„The School of Phyto-centred Design“ beginnt

On Thursday, 20 July 2023, the Kunstgewerbemuseum, run by Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden (SKD), will be opening its annual Design Campus Summer School once again.

In close connection with the special exhibition “Plant Fever. Towards a phyto-centred design” (29.4.—31.10.2023) and the Kunstgewerbemuseum collection, the Franco-Italian duo Laura Drouet and Olivier Lacrouts (d-o-t-s) will this year be curating the international summer school programme. The focus will be on our changing perceptions and increasing awareness of the plant world and all it offers in terms of sustainable living.

At the “School of Phyto-Centred Design”, acclaimed guest tutors spend six weeks working in Pillnitz Palace and its grounds with some 60 participants from Saxony and all over the world. The programme is particularly aimed at students, creatives and other enquiring minds, promotes professional and interdisciplinary networking and is designed to encourage transculturality and diversity. As “school of utopias”, the Summer School provides a space for artists and researchers to experiment in the museum, and offers insights into the futures that could await us.

This year’s tutors will include Fernando Laposse, Emma Bruschi, Passepartout Duo, Simone Kenyon and Suzanne Bernhardt. During the week focusing on the theme of “Making the difference”, participants will braid, crochet, spin, weave and dye clothing and accessories that they make using plants. “Shifting Perspectives” aims to bring non-human living beings into sharper sensory focus. Finally, the call to arms to start “Giving Back” is about responsibility in curatorial practice, and the balance between give and take when it comes to natural resources. The nomadic lifestyles of the Heads of School enable Laura Drouet and Olivier Lacrouts to remain in their camper vans at the Pillnitz site throughout the summer school, providing insights into how they carry out research and hold exhibitions.

The Summer School will kick off with an opening lecture by Laura Drouet and Olivier Lacrouts at 6 p.m. on 21 July 2023 in the Kunstgewerbemuseum, Bergpalais, Schloss Pillnitz. Afterwards, starting at 7 p.m., the Institute of Geometry at TU Dresden will present “La Fleur Mathématique”, a structure made of bamboo, in the garden of hedged walkways in the palace grounds. Entitled “Architectural Math for Bamboo Structures” (AMBS), the Design Campus lab project was developed by 20 international participants led by Prof. Daniel Lordick, supported among others by the Dresden Centre of Science and Art (DZWK). There is no need to register to attend the event.

At the end of each workshop, on 28 July and 11 and 25 August, the Summer School will be opening its doors to everyone. Participants will present the outcome of the past week at the OPEN STUDIO and invite discussion. Music by the DISCOnnect collective will bring the one-week workshop to a close and signal the start of the summer’s evening at Pillnitz Palace and grounds.

The Summer School will run from 20 July to 25 August 2023.

To find out more about the project, go to www.designcampus.org.