YOUNG BALKAN DESIGNERS

Young Balkan Designers (YBD) is Mikser organization’s regional talent platform aimed at discovering, developing and promoting creative talents of the Balkan region in the field of sustainable design. The initiative also aims at unifying the regional design scene, bringing it closer to the international audience, strengthening its potential by providing additional education and practice to emerging designers, while at the same time contributing to the restoration of multi-cultural cooperation in the Balkan region.

In 2023 Mikser curators teamed up with the visionaries of the NUNC company in launching a special edition of Young Balkan Designers competition, creating a unique opportunity for the next generation of Balkan designers to join Nunc on its mission to reinterpret the region’s rich tradition and culture into innovative and recognizable contemporary design products. 

Nunc is a furniture manufacturer from Slavonia, Croatia. It debuted on international design scene in 2019 at the furniture fair in Cologne Germany, and it has been growing and conquering international markets ever since. Nunc’s witty and refreshing approach to design of everyday objects comes from collaboration with emerging designers from the entire region, many of which have debuted on the regional and international scene via Young Balkan Designers platform.

The competition theme “Here and Now – Hybrid Solutions for Contemporary Living, Work, Exchange and Play” calls for sustainable, smart, flexible design solutions for ever-changing environments and circumstances we live in nowadays. Technological breakthrough opens new possibilities of remote working and flexible working arrangements that also affect configuration of our personal and communal spaces. On the other hand, the global health crisis gave us time to reflect on our personal values and aspirations, leading to mass self-reflection on the ways we want to spend most of our day – where, when, with whom and why.

We challenge young designers to explore new furniture and space functions for in-between and overlapping areas of everyday worlds: home, work, school, public spaces, fun, intimate and communal zones, urban and rural environments, static and moving experiences.

The international jury panel consists of Marva Whilshire Griffin, curator of Salone Satellite at Milan International Furniture Fair, industrial designer Henriette Waal, professor at Eindhoven Design Academy and Director of Experimental Research of Atelier Luma in Arles; product designer Nikola Radeljkovic, of Numen/For Use collective based in Croatia; Jelena Matic, product designer and professor at Faculty of Forestry, University of Belgrade and Maja Lalic, architects and founder of Belgrade’s Mikser Association.

The Jury will select the most inspiring works to be exhibited at the YBD for NUNC Exhibition during Belgrade International Furniture Fair, where NUNC product development team will choose the projects to be further developed into real NUNC products and exhibited at the famous International Milan Furniture Fair.

The competition is open till September 2023.

The winners will be announced on October 2^nd.

Full Competition Text HERE