That's A Wrap

Event Feature

Canberra, ACT, Australia

The Design Canberra Festival reached new heights this year with a huge increase in attendees, introducing a larger audience than ever before to the flourishing craft, design and architecture community in Canberra. The festival featured a diverse and exciting program of over 200 exhibitions, open studios, keynote addresses, talks, tours, open houses and even a live auction, as well as the inaugural design writing conference, Object Subject. Almost 80% of events at this year’s festival were free, creating a vibrant atmosphere celebrating the best of local design open to all.

Bringing people from all over Australia, and indeed the world, together over the Design Canberra’s two-week run was a highlight of the 2017 festival, establishing Canberra as a destination for all things design. With over 94,000 people attending, a 37% increase on 2016, the festival is fast becoming one of the country’s best-loved design and architecture events.

This year’s festival drew inspiration from Canberra’s modernist design heritage, celebrating the spirit of innovation and forward-thinking that flourished in Canberra, giving us some of Australia’s most significant midcentury modern architecture and design. Acclaimed American architectural photographer Darren Bradley conducted tours of Canberra’s most iconic buildings, as well as delivering a talk on mid-century modernism in Canberra at the Modernist Dinner held at ANU’s Great Hall. MC’d by none other than Tim ‘Rosso’ Ross of Streets of Your Town, the dinner was one of several events on the program encouraging people to explore Canberra’s wonderful midcentury-modernist history.

Some of the other stand-out programs included the first design writing conference, Object Subject, and the live auction event SELL OUT: Auction Party. Object Subject well exceeded its expected attendance rate with over 95 people attending talks and panel discussions exploring the idea of the role of writing in the future of design. Held over three days, the conference was opened by Jane Caro and included keynote lectures by New York Times design critic Alice Rawsthorn and Yellowtrace founder Dana Tomic Hughes. SELL OUT was held on the opening weekend of the festival and set the tone for the weeks to come. Held at the Fitters and Turners Workshop, the party featured experimental lighting design by House of Vnholy, local wine, beer, spirits and street food, and the chance for people to bid on work by Canberra’s most innovative designers and makers.

The festival also hosted a wide variety of exhibitions, and over 8,000 people attended the curated exhibitions ‘Local Milan’, ‘Home:Made’, ‘Everyday Beautiful’ and ‘Six Degrees of Separation’, which explored the close relationship between Canberra designers and international markets.

Such an incredible turn out is a testament to Design Canberra’s wide variety of events and programs, and a resounding demonstration of the incredible level of interest in local design, craft and architecture. Above all, it shows that Canberra is a haven where design continues to flourish. With this year’s festival such a success, we can’t wait to see what 2018 will bring.