Festival: NYCxDESIGN
This is NYC’s annual celebration of design in all its forms and disciplines. Installations, talks, showrooms, and fairs will be popping up throughout the city. Our top picks: be on the lookout for ICFF and Brooklyn Designs.
When and where: May 11-23, New York City
The Venice Biennale always makes for an excellent excuse to visit the city. For its 16th edition, the Architecture Biennale is exploring the concept of “freespace”, causing a stir in the design community. Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara, the Biennale’s curators (and powerful thinkers), discuss the “sense of humanity at the core of architecture’s agenda.” To do so, they invited 71 studios and individuals to address the pressing international issues at hand. The U.S. pavilion is already drawing much attention with its “Dimensions of Citizenship” project.
When and where: May 26-November 25, Giardini – Arsenale, Venice, Italy
Conference: 99U conference
Spanning over three days, the conference brings together 1,000 professionals for a series of talks and workshops, in which they’ll share notes and insights about their creative processes. While the event is currently sold out, make sure to check back for updates and interviews with this year’s lineup of speakers.
When and where: May 9-11, New York City
The past doesn’t seem so distant when roaming through the Web Design Museum’s timeline. Reminisce by looking back at the visual fossils of the web, tracing the development of major corporations from the late 1990’s to the current day. Extra reading: this review by Madeleine Morley offers a fascinating and nostalgic account of digital changes.
Bookshelf: The New York Review Books Classic
“Simplicity is what I was thinking about,” said Katy Homans to the New York Times, when presenting the visual language she shaped for the New York Review Books Classic series. She achieved this result by matching the shade of the book’s spine with an additional block of color on the front cover. This is how a series of reissued volumes, that fell out of print or were otherwise neglected, became new indie-fan favorites (sold for $15 each) – and stars on our Instagram feeds.
Exhibition: Bodys Isek Kingelez: City Dreams
Visionary artist Bodys Isek Kingelez created utopian models for imaginary cities, following the growth of his homeland, Congo, after it gained independence from Belgium. Showcased at the MOMA in New York, his work offers an ambitious exploration of questions on urban development, power, and architecture.
When and where: May 26, 2018–January 1, 2019, The Museum of Modern Art, New York City
Conference: Awwwards @ San Francisco
This two-day conference is filled with talks by leading professionals sharing their perspectives on trends, predictions, and ideas within the creative industry. In its coming edition, you’ll find speakers like Matias Corea (co-founder of Behance), Val Head (Design Evangelist at Adobe), and our very own Vuong Tong, Head of Wix Design Playground. He will host a panel alongside artist Carissa Potter and the Wix Ambassador in NYC, Karen Sokolow.
When and where: May 10-11, Palace of Fine Arts Theatre, San Francisco
Exhibition: Shape of Light: 100 Years of Photography
This major exhibition, taking place at London’s Tate Modern, explores the relationship between abstract art and photography, starting from 1910. It shows how innovative photographers responded to, and influenced, the development of abstract thought and art.
When and where: May 2-October 14, Tate Modern, London
