Three of the best designs will debut at a key European design and innovation event
Kyiv, October 15, 2020. — From 17 to 25 October, Ukrainian designers will take part in the Dutch Design Week — the largest design event in Northern Europe. This year, our country will be represented by three teams who have won the competition within the framework of the international European Design Upgrade project. The project is being implemented in partnership with K.Fund, GoLocal and Brussels Creative, Belgium and Urban Mill, Finland.
“At the time of serious global changes in Europe and the world, Ukraine’s participation in the role of the leader of the international consortium of cultural institutions is especially important. In the process of implementing the project, Ukrainian designers and mentors exchanged a huge number of ideas with Finnish and Belgian partners and enriched each other with invaluable experience,” Olena Dobrorodneva, Vice President of K.Fund, conceptual leader of European Design Upgrade project, said.
“The European Design Upgrade project has shown how resilient our creative community is. We are often pointed as the future engine of the European economy. And I think the Covid-19 challenges will increase the importance of this role. During the pandemic, our program changed into a hybrid format – and as a result we got a lot of new and inspiring ideas, and cross-cultural teams made projects more creative and multidisciplinary,” Alan Heureux, co-founder of Brussels Creative, said.
The participation of Ukrainian designers in Dutch Design Week was preceded by a lecture program, a hackathon, prototyping and competitive selection, according to which three winning teams were selected from 37 applicants. All projects have a social impact and are trying to solve acute social problems.
• The authors of the Nano Retention project have developed a special biomaterial that can retain water and block the noise of the city. To do this, designers use bacterial cellulose -— a material that bacteria produce during the fermentation of kombucha.
• The Changeable project team creates removable textile and 3D printed prosthesis covers. This approach allows not to hide the prosthesis, but to make out of it a stylish accessory.
• Prints on clothes from the Pink Glasses project in ultraviolet light are complemented with new details – and highlight the problems of global warming, pollution, war or discrimination.
During Dutch Design Week, Ukrainian designers plan to hold presentations and meetings online. Details will be published on the project’s Facebook page.
In addition, on October 22 at 10.30 am within the framework of Dutch Design Week in the UNIT.City innovation park (UNIT.Core premises), an exhibition of the design projects of finalists will be held. It will open with an international discussion “What is radical creativity?”. During the discussion the experts from Belgium, Finland and Ukraine will talk about the challenges that the Ukrainian creative ecosystem is facing and discuss opportunities for development and cooperation.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Dutch Design Week is the largest annual design event in Northern Europe that presents works and concepts from over 2,600 designers to over 355,000 visitors.
K.Fund was founded by Ukrainian entrepreneur Vasyl Khmelnytsky in 2015 to support projects in the field of education and economics. K.Fund’s mission is to provide keys for development and implementation, provide opportunities for acquiring new knowledge and skills, to promote discoveries and help to reach a new level.
The project is funded with the support of the European Commission. The publication reflects solely the views of the author and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use of the information contained therein.
The project is funded with the support of the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation.
