Design Made in Osaka
as special content for Milan Design Week 2019, co-promoted as part of Switch on Your Creativity 6th edition for Milano Genius 2019 in cooperation with Osaka City
Japanese Version of this content available here
Switch on Your Creativity and Milan Design Week
Switch on Your Creativity, produced by Asian Studies Group in occasion of the Milano Expo 2015 is an international network that involves the non – profit world, sponsors and institutions, with the aim of encouraging the creation and promotion of creative projects on different thematic fronts: Contemporary Art, Music and Show Business, Photography, Innovation, Fashion and Design, that are promoted, spread or produced from Milan to Europe and Asia.
Europe and Asia in a dialogue through creativity is in fact the main slogan of this format.
Switch on Your Creativity addresses in particular graduates, professionals, associations, start – up companies, fostering the encounter with technical partners, sponsors and institutions to enhance occasions of development and co – operation in the name of youth creativity.
For several editions, the project has been involving youth from Europe to promote projects in Asia; but Switch on Your Creativity has also recently supported creative projects from China, Japan and Korea, promoting them in Milan.
In 2018 the partnership with the municipality of Milan has been strengthened as far as the Milan Design Week is concerned, in the realisation of the collective exhibition supported by the municipality of Milan on the theme #DesignAndPlanet. Thanks to this occasion dozens of projects from all Europe presented during the design week in Milan have been illustrated and presented in a video – product and installation supported by the Italian Institute of Culture in Osaka during an exhibition in Japan.
In occasion of Milano Genius 2019: Art, Culture and Innovation, exhibition produced by the Italian Institute of Culture in Osaka in collaboration with Asian Studies Group in Italy, the relationship between Switch on Your Creativity and Milan Design Week gets stronger, offering designers from Osaka the opportunity to present their project, prototype or product during the prestigious Design Week in Milan, and to obtain a free service of product placement, communication and promotion.
Milano Genius 2019
Milano Genius 2019: Arte, Cultura e Innovazione is an exhibition that accentuates through the creative side of Milan an occasion of comparison, collaboration and development of creative topics between the municipalities of Milan and Osaka, sister cities. The exhibition is entirely created and supported by the Italian Institute of Culture in Osaka; among the different partners involved there is our Association, Asian Studies Group, representative of Milan as far as the operating schedule, communication and sponsorship at the municipality of Milan is concerned.
For the Design section, apart from the numerous themed activities in Osaka starting from March 1st and finishing on March 12th, in occasion of Italian Design Day in Osaka, Milano Genius 2019 also offers the opportunity for Japanese designers/creators to take part in Milan Design Week in Milan, from April 9th to April 14th 2019, by applying on Switch on Your Creativity (6th edition).
Thanks to a series of important partnerships and sponsorships, visibility for works and creators selected will be guaranteed in a few prestigious and populous locations entirely free of charge. Switch on Your Creativity will also provide to spread contents in Italian and in English regarding the “specially selected” Japanese designers for Milano Genius 2019, in collaboration with the city of Osaka and the Italian Institute of Culture in Osaka
Call for Creativity: Design Made in Osaka for Milano Design Week 2019
In this section you will find some guidelines indicated for Call for Creativity, supported by Milano Genius 2019
Terms of participation
- Single or collective form
- Minimum age 18, maximum age 45 years old (two sections will be created – junior until 30 and executive from 30 to 45)
- Residents in Osaka (prefecture) or with business/studying activity in Osaka
Some of the themes proposed are:
– Design And Planet: sustainable perspectives
As for the European presented in Osaka on November 3rd 2018 at the Italian Institute of Culture, Milano Genius 2019 allows young Japanese designers to introduce their own work on the theme of environment and sustainability. There will be allowed projects/prototypes/products for different uses on the ecological theme and facing the aspects of: culture of environmental respect, choice of materials, eco – sustainability in production or usage, innovation.
– Facing with Japan, please take a seat
Seats (stools, armchairs, chairs of any kind) with artistic, innovative, functional or modern interpretation which express a particular identity or personality in the representation of the object in the space.
– Cool Japan
Interior objects/pieces which express distinctive features of contemporary Japan or that can help to understand it in an interpretative key which must be innovative, lively, artistic and charming for its esthetic or use.
To participate please send from January 7th to February 17th 2019 via e – mail at japandesk@asianstudiesgroup.net three photo of the product, a short video that presents the designer and the product/prototype/project/installation and an additional sheet which sums up all the information about the weigh, size, conditions of use, and peculiarities of the product.
It is also necessary to indicate for which of the three themes you want to sign up (Design And Planet/ Take a Seat/ Cool Japan) in the object of the e – mail.
These materials would be used by Asian Studies Group within the activities of promotional editing/ visual editing/ preview on the Milano Genius 2019 blog site and Facebook page and on the Switch on Your Creativity hub.
The organizers will communicate the selected projects via e – mail within February 22nd 2019. Given the number of subscriptions the organizers may also decide to confirm the totality, a part or just one of the three themes proposed.
Some products/ prototypes/ installations/ projects may be presented in Osaka at the Hall of the municipality of Osaka with the participation of the designers during the promotional activities of the Italian design and Milan Design week in March (starting from the week of March 11th). The products/prototypes/ installations / projects that will be exhibited must be delivered to Milan within March 31st 2019 (shipping cost are at the expense of the participant) with all the details about their installation.
Further details will be communicated to the finalists of the project about the showrooms of Milano Design Week, where they must send the materials. The exhibition will be documented by photos and content editing of post production on the official social networks. The designers will have the possibility to personally take part in the networking activities promoted by partners and supporters of the event during Milano Design Week.
Milano Genius 2021 