Saturday, 2 May 2009
World Design Congress - turn "Made in China" into "Created in China"
http://www.beijing2009.org/
http://www.cctv.com/english/special/C22025/20090429/102510.shtml
Source: CCTV.com
“Made in China” will be transformed into “Created in China.” The World Design Congress, praised as the "Olympics of the design world" will be held from October 24 to 30 in Beijing. It will be the first time that China has won the right to host the event. Then, 800 well-known designers from around the world will gather in Beijing, where they will discuss the urgent problems facing the world design industry as well as the development of the industry. The collision of ideas of the “masters” will bring Beijing an October filled with innovation. On the morning of April 27, the World Graphic Design Day, the 2009 World Design Congress was officially launched.
The conference is co-sponsored by China Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing Gehua Cultural Development Group, the National Center for the Performing Arts and the Beijing Industrial Design Center. The theme of the conference is "Xin-信," symbolizing the communication of "messages", the transmission of “faith”, dialogues seeking transparency and mutual trust, and cross-boundary global cooperation. The conference will last for seven days and will consist of four major themes, "design for more people, harmonious and sustainable development, communication and defining the future and design.” It will conduct activities including the International Design Education Forum, the International Design Forum, the International Council of Graphic Design Associations (Icograda) General Assembly and other related design exhibition activities. Tens of thousands of participants are expected. In addition, the conference will organize about 50 workshops in key cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin and Wuhan, in which nearly 1,000 students will take part.
Pan Gongkai, President of the China Central Academy of Fine Arts, explained that in recent years, China’s design industry has been in a stage of explosive growth. According to statistics, in China, over 1 million students major in designing in China’s 2,000 plus higher education institutions. Therefor, the World Design Congress will exert a huge push on the design industry’s transformation in China.
Icograda was established in 1963 as an international non-governmental, non-political organization composed of professional associations of various countries around the globe that are engaged in areas including graphic design, visual communications, creative design, design management, design education. It is the largest and most influential graphic design organization in the world. Icograda holds a World Design Congress every other year, each time at a different location around the world.