DESIGN Canberra 2020

The foundations of Canberra, as we know it today, were built on well-considered design.

In 1912, American architect Walter Burley Griffin’s vision for the capital was selected from over 130 submissions. His plans considered the topography of the valley and proposed a contemplative integration of buildings and gardens amongst the obligatory functional roadmap. 

It’s therefore quite fitting that DESIGN Canberra, an annual three week festival run by Craft ACT, attracts over 100,000 visitors. Now in its seventh year, the 2020 festival program promises an array of events, exhibitions, talks, tours, collaborations and open artist studios focused on this year’s theme of Care. 

The concept of care is particularly complex in 2020. As Australia inches closer towards Summer, memories of last year’s catastrophic bushfires remind us of the importance of caring for our environment and communities that face hardship. Societal care is at the forefront of our minds as well; the COVID-19 pandemic has forced us to confront how we as a collective care for the vulnerable. And, of course, self-care has never been as important as when we’ve been stuck indoors for as long as lockdown has afforded us. 

The complexity of care has been captured in Designer-in-Residence Kirstie Rea’s work With care. The work, which was commissioned by DESIGN Canberra, is made of blankets of folded glass, gently layered in a frame structure. Rea explained: “Glass, the material at the heart and core of my studio practice calls for care. Care not only in handling the material but embedded in an understanding of the material, the glass processes attached to explorations and to mastering the skills needed to work with it.”

In addition to the central theme, this year’s DESIGN Canberra program will consist of 3 core threads. Design Revisited will encourage people to re-explore outstanding designs in the city and zoom in on different disciplines and styles as they evolved over decades through insightful tours. 

Meet the Makers will encourage people to visit artists in their studios to witness demos, partake in hands-on workshops, attend film screenings, and purchase designs directly from their creators. This is particularly pertinent as many makers earn a significant amount of their yearly income in the three weeks of the festival.

Finally, This is Suburbia will celebrate the iconic identity of Canberran life by reimagining and celebrating iconic mid-century suburban experiments and deep-diving into suburban case studies from across Australia and the world. Anyone can get involved in this part of the festival, too, by interpreting the theme of This is Suburbia and sharing a photo on Instagram (#designcanberra #dcphotocomp2020). 

After many months of cancelled events and home-bound isolation, DESIGN Canberra offers a smörgåsbord of ways to rediscover the outside world and connect with the local design community. 

Design CANBERRA
9-29 November 2020
designcanberrafestival.com.au