Presentation: Internal Call for Product Submissions for the RogExpo 2025 Exhibition

This year's RogExpo 2025 exhibition is titled "Borders and Frictions" and focuses on projects that explore various borders and frictions in contemporary society. We are looking for innovative and thoughtful projects that encourage dialogue based on the guidelines listed below.

You are invited to an informational meeting with a presentation of the call topic on Monday, 19 May 2025, between 11:00 and 13:00.

Guidelines:

● New materials: How can biodegradable materials redefine the aesthetics of design while also addressing environmental challenges?

● Border as a concept: Garments and objects that physically or symbolically communicate an attitude toward borders, such as protection, exposure, or transience.

● Inclusivity in design: How can designers respond to a world where cultural identities are increasingly hybrid and fluid?

● Overcoming gender binarity: Designing garments or objects that blur rigid gender categories and promote inclusivity.

● Ethics in design: How to ensure that outcomes created with artificial intelligence align with human values and cultural sensitivities?

● Post-conflict design: How can design become a means of expression for communities affected by political conflicts and help make their stories visible and heard?

● Design against inequality: How can design contribute to reducing social inequalities? How does examining the boundaries of wealth and poverty influence our design practices, and what does it mean to create for different social classes?

● Design for coexistence: How can we expand our worldview and include the rights of other beings inhabiting this planet in design practices?

With the exhibition, we aim to:

● Present products and prototypes created in the production laboratories of Center Rog in 2024–2025, developed/made by studio users, participants in the Mladi Rog program, independent laboratory users, mentors, resident creators, and produced within workshops, clubs, and partner programs.

● Present contemporary design products that respond to the theme of RogExpo 2025.

● Showcase how innovative approaches can lead to sustainable and socially responsible products that address pressing social and design challenges.

SELECTION CRITERIA

1. Functionality and usability, and origin of production:

○ The product is a functional item or a refined prototype.

○ The product was made in the production workshops of Center Rog; the use of multiple laboratories is an additional advantage.

○ The product may still be in production at the time of application, but must be completed no later than 30 September 2025. Final inclusion in the exhibition will be based on the finished product.

2. Relevance to the exhibition theme, aesthetics, innovation, and creativity:

○ The product offers an innovative response to the theme "Borders and Frictions".

○ High quality of craftsmanship with attention to detail and final finishing.

○ Commitment to using sustainable production practices and materials that are recycled, natural, locally sourced, or traceably used.

○ The product is designed to be durable, recyclable, repairable, reusable, or biodegradable.

SELECTION OF PRODUCTS

The selection of products for the exhibition will be carried out by the exhibition curators, Alja Fir and Anja Radović, based on the criteria listed above and curatorial judgment. In addition to meeting the criteria, the authors’ or curators’ approach will also be taken into account.

COMPENSATION FOR EXHIBITORS

● For individual studio users, Mladi Rog participants, and residents, no exhibition fee is foreseen.

● Independent laboratory users and Center Rog mentors whose products are selected for the exhibition will receive compensation in the form of a one-year user package at Center Rog, valued at €400.

TIMELINE

Publication of program guidelines and application form: 4 March 2025

Informational meeting – presentation of the theme: Monday, 19 May 2025, 11:00–13:00

Deadline for proposal submission: by 5 September 2025 inclusive

Notification of selected products: no later than 19 September 2025

Deadline for final product submission: 30 September 2025

Exhibition opening: 12 November 2025, 19:00. The exhibition will be on view until approximately 8 February 2026

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: alja.fir@center-rog.si, anja.radovic@center-rog.si