Frequently Asked Questions
Melbourne Design Week celebrates design in an annual 11-day program of talks, tours, exhibitions, launches, installations, and workshops across Australia’s design capital. The program is driven by ideas through providing a platform for designers, educators, enthusiasts, thinkers, and businesses to come together to share these ideas, show and sell new work, and consider how design can be used as a force for good in an increasingly complex and precarious world.
When and where does Melbourne Design Week take place?
Melbourne Design Week will take place from 23 May – 2 June 2024. The program is held across Melbourne and regional Victoria in cultural institutions, studios, retail spaces, universities, galleries, gardens and public spaces. Check the MDW program when it launches April 2024 for individual event details.
Who is behind Melbourne Design Week?
Melbourne Design Week is an initiative of the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria, delivered by the National Gallery of Victoria. The curation of the program is led by NGV’s Department of Contemporary Design and Architecture. The design sector contributes to MDW through organising and presenting events within the program.
How do I access the portal to submit my application?
To submit an application for the Melbourne Design Week 2024 satellite program, head to the Participate page and select the button ‘Apply’. This will take you to the participant portal. Upon landing on this page, it will request that you sign up. It will then take you to the dashboard where you can fill in an application. Please note, the portal will close for EOI submissions on 23 November 2023 at 5pm.
When do I find out if I am a successful participant?
Applicants will be informed of their submission status from 7 December, 2023 via email.
I want to attend some events at Melbourne Design Week, how can I do that?
From mid-April 2024, you can view the MDW program online for event details. Melbourne Design Week is open to the general public and the majority of MDW events are free but may require bookings and/or have capacity limits. Please check back in when the program is available to plan your visit.
Is Melbourne Design Week accessible?
Melbourne Design week is comprised of over 350 events located at different venues across Melbourne. Each venue will offer varying levels of accessibility. Information regarding accessibility at individual venues will be available when the program is released in mid-April.
For further information about how Melbourne Design Week can support your access requirements in the meantime, please contact our team.
[email protected]
+61 (03) 8620 2222
Click here to view more information about accessibility at NGV
For participants
How do I apply for Melbourne Design Week?
Applications for the Melbourne Design Week 2024 satellite program are now open for submission and close on 23 November 2023. Applications to participate in the satellite program of Melbourne Design Week are considered via an expression of interest process. For more information about how to participate head to the Participate page. For updates on Melbourne Design Week, please subscribe to NGV eNews.
How do I apply for the Melbourne Art Book Fair?
Applications to participate in the Melbourne Art Book Fair are considered via an expression-of-interest process. Applications for the Melbourne Art Book Fair 2024 are now open. For more information on how to participate head to the Melbourne Art Book Fair website.
Will Melbourne Design Fair run in 2024?
Melbourne Design Fair will return in 2025. The biannual event takes place at its new home, the Convention and Exhibition Centre. For more information on Melbourne Design Fair head to the Melbourne Design Fair website.
What are the MDW application requirements?
The MDW satellite program application requires a proposal for an exhibition, activation, talk, workshop, or tour that responds to the provocation Design the World you Want. Each year, three themes sit under this call-to-action to address the ever-changing opportunities and challenges that designers face. In 2024, these pillars are ethics, energy, and ecology. For more information on the 2024 themes head to the Themes page.
The expression of interest application requires the following:
- Event description
- Concept
- Objective
- Thematic alignment
- Proposed venue
- Proposed participants
If you have any questions regarding your application, you are welcome to discuss this with the team at [email protected]
Can international organisations or individuals participate in the program?
International organisations and individuals are welcome to apply and participate in the MDW satellite program. Please note that the MDW team are not responsible for delivering satellite programs and any event proposed by an individual or organization would need to be self-managed within the Melbourne city centre or regional Victoria.
What are the costs to participate in Melbourne Design Week?
There is no registration fee associated with applying to be part of the satellite program of Melbourne Design Week. All costs involved in delivering the satellite program event, including but not limited to venue hire, insurance, speaker fees and speaker related costs, production and technical staff involved in the program, multimedia hire, security, cleaning and staffing for all the program, are to be covered by the satellite program event organiser.
What venues are available to me as a successful participant?
Participants are to independently source venues. Melbourne Design Week does not broker venue hires.
What are the themes of Melbourne Design Week 2024?
Since 2021, Melbourne Design Week has celebrated the potential of design to transform our environment – from the inside our homes to the entire planet – with the call-for-action for individuals and organisations to ‘Design the world you want’.
Each year, three pillars sit under this call-to-action to address the ever-changing opportunities and challenges that designers face. In 2024, these pillars are: ecology, ethics and energy.
Ecology: Ecology explores the relation of all things with each other: humans, animals, objects, environmental systems. Ecological thinking in design foregrounds the importance of the physical environment in all that we do.
Ethics: Designers have a responsibility to address societal issues in order to contribute positively to their communities. Ethics aligns design with the values of society through providing a framework for guiding actions, behaviours and choices.
Energy: Society is transitioning into a new era led by renewables, including solar, hydro- and wind energy alongside human power. How can designers transform systems and objects in order to power life?
I want to charge a ticketing fee for my Melbourne Design Week satellite program. Is this possible?
Yes, but Melbourne Design Week encourages events, where possible, to be free or have an affordable ticket price. Please note that events listed in the Melbourne Design Week satellite program must be open to the public.