DMY International Design Festival 2008 · 21 — 25 Juni 2008

…and the show goes on

Today may be the last day, but it is not the end of the matter. Still haven’t checked out all 35 venues and 250-something participating designers? Keep your hair on, there is still a little time left. Despite the fact that most of the designers start packing their bags this evening, some of the exhibitions such as “Turkish Delight”, the “Bombay Sapphire Gallery” or the Swiss Design Prize at Stilwerk will still remain open after the DMY curtain has fallen. The others needn’t unpack, since the DMY circus hits the road again in September to spread the name of Design Made In Berlin throughout the world. Some 20 designers, Allstars and Youngsters, set off to the next linchpin of the design scene. First stop on the way, the design biennale in Saint Etienne/France, closely followed by “Tent” in London, the Vienna Design Week in October, and finally, Design Expo in Taiwan. DMY launched its world tour in 2005 with stints in Seoul and Brussels – since then, especially young designers from Berlin have been able to network on a global scale. Goal of the operation: access an international public - and make business, of course. According to Joerg Suermann, mastermind of DMY, “The most important fair is London, which brings together key figures of art, architecture, and design.” “However, the most exciting fair for us this year will be in Taiwan. This is our first time there. This is still a very young event, and the region seeks to distance itself from its shoddy image of mass-production and to promote quality and design.” And since the future – if you choose to believe current prophecies of doom – lies in Asia and in China in particular, Berlin cannot afford to miss the bus. Even if it takes a little courage on behalf of the young designers, because as we know, China is not too particular about patents. Not yet.