Coming up next week from January 18th – 27th, the DesignTO Festival (formerly the Toronto Design Offsite Festival) is returning for it’s 9th year. Not only is the highly-anticipated Festival coming back with a new look and name, it’s also adding three more design-filled days to the schedule to welcome more talented designers, artists, and speakers.
DesignTO is Canada’s largest cultural celebration of design with over 100 exhibitions and events across several different disciplines, thus forming Toronto’s design week. The Festival transforms Toronto into a hub for creativity, taking design and art out of the studio and into the urban sphere, bringing people together to celebrate contemporary culture.
Here are some of the most anticipated exhibits that will be taking place at DesignTO:
Studio Swine – in connection with the exhibition ‘Surface Tension’, Studio Swine will discuss their work using water, demonstrating how combining water conservation with art engages the public with water scarcity and creates a connection to something commonly overlooked.
Death and Dying Discussions – explores the theme of end of life through the lens of design and art. Through participatory and observational experiences, the series invites you to think about your relationship with death and dying as an individual, a member of a family and social network and as a human being in society. (by OCAD students).
One Who Protects a Sibling – an OCAD University project in which pairs of Indigenous and Black makers exhibit the mediated objects and experiences that reflect the dialogues about each other’s identities, aesthetics, and relations to the land.
Experiences of Affordability – an exhibit that poses the questions ‘How can design action shape an influencer the experiences of affordability?’. As the cost of basic human needs continues to rise, the topic of affordability is becoming increasingly critical. Through this exhibit, the Institute without Boundaries will showcase their research and insights on the future of affordability and its impact on the human experience.
Housewarming – setting up a home is an essential human experience and includes traditions and customs that vary across different cultures, times, and locations. Housewarming explores these objects through examining what it means for an object to be both useful and meaningful, and how they can contribute to the many possible experiences of home.
You can take a look at the full schedule here. To request images or request an interview with a DesignTO Festival rep or designer, please respond to this email.