Biennial and Triennial Directors of the International Design Community Came Together in Istanbul to Address the Critical Question “Why Biennial?”

As a part of its pre-events programme, the biennial hosted directors of international architecture, design, urbanism biennials and triennials at a round-table discussion which took place on 26 May between 09.30-18.00 at the Milli Reassürans Conference Hall to focus on the question: “Why Biennial?” The meeting featured 8 directors from biennials and triennials of worldwide repute: Mr Giovanna Massoni, Director of Liege International Design Biennial; Mr Matevž Čelik, Director of Ljubljana Bio-Biennial of Industrial Design; Ms Elsa Francés, Manager of Design International Biennial St. Etienne & Exhibitions; Mr Guta Moura Guedes, Director of Experimenta Lisbon; Dr. Serge Serov, Director of Moscow International Graphic Design Biennial; Mr. Weiwen Huang, Director of Shenzhen-HongKong Bi-City Urbanism/Architecture Biennial; Mr. Brendan McGetrick, Co-artistic director of Gwangju Design Biennial 2011; Mrs. Beatrice Galilgee, Chief Curator of Lisbon Architecture Triennale

Information About Roundtable Speakers

Giovanna Massoni / Director of International Design Biennial of Liège
Born in Milan, living and working in Brussels since 20 years, Giovanna Massoni is an art and design freelance journalist and independent design consultant. She regularly collaborates with Belgian and international organisations, aiming at promoting and communicating emerging design scenarios with a social and ethical content. Amongst her most significant assignments to date have been: Saint-Etienne International Design Biennial’s Belgium curatorship, Wallonie-Bruxelles Design/Mode promotional concepts and communication, researcher and editor at Addict Creative Lab and EOS (environmental integrated communication agency’s associate).

Matevž Čelik / Director of Bio-Biennial of Industrial Design of Ljubljana
Matevz Čelik graduated from Faculty of Architecture in Ljubljana (1998). He worked as architecture critic and an expert for urban regeneration. He has published articles at several papers and magazines, from national daily newspapers Delo an Dnevnik, to international architectural magazines such as Domus, U+A and Oris. He co-founded TrajekT, Slovenia’s leading webzine for architecture and town planning, in 2002, and since than till 2010 he has been Editor-in-chief of the webzine. Since it has been launched in 2003 www.trajekt.org became the most popular and most up to date information resource for architecture, spatial planning and urban affairs in Slovenia. In 2007 Matevz Celik published the book “New Architecture in Slovenia” which presents the first overview of contemporary architectural development in this country. In September 2010 he became the director of Museum of Architecture and Design, the national museum for architecture and design.

Elsa Francés / Manager of Design International Biennial St Etienne & Exhibitions
Elsa Francès joined Tim Thom in 1993, a design team created by Philippe Starck for Thomson Multimedia, and was in charge of designing products of range for various brands of the group like Thomson, Telefunken, Saba. In 1995 she participated in the design and realization of the “Dream Products” exhibition at IFA. In 1999, she became design manager for the Thomson Scenium European range. In 2001, when Tim Thom gathered the American and the European teams, she took over the management of the international strategic design unit, and later, the art direction of European ranges. Elsa Francés has been the Director of Cité du Design.

Guta Moura Goudes / Design Director of Lisbon Experimenta Design
Co-founder of “Experimenta-Association for the Promotion of Design and Design Culture”, Gouta has also served as Chairperson since 2000. Since 1999 she dedicates herself to directing and programming the ExperimentaDesign (EXD), as well as the management of the association’s institutional and international relations, its communication and strategic development. Having originally studied piano, biology and management, she started working as a designer in 1992. From 1997 onwards Goudes has been involved in several inter-disciplinary design projects, acting as a designer, writer, consultant, TV journalist and curator. From 2003 to 2006 she was a member of the management council of Lisbon Design Museum. From 2004 to 2005 Goudes was cultural administrator of the Centro Cultural de Belém Foundation. In 2005 she was asked to create and coordinate the new design department at Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa. In addition she is a communication, design and development consultant for Casa da Música, Rem Koolhaas’ spectacular new building in Porto. Actively engaged in the international design community as a curator, creative director, strategist and critical thinker since the early 90’s, GMG integrates or has integrated several high-profile committees and juris, including Fondazione Bisazza Advisory Board; the Advisory Committee of “Torino 2008 World Design Capital”; the International Think Tank for the Scottish event “Six Cities Design Festival”.She was distinguished by the French Government with the Ordre de Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres in 2005.

