As in the past few years The Design Annual will once again be accompanied by an extremely varied interdisciplinary program of events. The motto for 2008 is “showtime” – a highly expressive and contradictory theme, which we shall be discussing in all its facets. This year as well current trends and the tasks design will face in the future will the subject of talks, lectures and presentations. On a stage especially constructed by Rehberger and Richter there will be a lively program for nine hours on each of the four days.

To give you a taste of the spectacular program accompanying The Design Annual, here is a selection of what awaits you: Friday will open with an informal discussion hosted by the editors of Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin, after which journalists from Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper will be talking to protagonists of the design scene about current themes, as it will on the following three days as well. In the evening Gerrit Terstiege, editor-in-chief of form magazine, will be talking to the artists Tobias Rehberger and Claus Richter about their work for The Design Annual.

One hour on each of the days is reserved for a designer to present his view of the theme, for example the young designer Johan Bruninx, who will be presenting his style of designing and recycling. Or Jerszy Seymour, who in a series of images projects people on to the stage who display true feelings in extremely lively actions. A happy hour with cocktail mixers and DJs and various small acts such as plate spinning and Bollywood dancers give the program an informal touch and provide great entertainment. The countdown has started until the curtain rises and it’s showtime.

The Design Annual
July 4-7, 2008
12 - 21 h
Festhalle, Messe Frankfurt
www.thedesignannual.com