Prague International Design Festival

Designblok, Prague International Design Festival – is the largest exhibition of design and fashion in central and eastern Europe, held in the creative heartland of the European continent.

The six-day festival starts off with a day dedicated to the experts (Professionals’ Day) and continues with a five-day exhibition for the public which presents new projects from over two hundred carefully selected makers, studios and established brands. The festival’s curated exhibitions react to current social topics, draw attention to the work of both up-and-coming and long-established designers, and offer a creative and professional business platform which provides opportunity for the meeting of designers and companies with the expert public, suppliers and customers. The exhibitions also include a wide-ranging accompanying program in the form of lectures and discussions, field-specific encounters, fashion shows and other special events which open spaces for networking and mutual inspiration.

Over 41 000 people visit Designblok festival each year, including designers, curators, collectors, architects, interior designers, journalists and design lovers.

This year’s Designblok will again bring visitors to some of the most exceptional places Prague has to offer. Due to last year’s immensely positive reception, the festival is returning to Prague Castle, and will also offer the traditional exhibition spaces of the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague – which will be called ‘YOUTH Exhibition House’ for the festival’s duration. And for the first time in the festival’s history, visitors will also get the chance to enter the main historical building of the Prague City Museum, which has recently undergone sensitive renovation.

The festival will offer novelties of both Czech and international design from hundreds of exhibiting designers, large retrospective solo exhibition of Boda Horak, and a curated exhibition called High Craft which will take place in the Prague Castle Riding School and will offer a new perspective on traditional craft, innovation, high aesthetic standards and a responsible approach to production. The festival will also feature an exhibition of young talent as part of the exhibition of central European schools and universities, and will also feature the Designblok Diploma Selection and Designblok Talent Cards which give space for the presentations of exceptional students of design. There will also be a wide accompanying program in the form of educational lectures, discussions, fashion shows, competitions and field-specific encounters.

Expositions are divided into two concepts:

Superstudio is a space for exhibitions of companies, manufacturers and shops. Superstudio presents novelties of Czech and international manufacturers, presenting products created in cooperation with top designers. All areas of design are presented here, especially furniture, lighting, and home accessories.

Openstudio is a space for expositions of designers, design studios, students, and schools. Laboratory of contemporary design, where product designers, fashion designers, jewelry designers, graphic designers, and illustrators present themselves. Primarily exhibitions of prototypes and small batch production without the participation of a commercial manufacturer.

MUSEUM OF PRAGUE (Na Poříčí 52, Prague 8)

Designblok will be the first to open the Museum of Prague’s main building at Florenc after its overall renovation. The exhibition spaces will be taken over by Superstudio – novelties from both Czech and international producers, developed in collaborative projects with the world’s most eminent designers. Apart from stellar quality and fair production methods, it was the collaboration with designers that constituted a basic criterion for the exhibited projects’ selection. All fields of design will be on display here, predominantly furniture, lightings and home accessories.

THE MUSEUM OF DECORATIVE ARTS IN PRAGUE (17. listopadu 2/2, Prague 1)

Novelties of original Czech and international design, inspiration and creative dialog, all within the backdrop of a neo-renaissance architectural gem. The exhibition spaces of the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague will be taken over by Designblok's Openstudio – an exhibition of designers and design studios. A laboratory of contemporary design, bringing together product, fashion and jewelry designers, illustrators and graphic designers, mostly featuring prototypes and limited series made without the oversight of a commercial producer. The spaces will premiere the solo exhibition of legendary Czech postmodern designer Bóda Horák, and will provide a view on the future of European design while giving a taste of revolutionary trends in the works of the digitally-savvy Generation Z in the form of the finale of the prestigious Designblok Diploma Selection – a competition of European graduates – as well as the Designblok Talent Cards presentation of exceptional student works. And the crowd-pleasing Art House exhibition will top it off, consisting of a unique presentation of collectors’ design items, this year under the curatorial oversight of Eva Slunečková who delved into the museum’s permanent collections and appropriated them for her intervention.