Design Without Borders (DWB) turns 20

This year brings a special jubilee design and all-arts event series at the Kiscelli Museum. The selection will feature works by nearly 200 artists from 20 countries with a representative Italian, Austrian and Slovakian focus, as well as an international contemporary jewellery section and a retrospective on the history of the project.

Organised without any institutional backing, the exhibition and event series has become one of the region's most significant design and by now all-arts exhibition and event series during its two decades thanks to the work of its curators, interior designer Tamás Radnóti and Noémi Ferenczy Award-winning textile artist Szilvia Szigeti. The organisers place design in a broad conceptual field, focusing on dialogue between different regions and cultures, creativity and innovation, combining design, object design, visual arts, performing arts and fine arts.

In keeping with the festive occasion, the 20th Design Without Borders is a comprehensive exhibition including several thematic units. The exhibition opens with a retrospective section in the Kiscelli Museum's Church Hall, where the organisers have selected works by the artists and studios that have defined the event over the years.

In 2024, the focus will be on works by Italian, Austrian and Slovak designers and university students.

In addition to Achille Castiglioni's iconic pieces, the selection includes works by the Achille Castiglioni Foundation, the IED Milano Jewellery Department, major Murano glassware brands, as well as students from the Universität für angewandte Kunst Wien, the Universität Mozarteum Salzburg and VŠVU / AFAD The Academy of Fine Arts and Design, Bratislava.

In connection with the Austrian focus, an important part of the exhibition is a short presentation of Kiscell’s history in the tower rooms, touching on the historical connections between Kiscell and Mariazell, the periods and changes of the building complex through sacral and utilitarian objects, architectural drawings and engravings.

The exhibition also includes works by internationally renowned designers.

Amongst them are Yrjö Kukkapuro of Finland, middle-generation designers such as the Czech Studio Dechem, Rasmus Fenhann of Denmark, Iranian-born Parisian India Mahdavi, and Constance Guisset of France, as well as emerging young designers.

Eco- and socio-conscious projects will continue to play a major role in 2024.

In addition to the Dutch Design Awards-winning REX reusable chair designed by Ineke Hans, Álvaro Catalán de Ocón’s handcrafted lamps from the world-renowned intercontinental Pet lamps collection, and one of the Plastic Rivers carpet collection made in collaboration with GAN Rugs are also coming to Budapest. Responsible thinking is also at the heart of the unit showcasing thesis projects from the Social Design department of the Universität für angewandte Kunst Wien.

The exhibition draws attention to the diversity in the creation of design objects too.

In addition to one-off pieces, object and material experiments, works on the borderline between design and fine art, prototypes and small-batch objects, the exhibition will also showcase single works of brands notable in design history, such as Zanotta from Italy, Venini from Murano, Carlo Moretti, Alessandro Mandruzzato, Gebrüder Thonet with its Austro-Italian identity, Trewit from Austria, Egoe Life from the Czech Republic founded by designers from the region, and BRIK from Slovakia. The youngest generation will be introduced through the works of students from more than 10 major art and design universities.

The hugely popular contemporary jewellery section will be a special feature this year.

The selection of more than 100 pieces will include works by leading artists such as Susanne Hammer and Petra Zimmermann from Austria, Katja Prins and Ted Noten from the Netherlands, Georg Dobler from Germany, Giulia Savino from Italy, Jorge Manila from Mexico, award-winning pieces from the Legnica Silver Festival, and jewellery by Hungarian designers including Anna Börcsök, Veronika Fábián, Katalin Jermakov, and Eszter Sára Kocsor. Alongside the creations of two major galleries, the artists of Resonance in Prague and the course participants of the MANA gallery in Szentendre, the exhibition will present the works of the students of the IED of Milan, KunstModeDesign Herbstrasse of Vienna, VŠVU of Bratislava, HAWK of Hildesheim, KHIO of Oslo, EASD Valencia and MOME of Budapest.

A small selection of TEXHIBITION's recent developments will also be showcased.

Launched ten years ago by textile designer Szilvia Szigeti, the project promotes collaboration between designers and manufacturers.

The line-up will of course include representative pieces of the international audio-visual exhibition “Design Without Borders - Reflections”, hosted by the FUGA Budapest Center of Architecture in autumn 2023.

The selection includes works by Greek-born Copenhagen-based artist George Koutsouris, the Hermina Creative Group, Judit Pinviczki's slit drums, Finnish artist Hemmo Honkonen’s audible cabinet, and a unique sound-, textile- and space-specific installation by Judit Eszter Kárpáti and Esteban de la Torre (EJTECH).

In the spirit of all-arts, a separate unit will present Spot On MozART, the Salzburg Mozarteum's project series based on Mozart's music.

This includes the Shift project, a project on the borderline between textile-classical and contemporary music, and two films by Róza Radnóti, filmed at the Kiscelli Museum, which the young pianist not only directed but also performed in.

The exhibition will be accompanied by an international symposium on 10 May, which will be open for in-person and online participation.

