Is Kraków a city of design? Of course! Especially in November!

The City of Kraków project A Thing for Art. Design in Kraków (16 November – 2 December) brings together events held throughout the city by dozens of partners including institutions, universities and academies, museums, cultural centres, foundations and private galleries.

The first edition of the two-week long festival celebrating fascinating spatial design and unusual objects kicks off with the Kraków Meetings with Design (15-18 November), hosted for the fourth time by Cracow School of Art And Fashion Design (KSA). Lectures at the School of Interior Design are presented by Prof. Czesława Frejlich, Jadwiga Husarska and the multimedia artist and designer Zuzanna Niespor. Workshops introduce basics of interior design and reveal tricks of choosing colour schemes; there are also ceramics and pottery workshops, upcycling jewellery-making workshops and sewing and dressmaking workshops (book your place at www.zaprojektowani.com.pl). The exhibition Photospaces is an artistic look by students from KSA on the world around them, combining photography, architecture and fashion. On Sunday 18 November, the Zaprojektowani Fair at the Stara Zajezdnia former tram depot presents wares by around a hundred exhibitors, from individual artisans to small studios and workshops.

The following two weekends bring the Kiermash Independent Fashion Fair at the Czeczotka Palace, the Vintage and Retro Kogel Mogel Fair at the Kraków Forum of Culture, the “Kup se” Design Fair at Dolnych Młynów, and the Nówka Sztuka Fair presenting works by young artists and designers at the Design Forum and Bunkier Sztuki.

What else? There are plenty of exhibitions, including a presentation of special projects created by students at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow at the Dystans Gallery, Young Design in front of ICE Kraków, a presentation at the Henryk Gallery focusing on young voices in the discussion on the legacy of communist-era factories, and the exhibition Do It (Her)self at the Nośna Gallery celebrating women’s contribution to applied arts. The Dydo Gallery recalls minimalist posters by Władysław Pluta, while the project of the Nowa Huta Cultural Centre Space for Art presents a review of works by the eminent Cracovian printmaker Franciszek Bunsch. We will also discover the results of the competitions 3D – Heritage for Design with each entrant transforming a selected object from Kraków’s museum collections, Freeing Pegasus for best gadget design using prints by Krzysztof Radoszek, and a competition in applied glassmaking. Don’t miss the exhibitions Wyspiański at the Main Building of the National Museum in Krakow, Orient at Bunkier Sztuki, the presentation showcasing the urban design of Nowa Huta at the district’s branch of the Historical Museum of the City of Kraków, and Architecture of Independence at the International Cultural Centre. On 29 November, the Design Forum at the former Hotel Cracovia launches the Debut Zone: a space promoting works by young designers to manufacturers and the public.

An important part of the programme of “A Thing for Art” are conferences and debates, including Day of Colour 2018. Colours in Design at the Academy of Fine Arts, a debate bringing together representatives of science, culture, politics and business to discuss links between arts and crafts prepared by the GAP Artistic Agency and hosted at the Ethnographic Museum, a conference dedicated to universal design _senses_vs._things_ at the Małopolska Garden of Arts organised by the Małopolska Voivodeship as part of the Creative City programme, and Element Urban Talks comprising lectures, consultations, workshops, architectural guided walks, film screenings and networking sessions with participants including Zuzanna Skalska, Dan Hill, Roger Swales and Peter Kentie.

“A Thing for Art” also includes an extensive programme of lectures and workshops for kids at venues throughout the city. There are also guided walks to places usually inaccessible to the public and meetings at studios of Cracovian artists who reveal some of the secrets of their craft.

The celebrations of design also feature outdoor presentations: Wolnica Square reveals benches referencing collections of the Ethnographic Museum, interactive installations for children and green spaces, while Zabłocie unveils a glowing mural resembling a radio receiver from the 1970s and 1980s.

In November, Kraków is taken over by designers! Detailed programme and information on participating in individual events in other sections of “Karnet”, flyers and at www.krakow.pl. (Dorota Dziunikowska, “Karnet” monthly)