Lithuanian Design Week opens on 23 May – insights into aesthetics, quality and functionality

The 17th Lithuanian Design Week 2022, which will take place in 6 cities from 23-29 May, invites you to take a look at the design achievements, progress and innovations of recent years, to broaden the concept of design, to give space not only to aesthetics and performativity, but also to insightful functionality and future-oriented solutions, and to uphold the quality of the design.

The organiser of the event – Lithuanian Design Forum – announces that the colour of this year’s design festival will be bright orange and the theme will be “Insights”. The word “insight” is the ability to notice different things that may not be obvious to everyone. Just as the colour itself – a mix of yellow and red – conveys excitement, warmth and enthusiasm, so this year’s theme invites people to reveal their ideas and share their insights and goals with enthusiasm.

A renowned Design Week guest and a design from war-torn Ukraine

The festival will kick off with a public lecture by Frank Stephenson on automotive design on 23 May at 10am. He is a Moroccan-born American automotive designer who has worked with some of the world’s most famous car brands. Motor Trend magazine called him “one of the most influential car designers of our time”. Mr Stephenson will also be hosting a workshop at the VDA. The faculties of the Vilnius Academy of Arts in all cities (Vilnius, Kaunas, Telšiai and Klaipėda) are actively participating in the festival and invite you to the screenings of students’ final works.

On Tuesday, the Radvila Palace Art Museum will open the exhibition “The Soul of Home”, an exhibition of Ukraine fighting for its and our freedom, which confirms the cultural and spiritual stability of Ukrainians, which has always been manifested, even in the most difficult times, by the ability to love the homeland, the desire to live and create. 15 authors tell the story of contemporary Ukrainian design through their work. The organisers of the exhibition refuse to exhibit destroyed cities, houses and interiors – they analyse the meaning of home for every Ukrainian, depicting their soul.

From design in the windows of cities to attractive factory tours

“Design Week offers a wide range of activities and integrations. Temporary exhibitions in the windows of city shops or cafés and in hotel lobbies have become a tradition for passers-by to get to know the latest works of designers. You will find them in places marked with festival stickers. And for professionals, there are even 5 factory tours, showcasing technologies and materials that will give designers a better understanding of the processes that lead to product quality.

Extensive Alytus programme

The residents of Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipėda, Telšiai and Anykščiai have already had the opportunity to get acquainted with contemporary design during the festival, but this year for the first time Alytus, the 2022 Lithuanian Capital of Culture, is joining the “Design Week”. Inesa Pilvelytė, Director of the Alytus City Theatre, says that the city’s first participation in Design Week is a way to pay more attention to design in Alytus, as well as to activate creators, to give the city events, to tell the story of the city, its creators, its inhabitants, and to pay attention to the past and future. The six days of Design Week 2022 will feature exhibitions of Alytus companies’ products, promotional products, various workshops, a design forum, a presentation of the work of young Alytus designers and a street art plein air event, off-beat audio-visual art exhibitions, a presentation of theatrical costume collections, a film screening, and a number of other events.

Interesting exhibitions, displays and presentations

“Design Week offers 34 different types of exhibitions. From jewellery to textiles, from students’ theses to works by world-renowned manufacturers in interior design showrooms, from photography to performative design exhibitions and installations. Of course, there may not be enough time for everything, but you will find content to suit everyone’s interests.

For the full programme of Lithuanian Design Week 2022, visit https://dizainosavaite.lt/programa-2022/

Design Week is organised by the Lithuanian Design Forum and partly funded by the Lithuanian Council for Culture.

Contact: gurevicius@dizainoforumas.lt, tel. +370 699 83 242