DESIGN WEEK LITHUANIA: Kaunas

For the fifth year in a row DESIGN WEEK LITHUANIA takes place in Kaunas city. This year the main events of the festival were gathered under one roof – in vintage Milk Center Palace located in the heart of the city.

Building previously served as shops, coffee shops, barber shops, offices or apartments during DESIGN WEEK LITHUANIA became a second home for designers and design lovers. The upper floors of the building were full of conferences, expositions, workshops. Also, design and fashion fair  KODAS|477 was organised during the festival. Outside the building DJs from Lithuanian DJ Association and festival volunteers took care of attracting more and more visitors as well as creating great mood all around.

One of the main topics this year in Kaunas was up-cycling design as a creative technique for converting old or useless objects into quality goods. For developing this topic, festival guests from Finland Henrik and Isa Enbom presented exhibition Real Life Playback. Social project Kūrybos kampas 360 contributed to this idea as well and invited festival visitors to renew some old objects. In the exposition OLD is NEW art lovers and creatives had a chance to create their own objects out of old materials.

What is more, design change was discussed during the festival. More than 30 unique expositions were presented under this topic – from vintage furniture exposition to Kaunas drama theatre posters collection.

Kaunas University of Technology presented several expositions: Linomagija III and Towards KTU diploma. Professors of the university invited to lectures cycle „From technology to design or vice versa?“. In the students’ town sculpture installation Library of Shapes was opened.

Connections with the past were illustrated in various workshops: initiative for reviving Nemunas river coast in Kaunas city „TẽKA: Kaunas cultural life close to the water“ and creative workshop with NYKOKA in the project Veidasienė (Wall of Faces).

Kaunas Photography Club together with the author of the initiative Regimantas Meilutis presented a unique project – on one outside wall of Milk Centre Palace building exposed the biggest piece of cyanotipe in Lithuania – Tree of life.

By tradition project DESIGNOVATION.LT invited young and well known designers to present their works in the windows of shops and cafes located in the city centre.

DESIGN WEEK LITHUANIA 2017 – May 1-7. More information about the event: dizainosavaite.lt // Facebook // Instagram // info@dizainosavaite.lt.