8

The revised format of BIO 23 offers fresh, surprising, innovative and even revolutionary products, ideas and concepts viewed globally as achievements with an original vision. BIO, as one of the oldest design exhibitions in Europe with nearly a half century of tradition, is present even on today's design map as a relevant brand name. The exhibited works focus on this year's theme, "Relations in Design" and have been selected by the renowned curators, Margriet Vollenberg and Margo Konings, from the Dutch design studio Organisation and Design.

About the exhibition and the selection of works

This year, for the first time in the history of this event, the museum decided to entrust the selection and theme of the exhibition to internationally renowned curators because, as the MAO's director, Matevž Čelik, pointed out,the intention was "to make BIO once again, in collaboration with leading experts, one of the events that present the latest development trends in the world of design". The theme not only provides insight into new and current ideas in contemporary design production, but also a bold and critical summary of everything that design currently reflects and speaks to.
The curators, Margo Konings and Margriet Vollenberg, selected 101 works from 27 countries for this year's main biennial exhibition, based on the theme and their knowledge and keen sense of well-designed products. "The majority of applications were extremely interesting, while the works selected for BIO 23 indicate the impact modern technology and digitisation have on designers. Their creations also reveal how they incorporate the diversity of nature and its processes into their creations, while some works display the incredible potential of technology. Based on our experience and knowledge, we detected a significant trend in that contemporary designers are not only involved with commercial aspects, but also attempt to answer broader cultural, social and emotional issues", stressed the curators following their selection.
The design will show the role design plays today, how design reflects the world around us and how it impacts our lives. The exhibited works are divided into four key themes: technology, digitisation, globalisation and products.

International jury and BIO awards

The best of the selected works, according to the international jury, will receive special BIO Design Awards on the opening day of the biennial. The international jury comprises well-known names in the world of design: Giulio Cappellini, Sophie Lovell, Jimmy MacDonald, Sven Jonke and Vasa J. Perović. This year, for the first time, the recipient of the BIO Gold Medal will also receive a financial reward provided by the sponsor of BIO 23, the company Petrol. A completely new award category this year is the so-called BIO Green Award, intended for products that stand out for their ecological stance.

Side programme

The broad-based programme, alongside the main event at Fužine Castle, includes guided tours of the exhibition, product and film presentations and creative workshops for children providing in-depth insight into the biennial and will also include events in other venues in Ljubljana, prepared in collaboration with numerous partners. Of particular note among these are the exhibition of selected works from past biennials, the Italian design exhibition, the international symposium on service design and the special shop of young Slovenian artists.Part of the biennial will also take place in the container in front of the Rog factory as part of the RogLab pilot project. Design lovers will also be able to get together in the first design-themed hotel in Ljubljana, Vander, on the weekend evenings.

Business people alsoknow the importance of design

The BIO organising committee, which connects key representatives of the business community who understand that design is an important element of development and competition, representatives of the profession and the Government, will be chaired by Janez Škrabec, the CEO of Riko, from 2012-2016, while BIO's traditional corporate partners are Gorenje, with Chairman, Franjo Bobinac and Trimo, with CEO, Tatjana Fink. This year's committee also includes Petrol, with Chairman, Tomaž Berločnik; Siemens Slovenia with Managing Director, Medeja Lončar; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with Minister, Karl Erjavec; and Jurij Giacomelli (Delo), Marko Filli (RTV Slovenija) and Marko Kolbl (Europlakat), as long-time media supporters, also participating in the work of the committee.