17th Pune Design Festival to discuss ‘Next 25’
The festival will be held in Pune on February 3 and 4
The 17th edition of the Pune Design Festival (PDF), organized by the Pune chapter of Association of Designers of India (ADI), will be held at Hotel Hyatt Regency on the Pune-Ahmednagar Road on February 3 and 4, 2023.
The festival will be held from 9am to 7pm on both days. The 17th edition of PDF, which is a national-level annual convention of professionals, educators, and business houses related to the field of design, returns to be held in physical form, after it was held online for two years due to the pandemic.
“The theme for this year’s PDF is ‘Nxt 25’, where there will be discussions and deliberations on subjects related to changing paradigms of designs in terms of the use of technology, and the approach of young designers in the next 25 years. The focus of the festival is on understanding how to engage with emerging or new technologies in the field of design. The theme will bring forth discussions, debate, case studies and workshops that showcase the future forward design,” said ADI Pune Chapter President Rugwed Deshpande.
There will be three keynote sessions by Samar Singh Jodha, who is the Founder and Executive Director of Red Balloon (on Creativity versus Inner Voice), Meeta Malhotra, Editor in Chief of ‘The Hard Copy’ Magazine, (on Pune: For Design, By Design) and Bharat Bala, who is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Bharat Bala Products (on History of the Future).
The two-day event will also see special felicitation of some individuals and personalities who have made outstanding contributions to the field of design. Veteran design educator Kirti Trivedi will be felicitated for her contribution in design education, while Pradeep Sinha, product designer and educator, and Mala Sinha, textile designer and founder, Bodhi, will be feted for pioneering efforts in design entrepreneurship.
Other speakers for the festival include Bharat Bala, a distinguished film-maker, Nikki Gonnissen, an experienced designer at Thoknik in Amsterdam, Kenneth Segal, an expert in large-scale public transportation projects from Israel, Aniket Das of Ultraviolette Automotive and Rupali Bhave, a noted theatre professional. The topics of discussions range from ‘Drama in Design’ to Challenges in the Design Business.
Moreover, an initiative titled ‘Battle of Projects’ initiative will be held. Under the initiative, students of design submit their final year projects and best awards/recognition is given to the best 30 projects across 11 different categories.
Another initiative ‘Open House Workshops’ is also being held alongside, where those interested in design and design students, will be able to visit open studios and they can attend free workshops on subjects related to design.
