BDW 20 – The Most Comprehensive Showcase of Design in Hungary Turns Twenty

Turning twenty in 2023, Budapest Design Week is the most comprehensive series of events in the creative industry, which offers the largest number of programmes and extends far beyond the boundaries of the capital, whilst also serving as an annual showcase for the design profession. The festival’s anniversary is celebrated between 5 and 15 October, which presents an excellent opportunity for a collective recollection of the past two decades and reflections on the finest moments of design. The series of programmes will present Hungarian creations that have turned iconic by today, along with their designers, as well as Hungarian studios at large, and will also address opinion leaders within the creative industry, offering a glimpse into the diverse future of design, as well as revisiting the past.

The past twenty years of the festival will be evoked on the website budapestdesignweek.hu and its social media pages with the help of the founders, the curators, organisers and partners of BDW of all times, who, on the occasion of this jubilee, will share their fondest memories and thoughts about design and its significance as a gift to the community. The same platforms will offer selected footage from Design Week’s archive to browse and reflective and forward-looking interviews with the most successful participants of our Open Studios programmes for reading; these studios will open their doors again during the festival, affording visitors a peep into their studios and offices.

Leaving behind the virtual world, the achievements and memories of the festival will be brought to life and be available for browsing in a unique installation at the central venue of BDW 20, the Museum of Ethnography. Besides this small exhibition, works by this year’s recipients of the Hungarian Design Award and the Design Management Award will also be on display here.

In addition to celebrating the past, the event series will also contemplate the future: at the venue of BDW 20, our programme SEE INTO THE FUTURE! on 10 October will address the theory of futurology, while on 11 October, our programme WE ARE IN THE FUTURE! will focus on its practice in the present day.

Following the traditions of the previous years, BDW in 2023 will continue to focus on business development: on our themed day on 12 October, we will reflect on the opportunities for the development and promotion of creative businesses from multiple aspects. Starting the day with the programme FutureEXISTENCE, we will present the Hungarian and foreign competitions and mentorship programmes available to the creative industry, with special regard to outlining the timetable for major competition applications. This will be followed by our programme FutureVISION, where Hungarian institutions of tertiary education will present their innovative ideas that include new education models to help shape the future. The event is also inspired by the European Year of Skills announced by the European Union for 2023. To celebrate this double anniversary, the Start Up Guide LIVE event, which commences its 5th year of existence this year, will wrap up the day by analysing the successful operation of businesses in the creative industry with the participation of design entrepreneurs who began their careers or founded their first business and achieved notable results recognised with prestigious awards in the past 20 years, parallel to the inception and “growing up” of Budapest Design Week.

More Information: budapestdesignweek.hu