Introducing the inaugural Melbourne Design Fair
National Gallery of Victoria in collaboration with Melbourne Art Foundation announces the launch of the Melbourne Design Fair
March 2022 - Presented as part of Melbourne Design Week, the inaugural Melbourne Design Fair (16 – 20 March 2022) is a commercial showcase of limited edition, rare and one-of-a kind collectable design by Australia’s leading emerging and established contemporary designers and designer-makers. An initiative of the National Gallery of Victoria in collaboration with the Melbourne Art Foundation, the Fair breaks new ground in the presentation, promotion and sale of collectible contemporary design in Australia and will offer audiences a unique cultural experience with all the design works presented available for purchase.
Melbourne Design Fair is a key event within the Victorian government backed Melbourne Design Week program, and the first of its kind in Australia to bring together designers, design organisations, agencies, studios and galleries with collectors to meet and do business over five days at Warehouse 16. 28 Duke Street in Abbotsford.
_Photo%20by%20Sean%20Fennessy.jpg "Elliat Rich, Standing Mirror (2018) from the Other Places series 2018, acrylic, edition of 8, 180 x 115 x 60cm. Copyright Elliat Rich, Courtesy of Sophie Gannon Gallery. Photo by Sean Fennessy.")
The Fair will showcase collectible contemporary design works across two platforms: PRESENT where galleries, design organisations, agencies and studios mount dedicated displays by the design creatives they represent, and SELECT, a curated exhibition featuring the best works by emerging and established designers and designer-makers from across Australia. Works across both platforms will be available for purchase.
PRESENT includes presentations by thirteen of Australia's leading galleries, design organisations, agencies, and studios. Participation in the inaugural Fair, curated by NGV includes Gallery Sally Dan-Cuthbert (Sydney), Sophie Gannon Gallery (Melbourne), Studio Roland Snooks (Melbourne), Sullivan+Strumpf (Sydney), Broached Commissions (Melbourne), Agency Projects (Melbourne), Christopher Boots (Melbourne), C. Gallery (Melbourne), Craft (Melbourne), JamFactory (Adelaide), Local Design (Sydney), Modern Times (Melbourne) and Design Tasmania (Tasmania).
_Photo%20by%20Sean%20Fennessy.jpg "Installation view of Elliat Rich's Other Places series (2018). Photo by Sean Fennessy.")
SELECT brings together over thirty-five Australian design creatives in a presentation curated by Simone LeAmon, NGV’s Hugh Williamson Curator of Contemporary Design and Architecture. Works for sale will manifest in a compelling exhibition comprising a mix of Australian design luminaries and rising stars, including Dale Hardiman, Ashley Eriksmoen, Emery and Poole, Pirjo Haikola, Elliot Bastianon, Marta Figueiredo, Jordan Fleming, Adam Goodrum, Brodie Neill, Ella Saddington, Susan Cohn, James Lemon, Delissa Walker, Helen Kontouris, Jon Goulder, Andrew Carvolth, Cassie Leatham, Anna Varendorff and Damien Wright, among others.
Providing an unrivalled opportunity to view, discover and purchase significant works of collectable contemporary design by Australian and New Zealand designers, Melbourne Design Fair will include a program of talks and conversations with exhibiting designers, design curators, and critics to broaden awareness of the contemporary collectable design scene in Australia and internationally, and a film series presented by major partner Mercedes-Benz Australia, offering further insight into the creative practices and design work of participating designers.
Martin Pakula, Acting Minister for Creative Industries, said: “The NGV and the Melbourne Art Foundation joining forces for Melbourne Design Fair showcases Melbourne’s best talents while creating economic opportunity for local designers. Melbourne Design Fair will be a highlight of Melbourne Design Week 2022.”
Tony Ellwood AM, Director of the National Gallery of Victoria, said: “Presented in partnership with the Melbourne Art Foundation, Melbourne Design Fair builds on the NGV’s long-standing commitment to the local design sector and its practitioners. The Fair is a new and innovative opportunity to showcase the extraordinary work of our talented designers, galleries and studios. Bringing together the design sector and its supporters for the very first time, this event is a unique proposition in Australia and proudly positions design as an integral part of the artistic and fiscal vitality of our creative industries.”
