How is a design boom changing our city?

ArtsHub take a look at what it means to be a ‘design city’ in Victoria, and how art and design is impacting everyday lives.

Some may say design is solutions-driven, whereas art tends to pose more questions than answers. The boundaries between the two disciplines are increasingly blurred, with many intentionally challenging the idea of using ‘functionality’ to differentiate the two.

In the past decade, Victoria has seen a considerable boom in its design sector alongside a rapidly increasing population. Major calendar events such as MPavilion, Craft Victoria’s graduate show FRESH! 2023, Top Designs 2023 at Melbourne Museum and development programs such as the Koorie Heritage Trust’s Blak Design initiative or the Victorian Premier’s Design Awards, speak to this focus and demand for design practices.

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Celina Lei is an arts writer and editor at ArtsHub. She acquired her M.A in Art, Law and Business in New York with a B.A. in Art History and Philosophy from the University of Melbourne. She has previously worked across global art hubs in Beijing, Hong Kong and New York in both the commercial art sector and art criticism. She took part in drafting NAVA’s revised Code of Practice - Art Fairs and was the project manager of ArtsHub’s diverse writers initiative, Amplify Collective. Celina is based in Naarm/Melbourne.