Clash of the congresses

Two world design congresses are taking place this weekend, at either end of the Americas.

The International Council of Graphic Design Associations will address the influence of culture on design at the Icograda World Design Congress 2007 in Cuba, which kicks off tomorrow (20 October).

The event will also highlight how design is sharing urban identities and how it can be used as an economic development tool.

Designers, consultants, design managers, design researchers, buyers of design services, educators and students will gather at La Habana for the opening ceremony, on Cuba’s national day of culture.

Two major exhibitions will be featured, as well as several renowned international speakers including Saffron Brand Consultants chairman Wally Olins and Joseph McCullagh, MA programme leader for graphic design at Nottingham Trent University.

The Posters for Cultural Diversity exhibition features work by 100 designers from 26 countries who have expressed their interpretation of cultural diversity as a ‘common legacy of mankind’. It has been curated by Hector Villaverde, president of Prografica, and will take place at the Universal Arts Building of La Habana’s Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes.

At the Universal Arts Building, the Eduardo Munoz Bachs: Imagenes de Cine exhibition take place. Bachs is an important creator of Cuban film posters.

The congress is planned in collaboration with Prografica, Icograda’s Cuban member association, and its sponsor El Consejo Nacional de las Artes Plasticas and runs from 20-26 October. It takes place at Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, La Habana Cuba. For more information see http://havana.icograda.org/web or email events@icograda.org

The Cuban festival overlaps with the design congress of the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design.

Organised by Congress chair and Ideo founder Bill Moggridge, the Icsid/IDSA World Design Congress is taking place in San Francisco in the US, from 17-20 October.

The California event is a gathering of industrial designers, including people from design organisations, academics, practitioners and experts.

For further information see www.connecting07.org .