“The theme of this year’s Designblok will be LES. After the global theme of The Future, which we have chosen in 2019, the focus on local production with the theme Passion in 2020 and the theme Happiness in 2021, we have chosen a theme that will focus primarily on the use of natural materials, traditional Czech crafts and environmental issues,” says Jana Zielinski, Director of Designblok.

The festival will take place in autumn in two main exhibition houses – Gabriel Loci and the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague. Gabriel Loci will focus primarily on the presentation of contemporary international design news in the traditional formats of Superstudio and Openstudio, i.e. international brands and manufacturers on the one hand, designers and design studios on the other. The former convent will also host the next edition of the international exhibition Diploma Selection, the thematically tuned central space of Designnérie or a discussion stage for the accompanying programme, lectures by designers, festival partners and foreign guests. Erste Premier will be the general partner of Designblok for the eleventh year.

The Museum of Decorative Arts will, as last year, be a conceptually tuned exhibition space with its own theme, PRALES. The two floors of the museum will belong exclusively to creators and companies with Czech roots, PRALES as a subsoil, an intricate complex of roots, sources and ancient history will be reflected in the local focus of this house. It will also include the second edition of the Family Silver exhibition, which will present Czech family producers. The Art House exhibition of collector’s design, which visitors know from the Lapidarium at the Exhibition Grounds or last year from the Church of St. Gabriela. The concept of this year’s Art House is based on the intervention of contemporary glass in the UPM exhibition from the collections of Vojtěch Lanna, co-founder of the UPM and one of the most important collectors of the 19th century. century. One of the museum’s floors will then be dedicated to 24 Czech designers whose work emphasises the combination of quality craftsmanship and contemporary design and builds on the rich Czech tradition in both directions.

The connecting line of the festival, from the visual and form of the Designéria to the individual installations and the accompanying programme, is a newly chosen theme for each year, which resonates with current events, just like this year’s theme of the forest. “The forest is the source of life. Thanks to plants we can breathe, greenery is the most natural enhancer of our everyday environment. The forest is also a source of materials, a temple of relaxation, a paradise for mushroom pickers, a source of inspiration for artists and do-it-yourselfers, a haunted and magical fairytale place. Hansel and Gretel have to pass through the forest, it is inhabited by Bystrouszka the Vixen, fairies, goblins, trolls and other creatures. The smell of the forest, wet earth, leaves, needles, meadow flowers is a reason to keep going. At Designblok, we will walk through the forest of Czech design, peer into the mysterious wells of knowledge of foreign stars, and set out on a trail of red, green, yellow or blue, each according to his or her own abilities and tastes. We are looking forward to the enchanted forest of Designblok,” summarises Jana Zielinski on behalf of Designblok.

Registration for 24. Designblok is open to designers and companies online from 24. February to 31. May 2022. Application forms and all other information can be found on the festival website www.designblok.cz.