The DESIGN Canberra Festival, with generous support of the City Renewal Authority’s City Grants Program, will present a newly curated program of city-based festival activity in 2018.

Now in its fifth year, DESIGN Canberra has grown to become a festival with a regional and global focus which is a critical and collaborative forum for contemporary, relevant, experimental and authentic design. The ambition and values of the festival are a great fit with the goals of the City Renewal Authority.

To support our city’s vitality, livability and love-ability, a series of high profile events, local and international artists, tours and talks, arts installations and design collaborations will enhance a newly curated program of city-based festival activity.

The City Renewal Authority’s support makes such installations as Daily tous les jours’ Museum of Possibilities possible in this year’s festival. The Museum of Possibilities is a large-scale activation of a field of balloons where visitors can share their dreams and visions in a playful, yet actionable poll of public opinion. Daily tours les jours will adapt their award-winning installation for Canberra’s community to imagine the future of their CBD.

Building on the hugely successful collaboration 2017 with local artist Jodie Cunningham in Civic Square, DESIGN Canberra extends invitations to local artists and designers to activate the CBD with geometry-inspired designs. Two large scale ground artworks situated in Civic Square and Petrie Plaza, and 10 graphic artworks printed onto highly visible window-fronts in the CBD, will bring vitality to the city centre. Competition entries are now open for the City Art Call-Out: Graphic Interventions and full terms and conditions can be found here.

DESIGN Canberra is a catalyst for attracting quality global and critical discourse to Canberra to address challenges, opportunities and responsibility for contemporary design and respond to and provide inspiration for the city renewal priorities of our city. A Design Forum will discuss arts, culture and future of our city.

Design lovers will also discover iconic design destinations in the Canberra CBD, including architecture, public art, urban and landscape design and heritage sites. This special edition map will be printed in the festival brochure and available to download from our website.

With support from the ACT Government under the City Renewal Authority’s City Grants program, the DESIGN Canberra Festival is excited to present these events, installations and collaborations as part of the 2018 program.