Asia’s premier design festival unveils this year’s theme, curators, and highlights
11 July 2023 – Following its successful return last year, mark your calendar for Singapore Design Week 2023 (SDW 2023) which will take place across the city from 21 September to 1 October.
Festival Theme
Organised by the DesignSingapore Council (Dsg), the 11-day festival will present an extraordinary showcase of Singapore’s distinctive brand of creativity while celebrating Dsg’s 20th anniversary. To commemorate this milestone, SDW 2023 will adopt Dsg’s motto ‘Better by Design’ as the festival theme for this special edition.
“Singapore design embodies a universal attitude – the desire to always seek to make lives better using design. The motto ‘Better by Design’ reflects DesignSingapore Council’s commitment to champion design and creativity that helps us to meet complex challenges and shape a better future. Marking our 20th anniversary, we adopt this resourceful spirit for Singapore Design Week 2023, coalescing design that is born from a strong sense of creative purpose and crafted for positive impact,” says Madeleine Ho, Festival Director of SDW 2023.
Festival Commission
Ong Ker-Shing and Joshua Comaroff, Co-founders of Lekker Architects;
Pann Lim, Co-founder and Creative Director of Kinetic Singapore
To spotlight this bold purposeful spirit of Singapore design, local design curators Jackson Tan, co-founder and creative director of BLACK; Pann Lim, co-founder and creative director of Kinetic Singapore; Ong Ker Shing and Joshua Comaroff, co-founders of Lekker Architects will bring the Bras Basah.Bugis arts, heritage and design district to life with specially-commissioned installations that will showcase new ideas, and reflect on key issues of today from innovation to sustainability to inclusivity.
Design Districts
This year, SDW will also introduce Design Districts as a key highlight of the festival. Each district will reflect the unique character and charm of its community, and offer a wealth of immersive design experiences within walking distance. To kick off this new festival offering, SDW 2023 Design Districts will span three key precincts – Bras Basah.Bugis, Marina Bay, and Orchard Road.
Festival Pillars
Building on the festival’s distinctive and enduring vision, SDW 2023 will continue to explore design through the three defining pillars of Design Futures, Design Marketplace, and Design Impact.
Design Futures focuses on the design of the future and the future of design through the lens of forward-looking Singapore – where a more positive future is prototyped for Singapore and the world. SDW’s flagship Design Futures Symposium will take centrestage once again as it explores design-enabled versions of the future together with distinguished designers and thinkers from Singapore and around the world.
Design Marketplace uncovers lifestyle trends from across the globe, with a spotlight on the fast-growing Southeast Asia region. FIND – Design Fair Asia, Asia’s most anticipated design trade fair, will return to Marina Bay Sands for its second edition from 21 to 23 September 2023. Following its remarkable debut last year, Dsg will once again present a unique showcase dedicated to Southeast Asian contemporary design at EMERGE @ FIND. Curated by Suzy Annetta of Design Anthology, this year’s edition will feature the curatorial theme of “CRAFT + INDUSTRY: MAN + MACHINE”, with works by over 50 emerging and established designers from Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Design Impact inspires with innovative and impactful design solutions that tackle society’s biggest questions and create a better world by design. Three key themes – Innovation, Sustainability and Inclusivity – will be celebrated through the immersive festival commission at Bras Basah.Bugis, inviting festival-goers into the Playground of Possibilities by Jackson Tan of BLACK at the National Design Centre; School of Tomorrow by Pann Lim of Kinetic at the Selegie Arts Centre, and FI&LD by Ong Ker-Shing and Joshua Comaroff of Lekker Architects at LASALLE College of the Arts.
Inspired by the festival theme and pillars, the local Design Community will also be presenting over 80 ground-up events ranging from exhibitions, talks and panel discussions to workshops, tours and retail pop ups. More details of the SDW 2023 programmes will be announced in the lead-up to the festival.
“Singapore Design Week has always been about showcasing the best of design from Singapore and beyond. SDW 2023 is of special significance as we celebrate DesignSingapore Council’s 20th anniversary and collaborate with our trail-blazing design pioneers and thriving design community to activate design districts at the heart of Singapore. We invite everyone to join us and experience how we can make lives ‘Better by Design’ through SDW 2023!” says Dawn Lim, Executive Director, DesignSingapore Council.
Singapore Design Week 2023
21 September to 1 October 2023
sdw.sg
#SDWSG23 #SingaporeDesignWeek
About Singapore Design Week
One of Asia’s premier design festivals, Singapore Design Week (SDW) celebrates Singapore’s distinctive brand of creativity, exploring design through three defining festival pillars: Design Futures (the design of the future and the future of design), Design Marketplace (lifestyle trends with a spotlight on Southeast Asia) and Design Impact (innovative solutions for a better world). Organised by DesignSingapore Council, SDW is a celebration of creativity and innovation, championing thought leadership and showcasing the best of design from Singapore and beyond.
For more information, please visit sdw.sg
About the DesignSingapore Council (Dsg)
The DesignSingapore Council’s (Dsg’s) vision is for Singapore to be an innovation-driven economy and a loveable city by design. As the national agency that promotes design, our mission is to develop the design sector, help Singapore use design for innovation and growth, and make life better in this UNESCO Creative City of Design. Dsg is a subsidiary of the Singapore Economic Development Board.
For more information, please visit designsingapore.org.
