experimentadesign Biennale EXD
Lisboa, Portugal, 1999
Co-creator of the experimentadesign Biennale EXD, dedicated to design, architecture and contemporary creativity.
With its first edition in 1999 in Lisbon, the experimentadesign Biennale – or EXD, as it came to be known – has positioned itself over the course of 18 years as an international platform for promoting contemporary culture through the discussion, reflection and dissemination of knowledge.
Dedicated to design, architecture and project culture, EXD put Portugal and Lisbon on the itinerary for the world’s major cultural events, distinguishing itself at the time it was created as the first biennial that looked at design from a cultural perspective, alongside others in the area of the fine arts. It assumed an innovative format as it included from the outset a wide-range of educational services for all ages, and it was predominately open to the public free of charge, asserting the role of a public service. And because it related to the city it chose to be part of, Lisbon, in such a way as to repurpose and revisit its historical and contemporary built heritage, interact with its various institutions and develop a new concept behind the relationship between a cultural event and a city, changing dynamics, circuits and fostering new discoveries and interactions.
Between 1999 and 2017, the event presented content in areas such as industrial design, architecture, communication design, cinema, performing arts, environmental design, photography, multimedia, sound design, light design, video and visual arts.
The biennial was designed jointly by Guta Moura Guedes, Marco Sousa Santos and José Viena, and evolved over the years as a result of the national and international teams that came together, developing a network of partnerships.
The biennial was designed jointly by Guta Moura Guedes, Marco Sousa Santos and José Viena, and evolved over the years as a result of the national and international teams that came together, developing a network of partnerships. It had Guta Moura Guedes, Marco Sousa Santos, João Paulo Feliciano and Pedro Gadanho as co-artistic directors, Mário Carneiro as executive director, Teresa Oliveira as financial director and a vast team, including Inês Lamim, Levina Valentim, Marina Gomes Alexandre, Patricia Domingos, Miguel Vieira Baptista, Fernando Brízio, Ana Caldeano, Paula Melâneo, Marco Reixa, Nuno Luz, Pedro Franco, Max Bruinsma, Ed Annink, Emily Campbel, Joseph Grima, Stefan Sagmeister, Hans Maier-Aichen, Mateo Kries, Pedro Rocha Vieira, Tiago Machado, Luis Ferreira, Margarida Vilhena, Joana Morais and Miguel Corte-Real, among others.
During its 10 editions – one of them in Amsterdam in 2008 and the second to last in 2015, featuring Lisbon, Porto and Matosinhos – the EXD programme aimed to disseminate knowledge, not only to a specialized audiences, but also to the general public, stimulating critical debate and defending the role of culture as a transversal vector for development. Although it was always a display of Portuguese design, architecture and culture, its programming, as well as the curatorial teams, were mainly international, without regard for borders, placing Portugal at the center of the world.
Over the course of 18 years, the EXD Biennale welcomed a total of 1,135,107 visitors, an average of 116,123 per edition.
It invited 1,833 participants, both Portuguese and foreign, involved 51 countries and presented content in 59 different venues in Lisbon, some of which have been closed for many years or have fallen into disuse.
It launched innovative and anticipatory projects and ideas on a global scale and was a pioneer across many aspects of its field of action.
EXD’99/LISBON 12.09.1999 — 16.10.1999
INTERSECÇÕES DO E NO DESIGN
EXD’01/LISBON 16.09.2001 — 31.10.2001
MODUS OPERANDI
EXD’03/LISBON 17.09.2003 — 02.11.2003
PARA ALÉM DO CONSUMO
EXD’05/LISBON 15.09.2005 — 30.10.2005
O MEIO É MATÉRIA
EXD’08/AMSTERDAM 18.09.2008 — 02.11.2008
SPACE AND PLACE
EXD’09/LISBON 09.09.2009 — 08.11.2009
IT’S ABOUT TIME
EXD’11/LISBON 28.09.2011 — 27.11.2011
USELESS
EXD’13/LISBON 07.11.2013 — 22.12.2013
NO BORDERS
EXD’15/LISBOA/PORTO/MATOSINHOS 12.11.2015 — 20.12.2015
AS FAR AS THE MIND CAN SEE
EXD’17 30.09.2017
BEFORE & BEYOND
The biennial cycle was brought to an end when experimentadesign considered that after the success of 10 editions and 18 years of biennials, and within the global context of the 21st century, it would be consistent with the spirit of the association to experiment with new projects related to research and the production of knowledge, as well as other forms of contributions to society.
experimentadesign 1999-2017, published in 2017, is an extensive book that includes a record of all the editions. It can be ordered on experimentadesign’s website.
