FEBRUARY DESIGN DIARY 2024
As 2024 unfolds we're here with the latest edition of the ND Design Diary. February is LGBTQ+ History month in the UK and there are so many exciting and educational things to do and see in the art and design world to celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community. Here’s our guide to what to do in the design world throughout February.
QUEERFEST NORWICH 2024
NORWICH, VARIOUS LOCATIONS
Join LGBTQ+ artists, makers, filmmakers, and performers for a month of queer joy at Queerfest Norwich, running all of February. The festival will feature talks and workshops like ‘Making your own zine’ and ‘Ceramic Sgrafitto’, and special events like an art market and film screenings. See all programming below.
COLOUR REVOLUTION: VICTORIAN ART, FASHION, AND DESIGN
ON NOW UNTIL 18 FEBRUARY 2024
ASHMOLEAN MUSEUM, OXFORD
Rediscover Victorian society as a vibrant colour-filled era – from dazzling dyes used in chic corsets, bold experiments by avant-garde painters, and the flamboyant use of nature’s beauty in jewellery.
BARBARA KRUGER: THINKING OF YOU. I MEAN ME. I MEAN YOU.
SERPENTINE GALLERIES
ON NOW UNTIL 17 MARCH 2024
Serpentine presents a solo exhibition of recent works by American artist Barbara Kruger.
Titled Thinking of You. I Mean Me. I Mean You. the exhibition will feature a unique selection of installations, moving image works, and multiple soundscapes installed across the Serpentine building, bookshop, and outside banners, as well as on large-scale, immersive wraparound screens at Outernet Arts.
UNRAVEL: THE POWER AND POLITICS OF TEXTILES IN ART
THE BARBICAN
13 FEBRUARY 2024 – 26 MAY 2024
In this major group exhibition, 50 international, intergenerational artists use textiles to communicate vital ideas about power, resistance and survival. From intimate hand-crafted pieces to monumental sculptural installations, these works offer narratives of violence, imperialism and exclusion alongside stories of resilience, love and hope.
STOCKHOLM FURNITURE FAIR
THE DESIGN MUSEUM
6-10 FEBRUARY 2024
Stockholm Furniture Fair, Scandinavia’s leading platform for furniture- and lighting design, and architecture. Held annually in Stockholm, Sweden, the fair attracts architects, designers, interior decorators, buyers and enthusiasts from all around the world.
PARIS IS BURNING WITH DESIGNER ASHISH GUPTA
THE DESIGN MUSEUM
11 FEBRUARY 2024
Join fashion designer Ashish Gupta for a matinee screening of the iconic documentary ‘Paris is Burning’, marking the end of the exhibition Rebel: 30 Years of London Fashion.
QUEER X DESIGN: 50 YEARS OF SIGNS, SYMBOLS, BANNERS, LOGOS AND GRAPHIC ART OF LGBTQ
The first-ever illustrated history of the iconic designs, symbols, and graphic art representing more than 5 decades of LGBTQ pride and activism–from the evolution of Gilbert Baker’s rainbow flag to the NYC Pride typeface launched in 2017 and beyond.
Organized by decade beginning with Pre-Liberation and then spanning the 1970s through the millennium, QUEER X DESIGN will be an empowering, uplifting, and colorful celebration of the hundreds of graphics-from shapes and symbols to flags and iconic posters-that have stood for the powerful and ever-evolving LGBTQ movement over the last five-plus decades.
SURFACE DESIGN SHOW
BUSINESS DESIGN CENTRE, ISLINGTON
This annual event attracts architects and designers from across the UK to Islington’s Business Design Centre where industry professionals immerse themselves in the latest materials for the built environment.
PARADISE BY AMY CUSHING
VESSEL GALLERY
UNTIL 11 MARCH 2024
This solo exhibition by contemporary glass artist Amy Cushing presents a series of vibrant sculptures created as the artist’s antidote to the grey and uninspiring, taking tropical imagery such as jungle flora, birds of paradise and sunlight on crystal clear water as sources of inspiration.
OUT AT SEA
NATIONAL MARITIME MUSEUM
Head to the National Maritime Museum for a day-long festival celebrating queer maritime history through the ages as part of LGBT+ History Month – throughout the day, enjoy creative workshops, live performances, talks and more.
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