Dr Serge Serov / Director of Moscow International Graphic Design Biennial
Graduated from Moscow Institute of Telecommunication (1974) and Academy of Fine Arts, I. Repin Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (1986). He then dedicated himself to scientific, organisational and educational activities, creative practices and journalism. He was an organiser and curator of over 100 design exhibitions, competitions and events in Russia and abroad. He was a member of the President of Russia Committee of the State Awards for Art and Literature. He is the founder and president of the Golden Bee, Moscow International Biennale of Graphic Design, Head of the High Academic School of Graphic Design. He is currently a member of the Academy of Graphic Design, Society of Designers of Russia, Society of Designers of Ukraine (Honorary Member), Moscow Society of Designers, AIS (Art Critics and Historians International Association), ITC (International Trademarks Center), Alfabugs (International Association of Type Designers), Friends of ICOGRADA, Brno Biennale Association (Honorary Member).

Weiwen Huang / Director of Shenzhen&Hong Kong Bi-City Urban/Architecture Biennial
Huang is the Deputy Chief Urban Planner of Urban Planning & Land Resource Commission of Shenzhen Municipal, and the Director of Shenzhen Center for Public Art, the Director of Preparatory Office of Shenzhen Center for Design. Weiwen has promoted exploration and reform in the urban design of Guangming (or “Radiant”) New Town in 2006, aiming to build a New “Anti-Radiant” City with a new standard for a green city. He continually seeks to establish new regulations for fair and open design competitions in China. As a civil servant, he maintains an independent research program, and writes articles criticizing automobile-oriented and super-scale space design, attaching greater importance to public space, green transportation, and public participation in urban planning. His published works include: Research in Renovation on the Villages-in-the-City (2003), Redevelopment of Huaqiangbei Road (2005), Sculpture City (2006), Utopia Lost City (2007), and Urbanization in Contemporary China Observed: Dramatic Changes and Disruptions (2008). After the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, he initiated a professional aid program named Re-Tumu for the regeneration of the post-quake homeland through professional action, and organised a New Campus design competition for redesigning eight schools in the disaster-stricken area.

Brendan McGetrick / Deputy Art Director of the 2011 Gwangju Design Biennial
McGetrick is an independent author, designer, and curator. His work has appeared in publications in over twenty countries including Wired, Art Review, Domus, and Vogue Nippon. His recent projects include the books MAD Dinner (Actar, 2008), Urban China: Work In Progress (Timezone 8, 2009), Who is Architecture? (Domus/Timezone 8, 2010). In 2011 he curated ‘Unnamed Design’, a component of the Gwangju Design Biennale. The exhibition drew over 200,000 visitors and was selected as one of the year’s best by the New York Times. In 2002-2006, he worked as editor and headwriter in the projects of architect and writer Rem Koolhaas and his office OMA-AMO. McGetrick is also a DJ in his free time.

Beatrice Galilee, Head Curator of the 2013 Lisbon Architecture Triennial
Beatrice Galilee is a London-based curator, writer, critic, consultant and lecturer of contemporary architecture and design. She is the co-founder and director of The Gopher Hole, an experimental exhibition and event space in London, architectural writer at Domus and associate lecturer at Central St Martins University. She was a curator at the 2011 Gwangju Design Biennale in Korea, directed by Ai Wei Wei and Seung H-Sang, and a freelance contributor to a number of international publications on architecture and design.

In 2009 Beatrice was invited to work in Beijing as European curator of the 2009 Shenzhen Hong Kong Bi-City Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism, directed by Ou Ning and also work as a curator at Shao Foundation. During that period she co-curated Convergence 142, an exhibition in Ordos, Inner Mongolia with Joseph Grima. From 2006-2009 Beatrice was Architecture Editor for Icon Magazine, one of Europe’s leading publications in architecture and design. In 2008 she won the IBP Architectural Journalist of the Year Award. Galilee is the Chief Curator of 2013 Lisbon Architecture Triennale.