Inaugural RogDesignDays festival exceeded all expectations
Friday, 22 November marked the end of the first edition of the RogDesignDays. A three-part sustainable design festival took place in between 18 and 22 November under the topic What can we learn from our ancestors? It started with a 48-hour creathon for young designers, followed by the opening of the exhibition, which will be on display until 8 February 2025, and the week was rounded off with an international conference. The festival aims to explore a chosen theme, to share knowledge and experiences with related organisations and individuals, and above all to show the general public what is happening in the Center Rog's labs, studios and residencies throughout the year.
This year's festival has exceeded all expectations, and we are even more excited to announce the topic of next year's edition of the festival Borders and Frictions, which will take place between 10 and 14 November 2025. Local and international guests, coming from 20 countries from all over, participated in the various festival events of the official and parallel programme over the five days. "The expectations we had for the premiere of the festival were definitely exceeded in terms of the number of participants, but above all we are pleased that the festival passed in a creative atmosphere, with ideas being born and new projects being born," said Renata Zamida, Director General of Center Rog, at the end of the event.
Based on the meetings and the working group on international cooperation and design residencies, bilateral residency collaborations are being drawn up and Slovenian designers are also looking forward to residencies abroad. On the topic of the upcoming RogDesignDays (Borders and Frictions) festival, a call for applications (Designer in Residency) for a three-month residency and creative work at the Center Rog was announced on Tuesday, 3 December 2024.
Young local and international participants of the inaugural RogCreathon will also return to Center Rog. The 48-hour creative design sprint, which this year saw 31 young people seeking answers to 5 design challenges, brought the winning team (Challenge: Artificial Intelligence and Tradition - Together at Home in 2045) a one-month residency for foreigners, while the local team members will receive an annual membership fee and a year-long user package for Center Rog. The other four teams received a two-week residency for foreigners and a monthly user package for the Rog Centre for the home team members.
Exhibition on display until 8 February 2025
The two festival strands - the creathon and the conference - are behind us, and the RogExpo exhibition will be on until 8 February. The products on display on all floors of Center Rog were created by amateur makers as well as professional designers. Also exhibited are group products created in the relaxed atmosphere of the evening meet-ups. The exhibition was curated by Alja Fir and Anja Radović together with the Sara&Sara design tandem. Until exhibition closing there will be several guided tours of the RogExpo organized.
Thank you for being with us, see you next year!
Photo: Tine Lisjak
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Urška Sadar
Designer and architect Urško Sadar is interested in the connection between modern and traditional techniques, exploring unpredictable forms and designing objects with added value. In the project she will be developing at the Rog Centre, ...