TRANSITION will be at the heart of this year’s Fremantle Design Week, with a focus on global ideas while celebrating Freo’s unique design culture.
Structured to be a “walkable” festival, the Design Week hub will be based out of the PS Art Space in the West End but will feature events scattered across Freo.
Hosted by Design Freo, this year’s Design Week will include over 50 “design-inspired” events, including films, workshops, open studios, tours, and conversations centred around the ‘transition’ theme.
• Design is all around us, and not just for the elite, says Design Freo founder Pippa Hurst.
Design Freo founder Pippa Hurst says this year’s event is an opportunity to look at how design “impacts on our lives in every way”.
“The theme really comes from us looking at what’s happening in the world, and there is such a lot of climate and economic change, and other challenges that we’re facing,” Ms Hurst said.
“The idea with transition is to look at how we might change the way we do things when business as usual isn’t working, so we use that as a curatorial cue for our conversation series and our exhibitions, so that we can open up new perspectives and new ways of seeing and doing things.”
It’s a welcome acknowledgement of Freo’s design culture, according to Ms Hurst.
“Fremantle is really well known for its creativity and as an arts place, but it’s less well known that our design community is so rich and diverse,” she said.
“We recognise that as a city where the arts are nurtured and celebrated, and this is about just adding another layer to that and recognising that design is a big part of what we have.
“We see it as another way to bring people to Fremantle to try and build on the sustainability of our city, economically and socially and culturally, and really celebrate this other layer of creativity that we have here.”
• Pippa Hurst
Homegrown designers will feature as part of the Week’s events, including artist Daryl Dempster, architects Michael Patroni and Dimmity Walker, makers Olive Gill-Hille and Jack Flanagan, amongst many others.
The notable work of LA-based filmmaker and speculative architect Liam Young will also be on display.
The aim of Design Week, according to Ms Hurst, is to “move away from the idea that design is expensive or elitist” and to make it more accessible to the general public.
“One of our main objectives is to demystify design and promote the idea that design is for everyone, it’s not something that is only for the wealthy,” Ms Hurst said.
“Everyone interacts with design all the time… everything that you look at has been designed.
“We’re looking at how do we can make good design decisions and bring joy to our lives through good design.”
Fremantle Design Week will be running from October 18 – 25.
More information is available at the Design Freo website.
by KATHERINE KRAAYVANGER