Designing Sustainable Growth on the Agenda at World Design Capital 2014

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Programfolder for Indaba Design attached

Denmark is putting the spotlight on sustainability and growth at World Design Capital 2014 (Cape Town, South Africa). In the upcoming weeks, Danish design industries and designers will be launching a number of initiatives, conference programs and exhibitions with a special focus on designing sustainable growth.

The Danish contribution to World Design Capital 2014 (WDC14) in Cape Town will be marked by a powerful ambition to put innovative, sustainable design solutions on the international agenda.

Under the umbrella of Designing Sustainable Growth, the Danish Agency for Culture, the Danish Design Centre,  the Danish Fashion Institute, INDEX: Design to Improve Life®, the Danish Cultural Institute and the Centre for Culture and Development (CKU) will jointly focus on sustainability as a value-creating tool for design, crafts and development. The platform is the international Design Indaba Conference 2014, which is being held in connection with WDC14. The conference will be followed by the launch of CICLO Arts Education – a collaborative international art and design project under the auspices of UNESCO in which school children in Cape Town, Rio de Janiero, St. Petersburg and Denmark will work across national boundaries using sustainability as a tool to strengthen their local areas.

WDC14 will also enjoy the participation of six selected craftspeople and designers who, in collaboration with South African and international partners, will make sustainability the focal point for the development of new projects. At the same time, African designers from the CKU-supported Design Network Africa will have a rich opportunity to enter into a dialogue with the Danish participants and designers from all over the world at the GUILD global design fair during WDC14. And, finally, the international design milieu will have an opportunity to explore innovative, sustainable design solutions in the pop-up exhibition ’INDEX: Design to Improve Life®’.  

Ravi Naidoo, founder and managing director of Interactive Africa and Design Indaba, said:
"Danish design is a strong brand in South Africa – this is due, in particular, to Denmark’s long-standing focus on sustainability and durable design solutions. The African design sector is undergoing a period of great growth, but we need talented and innovative international partners. Industry does not grow in a vacuum. Therefore, we are pleased that Danish participation in Cape Town is so strong – in terms of crafts, talent management, industry development and future design solutions.“

Overview of the Danish contribution to World Design Capital 2014 in Cape Town:

• The launch of CICLO Arts Education at Indaba Design 2014: In the spring of 2014, school children in Cape Town (South Africa), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), St. Petersburg (Russia) and Denmark will be working together to find creative and sustainable solutions to improve their local communities. The project will culminate with performances and exhibitions in all four countries during UNESCO’s Arts Education Week on May 19-23, 2014.
  
  
• World-class Danish craft: Six Danish craftspeople and designers have been invited to South Africa by the Danish Agency for Culture to meet with professional African colleagues and commercial partners in order to create new collaborative relationships in the African market.  The six craftspeople are Pil Bredahl, Magrethe Odgaard, Gitte Nygaard, Josephine Winther, Jeremy Walton and Pernille Bülow.
  
  
• Design Network Africa: Denmark’s participation in Cape Town is also about nurturing talent and expanding the international reach of the African design sector. This will be done, inter alia, through Design Network Africa (DNA), which connects designers across Africa through mentorship programmes and exchange of experience. During WDC14, the designers from Design Network Africa will exhibit on the GUILD platform – the first international design fair on African soil – together with designers from other parts of the world.  Read more at cku.dk 

• Making the Difference through Design: The Danish Design Centre (DDC) is putting a spotlight on the future of design with a joint programme for the 2200 delegates at the Design Indaba Conference 2014, moderated by Nille Juul-Sørensen (CEO, DDC) and with presentations from designer Henrik Vibskov, interaction designer Vinay Venkatraman and Mikael Hallstrup from the company Designit.  The presentation will be repeated for an invited audience of 3-400 South African high-school students.

• Designing Sustainable Growth: In a joint programme in connection with the conference’s Design Expo, the Centre for Culture and Development, the Danish Fashion Institute and the Danish Agency for Culture will focus on environmental, social and economic sustainability.

• Educator’s Indaba: INDEX: Design to Improve Life® and the Danish Cultural Institute will introduce their international design education initiatives for an invited audience of leaders and educators from the South African education sector.

• INDEX: mini-exhibit of 2013 prize winners: An exhibition to present the five winners of the INDEX: Award 2013. The exhibition will supplement the other programme points related to INDEX:, including a special evening event for a selected group of conference participants in which three of the five winners will open up a discussion on perspectives in their design and that of the other winners. 

Facts:  
The Danish participation in WDC 2014 is supported by the International Cultural Panel.  The Danish Agency for Culture, the Danish Design Centre, the Danish Fashion Institute, INDEX: Design to Improve Life®, the Centre for Culture and Development (CKU) and the Danish Cultural Institute have jointly coordinated the effort and put together the programme.

Press images available - please contact sub@kulturstyrelsen.dk
Read more about the Danish contributions at World Design Capital 2014 at www.kulturstyrelsen.dk 

Contact:
Sune Blicher, senior advisor, Danish Agency for Culture, sub@kulturstyrelsen.dk, +45 3374 4562

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