Nagoya is a Design City in the UNESCO Creative Cities Network. Participating in international exhibitions, symposiums and other large-scale events held by network member cities gives the Nagoya area the chance to make a wide appeal to individuals and products in the creative sector and at the same time gives us access to feedback about the results of these exhibitions and a rich source of post-show suggestions from the audience. Design Monat Graz 2013 (Graz Design month 2013, held in the city of Graz, Austria) in May, was one such opportunity.

This annual design month is a huge exhibition in which the focus is on creativity plus economics. After being accepted into the UNESCO Creative Cities Network, Graz invited other network cities into the main exhibition; this year asking Nagoya to take a large space. Just then, a plan came to light for a project in which students of FH JOANNEUM University of Applied Science Graduate School would exhibit the results of research into Design City Nagoya. Creative Design City Nagoya (CDCN) took this opportunity to make the exhibition much more than an exhibition; by including the Granag Project from July of 2012, another joint effort, produced by students from five Nagoya universities, and students from FH JOANNEUM University of Applied Science Graduate Schooi, CDCN turned this into a way to support the next generation with an opportunity for exchange and education.

Design Monat Graz 2013 began with a speech by the mayor of Graz and the delivery of a message from the mayor of Nagoya. The venue was filled to bursting with visitors, making this truly a grand opening. Along with designs and products selected by CDCN, the Design City Nagoya exhibition allowed for the presentation of a wide variety of culture and design of our city, including pieces from the Granag Project’s collections such as animation, manga, architectural models and photography and videos of designer interviews chosen by university students from Graz and Nagoya. The exhibition was produced in such a way that room dividers based on the image of traditional shoji created most of the shadows referenced in the title, In Praise of Shadows, Between the visitors carefully reading the descriptions of the products and others inquiring about how to buy them, we recognized a strong interest in Japanese design.

UNESCO Creative Cities Network
The Creative Cities Network is certified by UNESCO, an organization emphasizing the conservation of cultural diversity. This program promotes international partnerships and reciprocal exchanges among cities throughout the world that seek invigoration through the development and strengthening of creative and cultural industries. The program comprises the following seven fields: craftwork and folk art, design, film, gastronomy, literature, music and media arts. The City of Nagoya was appointed to the City of Design in October 2008. (34 cities as of October 2013)

Design Monat Graz 2013
Date: Fri., May 3 2013 – Sun., June 2 2013
Venue: designHalle (Graz, Austria)
Organizer: Creative Industries Styria
Exhibitor:

Creative Design City Nagoya Organizing Committee (Constituent organizations: City of Nagoya, International Design Center Nagoya Inc., Nagoya Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Council of Chubu Design Organizations), FH JOANNEUM University of Applied Science

Co-operators:

ICHIRO Inc., BEETS inc., 3120 (Furukawa Shiko Inc., Marujyu Paper Company, Ieda paper-craft Inc.), galerie P＋EN, ohta, marimomen, Mei-butsu Design Committee, FLaPP Design Studio (OHASHI RYOKI CO., LTD., Kaneko Kohyo Pottery MFG Co., Ltd.), OPENENDS, Peace Graphics, Hiromura Design Office, International Design Center NAGOYA Inc., Tomoaki Uno Architects, D.I.G Architects, Tenpo, Kunihiro Ono, Sundwich Inc., Akie Tsuzuki, Nagoya Kappan, Kapsel, Deity´s watchdog, Masahiro Ichino, Theater Cafe

*For detailed reports, recorded video and images from Design Monat Graz 2013, or products made in the Nagoya area, as well as details on the Granag Project, please visit the official site of Creative Design City NAGOYA.