10.05. – 09.06.2019; Graz
Gender – Design – Power. Female, male, neuter: Does gender specific design exist? The Design Month Graz examines social constructs.
Conditioning still works: pink, plush and glitter for women – blue, strong and edgy for men. The strategies of gender marketing are as simple as they are effective. It is no accident that we tend to reach for those products which explicitly address our gender. So, who designs those objects that accompany us on a daily basis?
Men still dominate the areas of industry and product design, while women prefer fashion and graphic design. Under the heading of “Women and Design”, the Design Month Graz wants to play on gender specific stereotypes – and to expose, disprove and eliminate them. Would the world look any different if women would set the tone in product design and men, on the other hand, in the fashion industry?
“Designmonat Graz” questions: Is design is the wrong place to practise feminism with loud slogans? A network of young, confident designers, who rather use their works than their voices to impress, has already been formed. One of them is FANNY , a young architect from Graz. Under the label fanny et mari, she restores and breathes new life into old objects to make them suitable for daily use again. In the studio at Alberstraße 18, people can admire and purchase her humorous work.
Room for design made by women
Once again, the format Design in the City offers designers and design-oriented shops the opportunity to be part of the programme with one of their projects. Viennese designer Doris Darling and her “superstrong lamps” will be one of the thematic highlights. Lamps or barbells – you cannot really tell. Her works will be exhibited in the Lost Soles Store at Schmiedgasse 20. The corresponding photo series shows interesting Viennese women in their living spaces and how they become superheroines by lifting the lamps.
Michaela Polz-Hofer collects flea market discoveries that you do not make yourself in her misch MASCH store that was newly opened in 2018. At Josefigasse 3, she sells collector’s items and unique pieces. For Design Month Graz, she invited Claudia Werchota, an architect from Graz, who will exhibit pieces from her label Room No9. Small pieces of furniture, vases and sculptures can be seen.
In spite of the programme’s focus on “women & design”, male designers also get their chance. After all, the Design Month is not about choosing one thing over the other but about offering a stage to talented creative minds of all sexes. Exhibitions, workshops, design talks and guided tours provide space for exchange, while the focus encourages designers to disprove gender stereotypes with relish.
Designmonat
10.05. – 09.06.2019
Various locations
Graz
www.designmonat.at
With the exhibition “A Collection from Istanbul” and a three-day programme on the island in the Mur, the Turkish design metropolis is taking part in the Design Month as a cooperation partner. In the designforum Steiermark different objects from the areas Fashion, Craft, Graphic, Architectural and Industrial Design that are produced in Istanbul are exhibited. Design meetings, workshops and a Turkish Night will take place on the island in the Mur. As every year the programme items “Design in the City”, the CIS Design Battle and the assembly Fashion and Product Design Festival will once again be represented. All programme items can be found below.
Opening
10.05.2019
Joanneumsviertel
World Wide Things Exhibition
11.05.-09.06.2019
Neue Galerie Graz
Istanbul City of Design Collection
Exhibition
12.05.-29.05.2019
designforum Graz
FH JOANNEUM Lecture Days
14.05.-15.05.2019
Joanneumsviertel Auditorium
Istanbul @ Murinsel Graz
Workshops, Design Meetings and Turkish Night
16.05.-18.05.2019
Murinsel Graz
CIS Design Battle
Woodn-Design competition
22.05.2019
Tischlerei Josef Prödl
Kirchberg
assembly 2019
Festival for Fashion- and Productdesign
24.05.-26.05.2019
Kunsthaus Graz
