Symposium

International Symposium

Graphic Design and its Significance for the Visual Environment
Graphic Design Looks for New Forms of its Visual Identity and Expression


Simultaneous translation - Czech, English

June 14-15, 2006
Theatre Reduta, Zelný trh Square 4, Brno

Registration Fee

A/ Students 500 CZK  / 15 EUR
B/ Others 1,200 CZK / 40 EUR
C/ Free of charge - members of the Organisation Committee, members of the International Jury, lecturers and their accopanying persons, accredited journalists and the Moravian Gallery staff members.  

Accreditation and Payment of the Fee:  
1. 13 June 2006 from 12.00 am to 2.00 pm at the Moravian Gallery in Brno - Prazak Palace
2. 14 June 2006 from 8.30 am at the symposium venue  

Participants in the Symposium are entitled to:  
Official promotional Brno Biennale printed matter -- free of charge

Brno Biennale catalogue -- reduced price
Brno Biennale printed programme -- free of charge
Accreditation card, being at the same time free entry ticket for the Brno Biennale exhibitions

In connection with the opening of the 22nd International Biennale of Graphic Design, Brno 2006, the traditional international lecture symposium will take place in the Theatre Reduta, Zelný trh 4, Brno. Lectures by leading professionals - graphic designers, typographers and theoreticians from
11 countries, complemented by slide and video projections, will be presented in Czech, Slovak and English languages. Interpretation to and from English will be provided.

Main topic covered by the symposium:
Graphic Design and its Significance
for the Visual Environment
The programme will bring an opportunity for the participants to address issues which are everyday reality for graphic designers: the relationship between art and graphic design, authorship in graphic design, responsibility for one's work in the context of social development, independence of the graphic designer's thinking and his/her relation to the customer, experiment and typography, objective and subjective discussion between designers, training in design and its relation to the reality of commercial environment, historical reflections drawn on today, etc. The possibility to confront one's own position and discuss these issues with lecturers coming from several countries with a different historical and social position and background will definitely be a stimulating experience for all the participants in the symposium.

Tuesday 13th June 2006
In connection with J. Abbott Miller's participation in the international jury and the opening of the Biennale, the Moravian Gallery in Brno organizes his talk on the premises of the Lecture Hall of the Museum of Applied Arts, Husova 14.

21.00 / Lecture Hall of the Museum of Applied Arts
J. Abbott Miller (USA)
Designer as Editor

Graphic designer, editor and writer (Design/Writing/Research and Twice Magazine). Partner of Pentagram New York (since 1999) talks about his work, books and projects which have become inspirational source for the next generation of designers.

Wednesday 14th June 2006
Theatre Reduta, Zelný trh 4, Brno
Morning session: 10.30-13.00

10.30
Marek Pokorný (Director of the Moravian Gallery
in Brno and the Brno Biennale)
Alan Záruba (symposium organizer and presenter)

Opening of the International Symposium

11.00
Karel Martens (The Netherlands)
Translations in Bits
Graphic designer and teacher (Werkplaats, Aarnhem;
Jan van Eyck Academie, Maastricht; guest teacher of Yale University) talks about his projects in the field of architecture and possibilities of graphic design in an interaction with public spaces.

11.45
Ung Vai Meng (Macao, China)
Work from China
Director of the Macao Museum of Art presents contemporary graphic design from China, shown also in one of the exhibitions during Biennale 2006.

12.30
Rostislav Vaněk (Czech Republic)
The Quest for Design!
Graphic designer, teacher of AAAD in Prague and creative director of Ogilvy CID talks about projects executed in the Studio of Graphic Design and Visual Communication, presented also in one of the exhibitions during Biennale 2006.

Wednesday 14th June 2006
Theatre Reduta, Zelný trh 4, Brno
Afternoon session: 14.30-17.15

14.30
Catherine Zask (France)
Letter as a Means
Talk of the Grand Prix winner of the 20th Biennale Brno 2002. Catherine Zask focuses on projects from a field of visual communication for cultural institutions and festivals in France.

15.15
Thomas Castro (Lust) (The Netherlands)
Generation Random
The medium is the message makes way for the content is the medium. The talk is not about reinterpreting information into higher levels for consumption (deconstruction) but the reorganisation of data and empowering the end-user with the tools for self- interpretation.

16.00
Karel Haloun (Czech Republic)
Once upon the time in the "Na Chmelnici" music club
On how one can preserve inner freedom in a totalitarian state through graphic design and collaboration on the programme of the most famous Prague music club of the 1980's.

Thursday 15th June 2006
Theatre Reduta, Zelný trh 4, Brno
Morning session: 10.30-13.00

10.30
Reza Abedini (Iran)
The Birth of Typography out of the Spirit
of Calligraphy
On inspiration and motifs Persian and Arabian typographies find when merged with traditional calligraphy in the work of Reza Abedini, a major Iranian artist.

11.15
Eric Olivares (Mexico)
Concept of Global Identity
Eric Olivares, a Mexican graphic designer living in Spain, introduces his concept of global identity on a local scale, alongside the atmosphere of a graphic designer's environment. Design as a reflection and catalyst of this environment.

12.15
Jacek Mrowczyk (Poland)
Second Face of Polish Posters
A well-known Polish designer and journalist assesses the contemporary Polish design from a different perspective, challenging ingrained views on the Polish poster tradition.

Thursday 15th June 2006
Theatre Reduta, Zelný trh 4, Brno
Afternoon session: 14.30-17.15

14.30
Tomáš Machek (Czech Republic)
Why Not a Logo
Brief overview on projects of visual style from non-commercial and commercial field which were initiated and created in Prague-based studio Side2. More detailed presentation focuses on the recent development in new visual presentation of the Czech Republic abroad.

15.15
Paul Elliman (United Kingdom)
In the Air, on the Ground;
Language and the built environment
Language and forms of communication in a public space.

16.15
Peter Biľak (The Netherlands - Slovakia) 
Graphic Design in the White Cube
Some thoughts on possibilities of exhibiting graphic design in museum spaces.

17.00
Alan Záruba (symposium organizer and presenter)
Final speech at the end of the symposium