Participation in the 23rd Biennial of Design

The Biennial of Design (or BIO, from its Slovene acronym) is an international design exhibition that, through its selection of well-designed works and emphasis on quality, originality, and innovation, presents current trends in contemporary design. The exhibited works are eligible to receive the Biennial’s awards for the best designs of the past two years.

With a tradition of 48 years, BIO is one of the world’s oldest international design events. With the publication of these Rules for Participation, the Organiser of the Biennial, the Museum of Architecture and Design, is inviting submissions for the 23rd Biennial of Design. At the same time we are announcing the appointment of Margriet Vollenberg and Margo Konings, from the studio Organisation in Design, as the curators of BIO 23. The curators have decided on the theme for BIO 23, namely, “Design Relations”, and they will select the works to be exhibited. In making their selection, they will be guided by the criteria of functionality, sustainability, commercial viability, cultural significance, social importance, the concept of the work, the use of materials, the production process, and aesthetics.

The Theme of BIO 23 – Design Relations
How are designers and the works they create influenced by modern technologies, digitalisation and globalisation? And how is design evolving? Contemporary designers seem to embrace the resourcefulness of nature and its processes, while they also display an amazing capability to use technology. Their explorations not only lead them to commercial products but also help them to better address cultural, social and emotional questions.
BIO 23 will show fresh new ideas and explore how design relates to the social, the sustainable, and the cultural, while displaying crossovers between culture and commerce, crafts and industry.

Conditions for Participation
Applicants may be designers, commissioners, manufacturers, academic tutors, or students, who are involved in the creation of the submitted work, as well as BIO’s partner organisations, provided they do so with the consent of the author of the work or concept. To be eligible for submission, finished works must not have been in production or, for the submission of design concepts, must not have been conceived, before 1 January 2010.

Eligible disciplines from which works may be submitted are: product design, industrial design, environmental design, communications design, transport design, spatial design, social design, experimental design, and others. Either finished design works or design concepts may be submitted from these fields.

Entry Procedure
Entries for BIO 23 will be accepted between 6 February and 30 March 2012.
Entries may be submitted via the BIO website: www.bio.si, with the entry fee paid via the website at the same time. This method is simple, fast and reliable.
Only one work may be submitted per entry form except when submitting a series of items, in which case this must be clearly stated in the entry form.
The Museum of Architecture and Design must receive all completed entry documentation, as well as the entry fee payment, by 30 March 2012, the deadline for entries.

Required Documentation for Entries
1. The completed entry form. (Please note that there are separate entry forms for finished works/products and design concepts/prototypes.)
2. Three digital photographs with a resolution suitable for catalogue publication (JPG format, with the longer side measuring at least 23 cm, resolution 300 dpi at 1 : 1 size).
3. If considered necessary for the presentation of the work, the following may be included: scanned sketches of the work, digital photographs of the process of the making of the work, digital photographs of the work in use. (Please note that it is not possible to send more than five images of this kind.)
4. A presentation text (of no more than 500 characters) in English. The text should describe the characteristic features and unique aspects of the work as well as its advantages in comparison with other works of a similar nature.

Please note: All entry documentation must be in English.