València Design Fest unveils its programme and kicks off a whole month dedicated to creativity

Design will dominate the city’s cultural and professional calendar throughout the month of September.

Exhibitions, conferences, editorial presentations, thematic routes and audiovisual screenings open to all audiences will take place, alongside major events such as Feria Hábitat València, the TAC! Festival and Valencia Disseny Week.

The main objective of the festival promoted by the Fundació del Disseny (Design Foundation) is to continue highlighting the Valencian Community’s image on a national and international scale as a territory indisputably linked to design.

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September is synonymous with design in Valencia. The design sector’s calendar is once again focused on the Valencian Community throughout the month thanks to a programme that is open to both the general public and the professional sector. It was within this context, as a brand that embodies the spirit of València World Design Capital 2022, that València Design Fest was born. A festival that seeks to promote the best version of Mediterranean design and to value the conjunction of major events such as Feria Hábitat València, València Disseny Week (organised by the Designers’ Association of the Valencian Community) and the urban architecture festival TAC!.

For its part, the programme proposed by the Fundació del Disseny throughout the festival will begin with the film and design cycle that will be held every Thursday in September at the Centre del Carme Cultura Contemporània (CCCC), the venue where the largest number of initiatives included in the official programme will be held. This film series will include the short documentary “Això també passarà” (7 September), about how a falla (a giant figure created for celebrations) became a global symbol of the confinement after the outbreak of the Covid-19 crisis; the first screening of the documentary that reflects the legacy of València World Design Capital 2022, directed by Andreu Signes (14 September); the short film “Thimea” by Susana Fialho Mota, with art direction by Jaime Hayon (21 September); and the documentary “Urbanized” on the design of cities, by veteran Gary Hustwit (28 September). The screening on the first Thursday in September will be followed by the festival’s grand opening party.

Two exhibitions will also be launched for the first time within the framework of the València Design Fest. In the “Time and Matter” exhibition, curated by Estudio Savage, plastic experimentation and contact with raw materials are a fundamental factor in the selection of the pieces included in the show. At the Centre del Carme Cultura Contemporània (CCCC), from 14 September onwards, the public will be able to discover objects that are used to highlight the most relevant contemporary craftsmanship on a national scale, such as those designed by Canoa Lab, aldanondoyfdez and Simuero, among others. The exhibition has the support of the Ministry of Culture and Sport’s General Directorate of Cultural Industries for its development and will be accompanied by a major inaugural conference, as well as various guided tours, designed to reflect on the current momentum of contemporary craftsmanship in Spain.

Another of the exhibitions that will take centre stage at València Design Fest will be “Memories Objects” at the Palacio de Colomina, curated by Studio Inma Bermúdez (National Design Award 2022), in partnership with MadLab and the CEU Cardenal Herrera University. The focus of this exhibition is on unique pieces of diverse functionality and strong symbolic character, with a contemporary point of view; placing particular emphasis on small decorative objects, designed and produced in Spain. It includes designs by Valencian creators with extensive experience, such as Eli Gutiérrez, Vicent Martínez, Héctor Serrano and Made Studio, as well as Studio Inma Bermúdez’s own designs. The exhibition will be accompanied by creative workshops, given by Moritz Krefter and Inma Bermúdez, with the aim of highlighting the value of sustainability in the decorative object produced with cardboard.

As a major exhibition proposal, the show “Scenarios of a Near Future”, curated by the specialist journalist Tachy Mora, will be travelling to Feria Hábitat València between 19 and 22 September, after its launch during València World Design Capital 2022 at the Centre del Carme Cultura Contemporània (CCCC).

For their part, the editorial presentations will be shaped by the international careers of their protagonists. Architects and photographers Anna Devís and Daniel Rueda will present their eagerly awaited first publication “Happytecture” on 12 September at the Territorial College of Architects of Valencia (CTAV), a book with a carefully crafted aesthetic and great visual appeal that reviews the work of this duo, renowned for the geometry, perspective and narrative achieved in their snapshots.

On 19 September at Centre del Carme Cultura Contemporània (CCCC), the architect and designer Ramón Esteve will present his new book that traces his career in product design; an editorial piece that has been designed by Ramón Úbeda. The meeting, which is open to the general public, will include a discussion with Ramón Esteve himself and design promoter Juli Capella.

