10-day design festival unfolds in Bengaluru

A 10-day design festival which aims to celebrate creative ideas got off to a grand start on Friday at the posh UB City shopping plaza in this tech hub's downtown across the famous Cubbon Park.

"The first edition of 'Bengaluru ByDesign' festival celebrates creativity, encourages thinking and explores innovations in contemporary design for the public through various events across the city over the next 10 days," festival's founder Suprita Moorthy told IANS here.

To be held till December 2, the festival will involve art installations, exhibitions, workshops, conferences and screenings on multiple aspects of design including textiles, technology, gaming, sustainability, products, graphics and photography.

"We want to democratise design and make it accessible not just to the elite but everyone," Moorthy said.

Even as the organisers claimed the festival aimed to make design "accessible" to all, it is being held mainly in city's upscale suburbs -- art installations and conferences at the UB City shopping mall, swanky VR Mall in east Bengaluru and at facilities of companies in Electronic City and Whitefield.

Installations have also been also set up at Town Hall in the city centre using textiles, and on St. Marks Road, close to UB City, bringing in greenery onto the busy road.

"Bengaluru is a fast-growing city. We hope that through design, we can influence the infrastructure and build-up of the city," Moorthy added.

On the sidelines of the festival, an India Design Forum (IDF) for discussions on application of design in various fields including buildings, technology, gaming etc., will be held till Saturday.

The platform will witness the participation of about 30 experts like Country Head of animation firm Technicolor India Biren Ghose, Managing Director of Accenture Labs (Asia-Pacific) Sanjay Podder, Chief Designer at German software firm SAP Kai Richter, and co-founders of city-based real estate firm Total Environment Kamal and Shibanee Sagar, among others.

"Through the festival, we want to impact the general public, businesses as well as education. We have set up installations for general public, conferences for design enthusiasts and are engaging businesses through various aspects of design," festival's co-founder Priyanka Shah-Bhandary told IANS.

The fest will also see the participation of students from various design institutes, including city-based Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology, JD Institute of Fashion Technology and others, taking part in workshops.

--IANS

bha/nir