Design Week Philippines, the country’s national design festival, will return this year and will run from October 14–21, 2023, with simultaneous events in five regions: Metro Manila, Calabarzon, Eastern, Western and Central Visayas, Ilocos and CARAGA and cities such as Quezon City, Makati, Mandaluyong, Pasig, Pasay, Cebu, and Iloilo City.
Design Week Philippines is a week-long event featuring talks, workshops, and tours, nationwide in seven (7) regions featuring an impressive lineup of over 40 speakers, collaborating with more than 60 partners and at least 50 events. It is expected to gather 7,000 participants to celebrate the use of design to overcome global challenges, focusing on solving current issues while also ensuring a better future.
It will also recognize design’s transformative power and underscore the designers’ responsibility to use design as a force for good, one that heals, innovates, and ultimately drives transformation.
In its 12th year, Design Week Philippines will bring together government leaders and award-winning Filipino trailblazers in design from product, communication, fashion, experience design, and creative entrepreneurship, providing a platform for cross-cultural exchange and collaboration.
Cong. Anna Victoria V. Tuazon will spearhead Design Week Philippines in the 3rd legislative district of Leyte on 15 October. The event features the Artisan Showcase, unveiling the ResiDisenyo collection from the 2022 residency, highlighting design’s narrative prowess. Attendees can also engage in sustainability talks, witness the Product Hub Launch, partake in kids’ workshops, embark on local mindfulness tours, and experience spiritual reflection.
Gil Carungay, having previously served as a National Consultant for the United Nations Department of Social and Economic Affairs in 2020 and continuing in the capacity of focal point person, currently chairs the MATIC Hub in Cebu City, UNESCO’s Creative City of Design. He will be one of the speakers in the first activity of Design Week Philippines, titled “The State of Philippine Design”
She will be joined by Haraya del Rosario-Gust, the pioneer of creative process outsourcing in the country with a great passion for building businesses that support the creative industries and creative talent of Filipinos.
Emi Englis, another speaker, is a celebrated fashion designer and co-founder of the Davao Fashion and Design Council Foundation.
Executive Director of the Design Center of the Philippines Rhea Matute, who is passionately committed to unleashing the power of design and catalyzing creative communities for positive change, will also be part of the festival.
“On its 12th year, we are excited to bring Design Week Philippines to five regions across the country to welcome and celebrate the pivotal role of our generation to use design that can go above and beyond a world #OnTheEdge – a kind of design that not just addresses the compelling challenges of our times but also looks ahead and honors the welfare of future generations,” said Matute.
The week-long design festival will take place in five cities in the country such as Quezon City, Makati, Mandaluyong, Pasig, Pasay, Cebu, Iloilo and the provinces of Surigao del Norte, Rizal, Pangasinan, Negros Occidental, Leyte and Cavite where design devoted sessions will be held including Design Sari Sari – an eclectic marketplace that will serve as a melting pot for makers, independent retailers, and communities of creatives and artisans to be able to promote their products during Design Week Philippines.
Design Playground – an exhibition that explores the power of design to heal, transform, and innovate. It features a variety of works by designers, artists, and creatives. The exhibition aims to demonstrate design’s role in improving people’s lives in a variety of ways, from healing physical and emotional wounds to transforming communities and creating new products and services and Design Live: Music a rave-type party to close out the Design Week Philippines festivities for this year.
Workshops include Designing your career: Folio Reviews, a one-on-one consultation for students and aspiring designers; Designing the Design Studio; Co-designing with community; Designing for well-being and many others.
This year’s theme, “On the Edge,” encourages Filipino designers to embrace responsibility while embarking on the journey toward a sustainable, inclusive, and forward-thinking future. It encapsulates the urgency and potential within our grasp and is an invitation to pioneer solutions that bridge the gap between the present and a more promising future.
