Dezeen · Creativity & design

Currents Berlin Festival Highlights Undervalued Design Scene

The inaugural Currents festival in Berlin aims to elevate the city's design community, which organizers argue is underrecognized and underfunded despite its growing quality and international potential.

The decentralized, community-curated Currents festival, running September 10-12, is funded by participating brands and studios, reflecting Berlin's DIY ethos. Organizers note a scarcity of platforms and funding for Berlin's designers.

Past design events in Berlin have reportedly been shunned by the local community. Currents seeks to provide a comfortable showcase for the city's design output.

Germany's IMM Cologne has struggled with declining market demand, canceling its 2025 edition. Currents organizers observe that other nations actively promote their designers internationally, unlike in Germany.

Currents organizers were unable to secure public funding, suspecting a diminished appreciation for design's role in German industry and politics.

German industry is perceived as prioritizing function over design, leaving local designers' work undervalued and ineligible for traditional arts funding.

Despite challenges, Berlin's design scene is flourishing. Currents features 80 brands and studios across 60 locations, with a focus on local talent.

Organizers hope Currents will foster recognition for Berlin's design scene, which has evolved to international quality, impressive given the city's deindustrialization.

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