Exhibitions

We have prepared two exhibitions for this year’s festival. You can visit the main exhibition, Design for All, created within the Universal Design project supported by EEA funds, every day in the Svit complex in Building 61. The second exhibition in the G18 gallery is dedicated to the finalists of the international competition Best in Design 2023, which has been pursuing new talents in the fields of product & industrial design, fashion design, communication design, and, for the first time this year, service design.

In addition to the ZDW exhibitions, you can visit the exhibition Inspiration: Le Corbusier at the Zlín Castle. The authors of the exhibition are Adéla Bačová and Lenka Sršňová.

Design for All Exhibition (Universal Design Project)

Universal Design is an important part of sustainable solutions, integrating diverse groups of people into the design process and thereby deepening knowledge and empathy. In business and public administration, it has a major impact on the usability of products and services or the engagement of new, more diverse target groups. It enables users to be actively involved in designing products and services, reflecting their individual needs, and creating an environment they feel positively part of.

The Design for All exhibition will provide an overview of the implementation of universal design in our lives. It will provide examples of specific solutions, their value, and their impact on the public sector. At the same time, it will create a space where a clothing designer, a furniture company owner, an urban architect, and a local cultural enthusiast can meet over a debate about the potential barriers we all face on a daily basis. The exhibition is supported by the EEA Grants.

Where: Svit complex, building 61, Zlín
When: 4 May – 21 May
Opening Hours: during the festival: 10 AM – 6 PM, outside the festival every working day 3 PM – 6 PM
Opening: Wednesday, 3 May at 6 PM
Entrance: free entry
Accesibility: barrier-free entrance, EN

Curators and a little info about them

THEA URDAL

Curator of the exhibition: product

Thea Urdal is a journalist and designer interested in emotional design, curiosity, speculative fiction, and the importance of semantics. In many ways, her design practice is rooted in the nebulous and fluffy in-between spaces of graphic design, textile design, service design, and interaction design. Over the years, her journalism and criticism have appeared in international and Norwegian publications, periodicals, and newspapers. She has also worked extensively in the field of contemporary Norwegian art and has a passion for planning and producing exhibitions, lectures, and talks.

HERMAN FREN BILLET

Curator part of the exhibition: services

Herman Billet recently completed his Master’s degree in Strategic Design at the Oslo University of Architecture and Design. He has been running a multidisciplinary freelance design practice for seven years and has worked with public, private, and ideal entities on projects ranging from mobile devices to stadiums. He is currently working as a consultant at Knowit Experience, a design agency based in Oslo.

Architects and a little info about them

TOMÁŠ THOLT

Tomáš Tholt focuses on architecture, computer-aided design, and art. His activities are united by a long-standing interest in generative and parametric design, digital creation, and contemporary computational concepts.

Tomáš and Danica together run the studio Architexture: body and space at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bratislava, where architects become creators not only of buildings and static spaces and environments but also of processes and materials themselves.

DANICA PIŠTEKOVÁ

Danica Pišteková builds her work on the border between architecture and textiles. After graduating in fashion design and architecture, she developed her interest in the relationship between the body and architecture, clothing, and space.

Tomáš and Danica together run the studio Architexture: body and space at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bratislava, where architects become creators not only of buildings and static spaces and environments but also of processes and materials themselves.

Best of ’23 exhibition

The human ability to design solutions and combine them with aesthetics greatly impacts the quality of our lives. So it makes sense to look for new paths that design can take. These often open up through interesting ideas that emerge by disrupting the status quo in places that offer a diversity of opinion and give room for innovation.

For over thirteen years, the international Best in Design competition has allowed new talents to explore and develop these paths. The finalists of the 14th edition of the competition will be presented from 3 to 19 May at the G18 Gallery and in the public space of Zlín.

What themes and approaches do they emphasize in their work? How do they see the world that surrounds us, and where might it be heading under their hands? How does the intersection of the academic ground from which they emerge with business work? The Best in Design Best of ’23 exhibition will provide a space to connect apparel, visual communication, and industry solutions, products, and services. A space to meet, discuss and reflect on how contemporary design can influence our future.

Where: G18, Štefánikova 5670, Zlín
From when to when: 4 May – 19 May
Opening hours: during the festival: 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM; outside the festival every working day 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Opening: Saturday 6 May at 4:30 PM
Entrance: entrance is free
Accessibility: wheelchair access, English version

Curators and a little info about them

NOÉMI VISKI

Noémi Viski is an art and design curator and journalist based in Budapest. She has worked with various art and design institutions and organizations, such as OFF-Biennale Budapest, TELEP Gallery, and Hype&Hyper. As an editor, she wrote extensively about art, design, and architecture from Central and Eastern Europe. Currently, she is the curator of the K11 LABOR Gallery. She is particularly interested in design projects addressing the urgent challenges of our time in a socially sensitive or speculative way.

KITTI MAYER

Kitti Mayer is a design theorist who graduated at Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design in 2013. She is a freelance journalist and project manager based in Budapest. She has worked as an editor at Hype&Hyper online magazine mainly focusing on exciting design projects and brands from Central and Eastern Europe. While she was born in Slovakia, she is solicitous about Slovak design, but her nr.1 favorites are the Czech designers. She has worked as a design manager for several Hungarian design brands (DOT for You, Fruzsi Fekete Jewelry, etc.). She is the curator of TELEP Gallery in Budapest. In her opinion: design should be a universal solution better than just a “styling” thing.

Inspiration: Le Corbusier

The exhibition Inspiration: Le Corbusier will take you from Zlín to the collective house Unité d’Habitation in Marseille. Through original photographs, it will present the concepts and ideas of the great Swiss architect Le Corbusier and his unrealised projects in Zlín. His indirect influence on contemporary artists will be revealed through a selection of selected products, both Czech and foreign, who find inspiration in modern architecture and brutalism.

The exhibition will feature the Japanese brand Tajimi Custom Tiles, Czech manufacturer of bentwood furniture TON, Danish company TEKLA, French designers Aurélie Benoit, Marie Bonnot, Frédérick Gautier, French-English designer Pauline Hagan, Slovak designer Adriana Šatková, Czech studio Palma de Alma and designer Adéla Bačová.

Where: Zlín Chateau, Soudní 1, Zlín
From when to when: 3 May – 28 May
Opening hours: during ZDW daily 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM; after ZDW: Wednesday – Friday 2:00 PM – 6:00 PM, Saturday 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Opening: Thursday, 4 May at 7:00 PM
Entrance: 49 CZK (online on the website of Živý Zlín and at the venue in cash)
Accessibility: no barrier-free access, English version
Curators: Adéla Bačová, Lenka Sršňová
Co–curators: Laura Serra, Maxime Forest (Kolektiv Cité Radieuse, Marseille)
Co-organizer of the exhibition: Živý Zlín