VI DESIGN NIGHT TAKES PLACE ON SEPTEMBER 16-25, 2011 AS A PART OF THE EUROPEAN INNOVATION FESTIVAL IF...

On September 16-25, Tallinn is overtaken by the innovative design fans who are taking part of the European Innovation Festival IF... and Design Night both of which belong to the official programme of the European Capital of Culture Tallinn 2011. Within the span of 2 years, 6 cities organize the Innovation Festival – Barcelona, Milan, Kortrijk, Lisbon, Vilnius and Tallinn. These festivals emphasize innovation and user-friendly design, social inclusion, mobility, environmental awareness and the influence of technology on everyday life. People and their needs are in the centre of attention.

The Estonian Association of Designers (EAD) started organizing design festivals in 2006. Their main aim was to introduce the achievements of Estonian design and inform Estonian people about the latest news in the field of design. The event which in the beginning lasted for one night has grown into a big international event which lasts for a dozen days, attracts a lot of foreign press and brings many people who are interested in culture to Tallinn.

The programme of the sixth design festival is broad as is to be expected from a European Capital of Culture. The programme involves several conferences and workshops including InnoEstonia 2011 conference which is organized in cooperation with the innovation centre InnoEurope. The conference concentrates on innovations in the field of education. Furthermore, the conference Services of Tomorrow - What’s Next? is organized in cooperation with Tallinn University and Lahti University. 

Even though the heart of the festival is located in the Rotermann quarter, several large museums and galleries are also involved in it. Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design exhibits Icelandic design as prefestival event and EAD launches an innovation and design exhibition Novelty. Museum of Estonian Architecture is showing a lighting exhibition called Games with Fire by Tarmo Luisk, Estonian Poster 2011 and an extensive French design exhibition Saint-Etienne Design: Creative City For All by Cité du Design which concentrates on urbanistic projects. At KUMU you can see an exhibition of the nominees of the Design Management Europe Awards 2011. In the Elevator (Rotermann Quarter), visitors can take a look at the exotic interactive graphics which were created in collaboration between Denmark and Malaysia and visit an exhibition of experience design titled Man&God which asks bold questions about god by using images of pop stars and brands which have acquired the status of god. A real Buto dancer from Malaysia will make a performance with an Estonian musician.

A part of the festival club is called IF... Corner where the visitors can learn about the other IF... festivals and the results of the innovative idea competition IF...Lab which was carried out in 6 cities. The end results of the Cities for All – Tallinn for All project are exhibiting in Rotermann Quarter. Furthermore, the programme includes a Lithuanian textile exhibition, an Austrian information design exhibition in the city center and German designers are introducing their works as a part of the Face2Face project. As has become a tradition during Design Nights, magnificent fashions shows are held during the festival, this time in cooperation with Tallinn Fashion Week. On the opening day, an Estonian-Latvian fashion show Moment is held and the festival ends with Reet Aus promising show. There is also room in the programme for different workshops, the Design Auction, Pecha Kucha, the Design Nightclub meant for networking and many other events. One of the centres of the festival is the Estonian Design House which is located in Kalasadam where the visitors can see and purchase the newest Estonian design works and where the cafe/club is located.

A number of events take place in the urban environment – for example Plural Aesthetics of a Risk-based Society by Dominik Lejman will appear on the historical walls of Elevator. Gulliver Map is a huge map which will be installed onto the city square and all the citizens can mark their favourite places and obstacles they have encountered.

The festival ends with the festive gala of the European Design Management Awards. These "Oscars" of the design world are given to the European companies who have successfully applied design for their own competitive advantage.