Description:
Curated by Angela Rui and Maja Vardjan, and organized by the Museum of Architecture and Design in Ljubljana, the 25th Biennial of Design—FARAWAY, SO CLOSE—responds to the observation that although the city remains the model within which the evolution of contemporary society is discussed and interpreted, we are now witnessing a growing percentage of people that leave the city for other contexts and environments.

"The Biennial develops from the physical exploration of seven conditions all over Slovenia on which designers were invited to reflect. This is a contemporary phenomenon characteristic of our era: young, informed and emancipated people who have grown up within urban models bring their values into non-urban spaces."

"The framework of FARAWAY, SO CLOSE is an experiment in formats: the designers have been asked to think of a potentially novel interpretation of Slovenian local dimension in order to generate new questions that are relevant also in a broader context. The structure of the biennial, as well as its dislocation, is pushing designers, disciplines and institutions outside their comfort zones."

"BIO25 develops at seven locations in Slovenia. International creative figures, named Translators, have been chosen for their ability to use design and architecture as tools to investigate contemporary issues. Alongside them, selected Slovenian individuals from various fields, named Profiles, will offer their knowledge and originality as inspiration in order to articulate design practices and a speculative scenography to be presented at the Biennial. Divided into seven groups, participants are developing possible scenarios that esquire into local and global issues, using the existing Slovenian territory as a paradigm."