The focus on publications will culminate with the premiere of a new publishing club, organised by Fundació del Disseny, which is released on a monthly basis and was created with the aim of highlighting and reflecting on various aspects linked to design and creation on paper.

València Design Fest will be included in the programme of TAC!, a festival organised annually by the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda and the Arquia Foundation in various cities throughout Spain, promoting innovation and experimentation in architecture through the construction of a temporary pavilion, which on this occasion will be held in València from 14 September to 16 October. Among the activities proposed by the Fundació del Disseny at the TAC! pavilion —located in the Plaza López Chavarri as a temporary and unique construction—you will be able to enjoy a lettering workshop, two workshops devoted to highlighting Nolla mosaics and Valencian tiles, a workshop devoted to the use of design to stimulate speech, language and communication in children with specific needs, and a final workshop designed to highlight Valencian orchards through play.

The most important week for Valencian design will be the València Disseny Week (organised by the Valencian Community Designers’ Association) from 18 to 22 September, and the Hábitat València and Home Textiles Premium by Textilhogar fairs, from 19 to 22 September. Major events in the professional calendar that this year stand out for their positive inertia in terms of the stands and cultural content that have been added.

As for València Disseny Week, this is its 14th year as an annual benchmark event and a meeting point for professionals, studios, educational centres and companies linked to the sector and the public. In 2023, the programme includes around 40 events and activities for all kinds of audiences, open to participation from anyone who may be interested, whether or not they are linked to design in their professional lives. There will be workshops, conferences, exhibitions, routes and open-door sessions, talks and presentations, with different types of content and approaches.

“One of our priorities as Fundació del Disseny is and will be to continue the work of bringing design and creativity closer to the general public. With this in mind, València Design Fest came to be naturally after the successful participation at València World Design Capital 2022 of all the figures from the world of design and of society as a whole”, says Xavi Calvo, director of the Fundació del Disseny de la Comunitat Valenciana.

The media presentation ceremony was held this morning in the courtyard of the València Territorial College of Architects (CTAV) by Xavi Calvo (director of the Fundació del Disseny), who was accompanied by representatives from numerous associations that play a special role in the festival: Nuria Matarredona (General Director of Urban Agenda and Architecture at the Ministry of Mobility, Transport and Urban Agenda), Javier Peña (artistic director of the TAC! Festival), José Luis Pérez Pont (director of the Consorci de Museus de la Comunitat Valenciana), José Luis Moreno (councillor for Cultural Action, Heritage and Cultural Resources of Valencia), Maite Ibáñez (councillor at the City Council of Valencia), Carlos Salazar (CTAV culture spokesperson) and Yolanda Herráiz (President of the Designers’ Association of the Valencian Community), Pepe Cosín (dean of the Association of Interior Designers of the Valencian Community, or the CDICV), Xavier Giner (co-director of the Arxiu Valencià del Disseny) and Vicent Martínez (president of the Fundació del Disseny de la Comunitat Valenciana).

The festival is supported by the City Council of Valencia, the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, the Ministry of Culture and Sport, Visit Valencia and Feria Valencia. Some of the programmes associated with València Design Fest include Feria Hábitat and Home Textiles Premium by Textilhogar, València Disseny Week (organised by the Designers’ Association of the Valencian Community), TAC! Festival, Abierto Valencia and Open House Valencia. València Design Fest also receives its main sponsorship from the furniture firm Andreu World, as well as sponsorship from APE Grupo, Cerveza Turia, LZF Lamps, Padima, Punt and Simon.

Other partners include ADCV, the College of Interior Designers of the Valencian Community (CDICV), the Centre del Carme Cultura Contemporània (CCCC), the Museu de Belles Arts de València, the College of Architects of Valencia (CTAV), LAVAC, Miradors de l’Horta, the Pocket Design magazine, CEU Cardenal Herrera University, Arxiu Valencià del Disseny, EASD (Escola Superior de Disseny de València), Barreira Arte+Diseño, LABA València, Las Naves, Maison & Objet and the European Brand & Packaging Design Association (EPDA).