Helsinki Design Week’s theme for 2022 is “We are open”

Staying open and transparent is a prerequisite for critical thinking. Openness is also essential in any development, and integral in the design process. Staying curious and receptive is a choice. Openness also acknowledges its own incompleteness: the design industry is full of contradictions, has unsustainable practices and entails much room for improvement in terms of equality and diversity. 

One thing Helsinki Design Week is open to is learning. We are constantly developing our practices. Learning requires stepping into another’s shoes and seeking new perspectives. Designers are good at this. HDW is committed to finding the best sustainable practices. Curation, communication and production are carried out thoughtfully and in cooperation with a carefully selected network of partners. One could say our international festival is an argument promoting the value of openness. Without the open call for events for our programme and the continuous multidisciplinary collaboration, we would not have grown into what we are today. 

In September 2022, we will reopen the doors to the city, to its most interesting galleries, shops, studios and showrooms. We proudly present our local community and the results of its creativity – design can provide new ways to look at, listen and perceive the world. Design allows for a change that is hard to imagine. As the largest design festival in the Nordic countries, we offer inspiration to professionals in the fields of design and architecture as well as to all city dwellers. Our calendar again consists of Main, Companion and Satellite events. Together with the City of Helsinki, we are celebrating the tenth anniversary of the World Design Capital year. Our seminar for design professionals makes room for wonder and insights. The Helsinki Design Awards celebrate the best in design, and the Design Market offers encounters as well as the joy of discovery. HDW Children’s Design Week explores a city that is truly open for all. 

The festival is a mobile laboratory, a changeable hybrid whose events test possible futures. Its temporality allows for even the wildest experiments. However, Helsinki Design Week continues to explore and challenge beyond September. Our own media Weekly is a digital meeting place where you can exchange ideas and expertise. And it is open all year round.

Helsinki Design Week 1–11 September 2022. The Open Call for events begins on 1 March. There are other ways to join us, too. Regarding partnerships and the programme, please send an email to info@helsinkidesignweek.com. You can subscribe to Helsinki Design Weekly to become the first to know about any updates here.