovered a new life of familiar objects by surprise, joke and a tongue-in-cheek attitude. Jigsaw puzzle carpets and tiles, block-shaped stools, crockery implementing games – all these to engage creativity and manual skills of the users.

Lodz Design Festival 2008 Play & Joke The Main Programme of the second edition consisted of three exhibitions: § PLAY&JOKE § OSTROŻNIE ŻART § TWIST YOUNG DESIGN. For the first time, there was a contest for young designers organised during the event called “make me!” and a review of Polish and foreign design academies, as well as: Puzzle 4 Peace, Eames by Vitra, Silesian Icon (Śląska Rzecz), Viva Led, Cannes Lions.

Lodz Design Festival 2008 Play & Joke Summary of the second edition: § 18000 visitors; 3000 people at the opening; 1600 workshop ad lecture participants; § 25 panels of lectures and workshops; § 120 press accreditations, publications on the radio, TV, the Internet and in the foreign media: Icon Magazine, Future Mix Interiors, Design Review, Evening Standard; § cooperation offers from: London Design Festival, Design September in Brussels, Dmy in Berlin, Designers Open in Leipzig, Vienna Design Week; § Łódź Design 2008 was listed as one of the most interesting event in Poland in 2008.

Lodz Design Festival 2009

Lodz Design Festival 2009 My Way The third Festival took place on 15 to 31 October 2009. MY WAY was the main title, and its aim was to prove that there are many ways of thinking about design and many ways of designing. None of these is better than others. With this motto in mind, we presented three different exhibitions: § UPSTREAM/DESIGN TALES by Agnieszka Jacobson-Cielecka § SURTIDO by Tomek Rygalik § NON OBJECT IVE by Marek Cecuła

Lodz Design Festival 2009 My Way Summary of the third edition: § during the whole Festival, we had over 30000 visitors; we presented 41 exhibitions; § 3500 visitors came to the opening; 8000 watched the exhibition during the first weekend; § we cooperated with about 350 designers from Poland abroad; § 126 journalists from over 90 press titles visited us; § over 2000 listeners took part in 28 lectures; § about 1000 people came to Daniel Libeskind’s lecture; § about 3000 visitors took part in Arch. Film. Fest meetings; § over 350 publications appeared in the media; § over 100 devoted volunteers helped us; § we opened Portiernia Design Café; § we organised an exclusive banquet in the Andel’s Łódź hotel.

Lodz Design Festival 2010

Lodz Design Festival 2010 Amazing Life The fourth Festival took place between 15 and 31 October 2010. The motto AMAZING LIFE was intended to turn our attention to the world that surrounds us, the incredible world. We had pleasure to work with design authorities. Apart from the curators of the Main Programme exhibitions, these were, i. a. : Marek Cecuła, Janusz Kaniewski, Tomek Rygalik, Lidewij Edelkoort, Foscarini, Zanotta, Moooi. The main programme consisted of the two curatorial exhibitions: § CRUMPLE ZONE/STREFA ZGNIOTU curated by Agnieszka Jacobson-Cielecka. The exhibition presented the process of destruction: crushing, bending and connecting individual elements in the course of designing. § UNDERPRESSURE curated by Oskar Zięta. It focused on projects inspired by air, pressure, blowing and lightness.

Lodz Design Festival 2010 Amazing Life Summary of the fourth edition: § 40000 visitors in the Main Festival Centre; § over 40 exhibitions, 815 artists; § over 800 publications in the press and on TV (i. a. Gazeta Wyborcza, Elle Deco, Rzeczpospolita, TVN, Forbes); § 250 applications for the “make me!” contest. The jury chose 19 projects that were used in the post-contest exhibition during Łódź Design Festival 2010; § presentation of 14 Polish and foreign schools.

Lodz Design Festival 2011

Lodz Design Festival 2011 CHANGE! The fifth edition of the festival was held from 20 to 30 October in a new space of a 19 th century post-industrial building at 25 Targowa Street. The key motto of the festival – “Change!” – was to draw attention to changes in the world occurring because of human activity. The industrial and economic growth results in damage to the natural environment, causes social transformation and reformulates the ways and conditions of life. The society and economy undergo transformation and we are both agents and victims of that process. Needs and, most importantly, the awareness are changing. Exhibitions in the main programme: “Redirection” prepared by Centrum Architektury (Centre of Architecture) in Warsaw and Neo. Farm. The exhibition was curated by Boaz Cohen and Sayaka Yamamoto, an Israeli and Japanese couple based in Eindhoven, The Netherlands.

