Looking to plan your year ahead?
Conscious travel is a top priority for 2022 as we continue exploring the ‘new normal’ and adapt to an ever-changing global landscape. The art and design worlds have changed too, and we’ve picked out eight design festivals that will unlock cities across the globe in the next 12 months. Some are in familiar locations, while others are blazing trails to less-familiar tourist destinations in Kosovo and Estonia.
Manifesta 14 in Pristina, Kosovo
Everyone’s favourite nomadic art biennial takes up residence in Kosovo for 100 days next summer. The 14th edition of Manifesta will focus on its host city. Relevant, sustainable projects will investigate local communities and urban fabric and leave behind a long-term legacy.
22 July to 30 August 2022
Frieze Los Angeles
The oft-delayed LA edition of Frieze will take place in a new location, next to the Hammer Museum, with all the big galleries present, from Aarau’s Aargauer Kunsthaus to Milan’s Zero.
17-20 February 2022
Unboxed (various UK locations)
Formerly known as the ‘Festival of Brexit’, Unboxed taps creative leaders from the worlds of science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics to design 10 projects from coast to coast. From interactive light shows to immersive gardens, sculpture trails and architectural installations, the projects are publicly funded and totally free. Events will be held in person and broadcast online.
March to October 2022
Asia Pacific Architecture Festival, Brisbane
Queensland welcomes architects from across Australia to exhibit, speak about and celebrate their craft. Many events and talks will be broadcast online, and work can be viewed online via the website.
12-25 March 2022
Whitney Biennial in New York
America’s longest-running art biennale celebrates 80 years with a programme that will appraise the current state of contemporary American art. Creative support comes from David Breslin and Adrienne Edwards from the museum’s curatorial staff.
April to August 2022
Venice Biennale Arte
After a year’s delay, the 59th international Venice art biennale will be opened by its first female Italian curator, Cecilia Alemani, director of New York’s High Line Art. This year’s theme, The Milk of Dreams, is inspired by a book by the surrealist Leonora Carrington and will explore ‘metamorphoses of the body and definitions of humanity’ through artistic imagination.
23 April to 27 November
European Design Festival in Tallinn
The festival returns after a two-year sojourn in the virtual sphere, to a city that’s benefitted from huge creative buzz recently. Hundreds of communications designers will attend the festival from across the continent for design talks, walks and exhibitions in the Estonian capital.
June 2022
Design Shanghai and Design China Beijing
China’s megacities have emerged as design powerhouses. Accordingly, the world’s creators, thinkers and buyers will converge in the two biggest markets on the mainland, among world-class exhibitions.
9-12 June, September 2022
