The catchphrase of this edition is "well-being". Here's what Andżelika Jabłońska, the festival's curator, has to say about the choice of this year's theme: "It first came up last year. Despite different economic and political circumstances, it seemed even then that the theme would provide an inspiring focal point for addressing social and environmental issues. This year's programme centres on sustainability while identifying new materials and innovative solutions in design. We believe that in a rapidly changing world afflicted by the war in Ukraine, runaway inflation, and the climate crisis, considerable value can be derived from exploring the status of well-being and the related role of today's designers.

She adds that the choice of theme ties closely to architecture and functional objects. "In selecting our theme for 2022, we were guided by the desire to reflect on the subjective concept of well-being and its manifestations in architecture, communal and private spaces, and on the way we interact with everyday objects", explains the curator.

This year's festival visitors will get to taste "well-being" tea specially composed for the event by the designer Sara Grolewska. The organisers also reveal that the visitors will be given a chance to contribute to the fanzine that is going to be developed during the festival. "We want all people to experience well-being although we understand it may mean something different to different people. We therefore encourage our guests to make a zine about well-being together", she says. Well-being will be the focus of the festival's main display named Well-Being Laboratory, prepared by the curator Agata Kiedrowicz, and presented at the Słodownia (Malthouse) in Stary Browar (Old Brewery). "Works by Tomek Rygalik and students associated with the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts will be displayed in an exhibition dubbed Subjective Well-Being. Also to be presented will be the Szczecin Academy of Arts while works by Oskar Zięta will be on view in the Vzory Studio on ul. Ślusarska", notes the curator.

Next to the exhibitions, the festival will feature debates, film screenings, and workshops intended for children, adolescents, families, and seniors. "As has been our tradition, we will kick off with a series of lectures and debates called Poznań Design Talks held to shed light on the meaning of our "Well-Being" slogan. The guests will include architect Tomasz Konior, designer Paweł Grobelny, and Michał Wiśniewski of the International Cultural Centre of Kraków. Also in attendance will be designers, who will take part in three discussion panels on 23 September in the New Stage area of the Zamek (Castle) Cultural Centre", she adds.

Scheduled as well is a film screening arranged by the organisers of the Short Waves Festival, which itself is widely recognised in Poznań. "Thanks to international short film festival curators, we will show a film and debate the status of the common good. I expect it to be highly stimulating and diverse", concludes Andżelika Jabłońska.

Julia Niedziejko

translation: Krzysztof Kotkowski

Poznań Design Festival

23 September - 1 October

Old Brewery, Zamek (Castle) Cultural Centre, Vzory Studio

For more, see: poznandesignfestiwal.pl

© Wydawnictwo Miejskie Posnania 2022