Almost 30,000 people immerse themselves in the thinking of Victor Papanek

The travelling exhibition “Victor Papanek: The Politics of Design” closed its doors last Sunday, February 2nd. Three months later, about 30,000 people entered this exhibition co-produced with the Vitra Design Museum and the Papanek Foundation, which rediscovered Papanek as one of the most influential pioneers in social and ecological design of the twentieth century and moved his ideas to the twenty-first century with proposals from contemporary designers and artists.

Parallel to the exhibition, the Design Museum organized a program of activities, workshops and conferences, aimed at the general public of all ages as well as at design schools and professionals in the sector. The reflections that emerged during the cycle, which had more than 1,800 participants, have been compiled in Univers Papanek, a digital publication edited by the museum and the Núvol publishing house.

At the proposal of the Museum, and based on the principles advocated by Papanek as sustainability, accessibility and open source, more than 300 students from thirteen design-grade schools worked on signage projects for permanent exhibitions of graphic design and product of the Museum, as well as in the design of children's play environments. The 110 resulting projects could be seen in the exhibition "On the path of Victor Papanek".

Now the exhibition “Victor Papanek: The Politics of Design” will travel to the C-mine Design Centre, in Genk (Belgium), open for visitors from March 7 to May 24.