Melbourne Design Week 2017: Design Values

Melbourne launched its first Design Week from March 16 to 26, 2017, organized by the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) in collaboration with the Government of Victoria and the Department of Contemporary Design and Architecture. The ten-day program featured expert talks, exhibitions, workshops, architecture tours, roundtables, and commercial events across galleries, showrooms, studios, museums, markets, bars, warehouses, shops, and pop-up venues. It also included a Book Art Fair, the largest in the Asia-Pacific region with over 100 exhibitors. The closing talk featured Guillermo Parada and Tamara Pérez Sandoval of the Chilean studio gt2p (great things to people), known for research in digital fabrication and technological processes. The theme "Design Values" aimed to provoke reflection on design's expanding role intersecting with economy, health, science, ecology, and technology. Martin Foley, Minister for Creative Industries, stated that MDW would explore the value design brings to Victoria's life, community, business, and industry. NGV director Tony Ellwood noted that MDW 2017 was the first of four annual programs curated by NGV, strengthening Melbourne's reputation as a design and architecture city attracting a creative audience with innovative projects from around the world.