Maree Di Pasquale, CEO of Melbourne Art Foundation, said: “Melbourne Design Fair marks a significant moment for design in Australia. Established in response to the increasing demand from collectors to have access to highly collectable contemporary design on Australian shores, the Fair will be a true celebration of design culture and commerce in this country. Melbourne Art Foundation is delighted to collaborate on the vision of the National Gallery of Victoria curatorial team to deliver this national first. A platform for investment and innovation, Melbourne Design Fair will bring together the region’s most influential designers and makers, collectors, curators, and critics to cultivate a new commercial market for collectable design."
Simone LeAmon, The Hugh Williamson Curator of Contemporary Design and Architecture, National Gallery of Victoria said: “Collectible contemporary design is cultural production reflecting our time, offering alternative points of view, commentary or insights into the design, and making of objects anchored to function and the rituals of everyday life. Audiences will find prototypes, limited edition, limited serial production and one-of-a-kind, works on offer. Collectible design invites us to explore and contemplate Australian material culture through the convergence of ideas, materials and making, which is what makes the Melbourne Design Fair an event not to be missed."
Melbourne Design Fair (16 – 20 March 2022) is an initiative of the National Gallery of Victoria delivered in collaboration with the Melbourne Art Foundation.
Located at Warehouse 16, 28 Duke Street in Abbotsford, ticket sales and a complete program of participating galleries, designers and events are available via designfair.melbourne.
Melbourne Design Fair is a part of Melbourne Design Week, an initiative of the Victorian Government. Learn more via designweek.melbourne.
PRESENT designer and gallery participant list: Gallery Sally Dan-Cuthbert (Sydney), Sophie Gannon Gallery (Melbourne), Studio Roland Snooks (Melbourne), Sullivan+Strumpf (Sydney), Broached Commissions (Melbourne), Agency Projects (Melbourne), Christopher Boots (Melbourne), C. Gallery (Melbourne), Craft (Melbourne), JamFactory (Adelaide), Local Design (Sydney), and Modern Times (Melbourne). Showcasing the works of Broached Commissions, Trent Jansen, Don Cameron, Michael Gittings, Olive Gill-Hille, Tarryn Gill, Trent Jansen and Johnny Nargoodah, Sabine Marcelis, Adam Markowitz, Abdullah M. I. Syed, Zhu Ohmu, Rive Roshan, David Tate, Ivana Taylor, Tibet Sydney, Damien Wright, Dean Norton, Zachary Frankel, Nicole Lawrence, James Howe, Henry Wilson, Bettina Willner, Ebony Russell, Kenny Yong-soo Son, Emily Hamann, Ash Fischer, Ashley Corbett-Smith, Kirsten Coelho, Natalya Hughes, Sanné Mestrom, Ben Mazey, Connie Augoustinos, Clare Belfrage, Selinda Davidson, Liam Fleming, Susan Frost, Calum Hurley, Ayano Yoshizumi, Duncan Young, D Noah Hartley, Danielle Brustman, Elliat Rich, Makiko Ryujin, Emma Elizabeth, Tom Fereday, Tom Skeehan, Anna Varendorff, Andrew Simpson, Luke Storrier, Christopher Boots, Roland Snooks, Anastasia le Fay, Belle Thierry, Caro Pattle, Danielle Thiris, Jessie French, Lisa Waup, Misseu, Owen Rye, Vanessa Lucas, Jessica Murtagh, Dean Toephfer and Yoko Ozawa among others.
SELECT designer participant list: Confirmed participants include Dale Hardiman, Jonathan Ben-Tovim, Ashley Eriksmoen, Emery and Poole, Marta Figueiredo, Andrew Carvolth, Pirjo Haikola, Elliot Bastianon, Jordan Fleming, Luca Lettieri, Anna Verendorff, Adam Goodrum, Rossana Ceravolo, Brodie Neill, Ella Saddington, Jay Jermyn, Su san Cohn, James Lemon, Kate Rohde, Takeshi Iue, Delissa Walker, Anton Gerner, Ferro Forma, Helen Kontouris, Jon Goulder, Brud Studio, Delissa Walker, James Walsh, Cassie Leatham and Damien Wright.