Lodz Design Festival 2011 Change! Summary of the fifth edition: § Almost 44, 000 participants of the Łódź Design 2011 events including about 12, 000 during the Main Weekend (20 -23 Oct. ); § Over 6, 000 lecture attendees; § About 400 children participated in the Educreation programme (workshops, walks, educational playing room); § About 600 people attended film screenings; § About 400 accredited journalists; § More than 1, 000 mentions in media; § More than 60 exhibitions; § Over 420 artists contributed to the festival; § Accompanying events were held in more than 20 venues in Łódź; § 10, 000 m 2 of space occupied by the Festival Centre.

Lodz Design Festival 2012

Lodz Design Festival 2012 Awareness During the 6 th edition of the festival, which took place on October 18 -28, 2012, the festival centre Łódź Design became a meeting place for the Polish design milieu and the Łódź audience. For the first time ever we put a lot of effort into creating space of interaction for our guests – the entire ground floor area of the festival centre was adapted as a social zone, with a café, Bookoff bookstore and a Reading Room, where one had an opportunity to skim through the most quintessential books and albums on design. The mission statement of the 6 th edition – Awareness – was meant to draw attention to both the importance of awareness in design and very many interpretations of awareness when referred to design. In 2012 we organized Forum: Design and Architecture – a platform for exchanging ideas, which would allow to exchange of views and reflections in a constructive way and, above all, listen to lectures by eminent experts who came here especially for us from all over the world.

Lodz Design Festival 2012 Awareness Summary of the 6 th edition: § Approximately 45 thousand people attended events of the Łódź Design 2012; § Exhibitions and events were organized in over 20 different locations in Łódź; § Over 1. 100 objects were exhibited, produced by over 640 designers; § Forum: Design & Architecture provided an opportunity to attend over 35 lectures, delivered by guests from all over the world; § Łódź Design 2012 took place owing to collaboration with over 90 partners; § An almost 300 people strong team of volunteers provided an enormous help and support during the festival; § Over 1300 articles on the festival were published in the media; § 35 kilometres of coloured ribbon was used to decorate the 10. 000 square metres of the Festival Centre.

Lodz Design Festival 2013

Lodz Design Festival 2013 It’s all about humanity The 7 th edition of the Łódź Design Festival took place on October 17 -27, 2013. The mission statement of this edition was “It’s all about humanity”, i. e. a story about creating new solutions using methods oriented towards users. In order to capture the true human needs certain things are required: an emphatic approach, understanding and defining everyday problems. These skills, when applied to designers’ work, became crucial for us; we aimed to present and discuss them during the festival.

Lodz Design Festival 2013 It’s all about humanity The leading theme of the festival was contextualised within the following three areas: Consumption – in which Sonja Strummerer and Martin Hablestreiter, curators of the Main Programme “Food/Design/Humanity” treated food as product to be designed in such a way so that it remained – while being ergonomic and functional – suitable for consumption. Habitation – “In-habitation. Garden city, guarded city” produced by the Institute of Architecture; ways of society’s existence in a contemporary Polish city, which could potentially become a motor for social change. Empathy – a story about work methods which would lead to good design – design focused on a human being. Magda Kochanowska and Aga Szóstek, curators of the “DEEP NEED/empathy and design” exhibition, collected 18 objects which held such potential.

Lodz Design Festival 2013 It’s all about humanity Summary of the 7 th edition: § 11 days of the festival, § 45 thousand people attending exhibitions and events, § Over 40 locations all over Łódź, § 10. 000 square metres area of the Festival Centre, § Over 1400 objects, § Over 520 designers, curators, panel-members and experts from all over the world, § As part of the Educreation we were visited by nearly one thousand youngest festival participants; over 700 of them took part in workshops and walks, § Biznes. Up! conference on design thinking in business, § Over 300 accredited journalists, § Over 2000 articles published in the media (data according to the Press Service), § Over 300 volunteers.