Regular guided tours, concerts and performances of contemporary and classical music will also be part of the programme.

The event’s main supporters are the National Cultural Fund of Hungary and the BTM-Kiscelli Museum; other supporters include the Austrian Cultural Forum, ReFocus Austria, the ITA - Italian Trade Agency, the Italian Cultural Institute of Budapest, and the Slovak Institute of Budapest; contributors and supporters include the Czech Centre in Budapest (CZ), the Embassy of Denmark (DK), the Embassy of Spain in Budapest, the Cervantes Institute in Budapest (ES), the French Institute in Budapest (FR), the Embassy of the Netherlands in Budapest (NL), the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Budapest (NO), the Polish Institute in Budapest (PL), the Camőes Institute (PT), the Romanian Cultural Institute in Budapest (RO), and the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia in Budapest (SI). The event is part of the Budapest Spring Festival, the Budapest 150, and the Night of Museums Programme, with the cooperation of the Budapest Brand.

Határtalan design / Design Without Borders

An exhibition and event series of Czech, Danish, Estonian, Finnish, French, Greek, Dutch, Iranian, Polish, Hungarian Mexican, German, Norwegian, Italian, Austrian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Slovakian, Slovenian, Swiss and Turkish designers of furniture, textiles, jewellery and objects, visual artists, contemporary dancers, contemporary and classical musicians.

Kiscelli Múzeum, 1037 Budapest, Kiscelli u. 108.

10 May – 23 June 2024

Press relations:

Gabriella Rothman rothmangabek@gmail.com (+36 20 33 140 33)

Background material

History of Design Without Borders

In its current form, the exhibition is the result of a unique independent professional collaboration in Hungary. The common goal of the organisers and participants is to create one of the most prestigious independent professional forums in the region, providing a solid foundation for dialogue based on different traditions and cultural roots, and for the organisation of joint international projects and exhibitions. It also raises awareness of the importance of social engagement, patronage, networking, environmental thinking, sustainable development and innovation.

The launch of the project, which is 20 years old this year, was preceded by the organisation of a number of exhibitions. One of the first was BútoroSOKK, a selection of works by Hungarian furniture designers, organised by Tamás Radnóti in the Dome Hall of the Museum of Applied Arts in 1996; the Textivál exhibitions and fashion theatres organised by Szilvia Szigeti and Tamás Radnóti between 1994 and 1998 at the Margaret Island Open-Air Stage, the Víztorony Gallery and the Budapest Kunsthalle; and the Hungarian Furniture of Today, organised by Rita Mária Halasi within the framework of the Home Trend and Design exhibition between 2000 and 2003.

madeinhungary was an independent section of the Home Trend and Design exhibition between 2004 and 2012 in the Kunsthalle, the Gödör Klub and the Millenáris. In 2012 the madeinhungary exhibition was joined with MeeD (Meeting of Central European Designers), showcasing regional designers.

At the 2014 professional day the participants and organisers of the exhibition set the goal to create an even broader international platform in the coming years, now called “Design Without Borders - madeinhungary+MeeD”. Between 2014 and 2019, Design Without Borders was held in cooperation with the Budapest History Museum at the New Budapest Gallery in the Bálna, and since 2020 it has been organised under the title Design Without Borders in cooperation with the Budapest History Museum - Kiscelli Museum.

In 2023, Design Without Borders made its debut outside Hungary. A streamlined selection was showcased at the Umelka Gallery in Bratislava and the Collegium Hungaricum in Vienna as an official programme of the Vienna Design Week.

Following the jubilee exhibition in Budapest, this summer visitors will again be able to see a limited selection at the Umelka Gallery in Bratislava.

Organisers

Since 2004, the exhibition has been organised and managed by interior designer Tamás Radnóti and Ferenczy Noémi Award laureate textile designer Szilvia Szigeti. Both are graduates of the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design and were fellows of the Akademie Schloss Solitude in Stuttgart. Between 2012 and 2020 Szilvia Szigeti was a member of the Akademie Schloss Solitude Board of Trustees. During their career as designers they have participated in numerous exhibitions in Hungary and abroad, and have received a great number of professional awards for their activity. Among others, they won the Lajos Kozma Handcraft Scholarship, the Hungarian Design Award, the Design Management Award and the Ferenczy Noémi Award. In 1994 they co-founded the Unikát Összművészeti Stúdió Bt. and the Eventuell Gallery. They have organised nearly 200 events in Hungary and abroad, and have worked with nearly 4000 designers and fellow artists over the years.

Universities participating in the exhibition:

Academy of Fine Arts and Design, Bratislava, Berlin University of the Arts, European Institute of Design Milano, Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts Krakow, Moholy­ Nagy University of Art and Design, Mozarteum University Salzburg, Oslo National Academy of the Arts, The Valencia School of Art and Design (EASD Valencia), University of Applied Arts Vienna, University of Art and Design of Cluj-Napoca, University of Applied Sciences Graz, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Hildesheim/Holzminden/Göttingen.

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