Lodz Design Festival 2014

Lodz Design Festival 2014 BRAVE NEW WORLD During the 8 th edition of Łódź Design Festival, our aim was to present curated interpretations of this year’s festival theme – Brave New World – with fresh takes on the concept from various perspectives. We hoped everybody would be able to make their own independent decisions about whether brave design initiatives have the potential to change our lives for the better. The Main Programme included various exhibitions: § Brave Fixed World, § Test Zone, § City Lust, § NASZ, § Resolute – Design Changes, § Medusa Design Projects, § Szafa, § Spekulacje, § Przepis na mały dizajn, § Nowe rzemiosło.

Lodz Design Festival 2014 BRAVE NEW WORLD Summary of the 8 th edition: § 11 days of the festival, § 45 000 visitors § 2 Festival Centres - 10. 000 m 2 exhibition space, § 80 exhibitions, § 120 venues across Łódź, § 200 hours of lectures and workshops, § 500 designers, curators, panellists and experts from all over the world, § 200 volunteers, § 300 accredited media representatives, § over 3500 media publications about the Festival.

Lodz Design Festival 2015

Lodz Design Festival 2015 CONSEQUENCES The world is changing faster and is a constant source of inspiration and challenges for designers. The consequences of technological, social and cultural changes are reflected in objects which are created every day. During the 9 th edition of Lodz Design Festival, which was held from the 8 th till the 18 th of October, you were able to see projects that tell the story of this process. The Main Programme included various exhibitions: § Hidden Heroes. The Genius of Everyday Things, § Release Project, § Consequences.

Lodz Design Festival 2015 CONSEQUENCES Summary of the 9 th edition: • • • 400 designers involved in the program, 1, 100 objects presented on 70 exhibitions, 250 h of events (workshops, meetings, lectures. . . ) 120 accompanying events, 10 000 sq m - the area of the two centers of the festival, 200 accredited journalists, 140 festival partners 200 volunteers, 45 000 visitors.

Lodz Design Festival 2016

Lodz Design Festival 2016 Identity The 10 th edition of Lodz Design Festival took place on 13 -23 October 2016 and its theme was Identity. Together, with the invited curators and artists, we tried to figure out how design affects the identity of authors, recipients of their work, society and also how the identity of the place shapes the character of objects. We also presented, along with partners, how brands communicate their identity through products. Programme included various curator exhibitions: Jubilee exhibition, Everyda(y)ta, Random Darknet Shopper, Eyedentity – Poster Stories, Inside the box, Designs for discomfort, Simulators.

Lodz Design Festival 2016 Identity Lodz Design Festival 2016 in numbers: Festival held in collaboration with co-organisers : The City of Lodz Office and Fabryka Sztuki, Main Patron: Ceramika Paradyż and 120 partners. • • about 430 designers, curators and experts from around the world involved in the programme, 79 exhibitions; including outdoor events in Monopolis and Manufaktura, 165 hours of lectures, workshops and meetings, Educreation: 33 workshops for children (380 participants), over 500 youngest children in „Under the tiny roof – IKEA playroom”, 45 000 visitors during 11 festival days, 235 accredited journalists, Festival Centre with 5000 sqm exhibition area and 20 Exhibition Pavilions in front of Art_Inkubator.

make me! 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 Make me! – it is not just a competition, but one of the linchpins of the Łódź Design Festival and its flagship. It is an opportunity for young designers, aged between 20 and 30, to present their ideas, gain expert advice and be assessed by a jury. The winning project 2008: Bartosz Mucha, Pegs The winning project 2009: Paulina Lis, Flexi Soapholder The winning project 2010: Poliszdizajn, „Mosquito” floor lamp The winning project 2011: Thibaut Godard, Porcelain The winning project 2012: Jan Lutyk, Ribbon Main Prize – 20. 000 PLN

make me! 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 The winning project 2013: BEZA Projekt, Beza Elements – Patch The winning project 2014: Blond & Bieber – Algaemy The winning project 2015: Marlene Huissoud – From Insects The winning project 2016: Jan Pfeifer – City Instrument Main prize – 20. 000 PLN