"TIME IS PRESENT. Designing the Common" is the theme the 4th edition

Abrigo dos Pequeninos, in Porto, opened its doors to host the first press conference for the 4th edition of the Porto Design Biennale.  
TIME IS PRESENT. Designing the Common’ is the title of the event that will take place in the cities of Porto and Matosinhos, and which is curated by Italian designers Angela Rui (general curator) and Matilde Losi (assistant curator).

Magda Seifert, executive director of the Porto Design Biennale, opened the presentation session who emphasizing the importance of this new edition: ‘We are working on a format that accompanies cities and their rhythms, that is built with and from people, in a continuous process of listening’. 

Based on a dialogue between space and time, the chosen venue and its indirect relationship with the Biennale was something that Rui Moreira, Mayor of Porto, highlighted in his speech. ‘A place that was home to so many children and historical and social importance is once again a place that thinks about the community,’ he said. 

Recognizing that the program for this edition aims to act on the territory and the local community, the mayor of Porto, Luísa Salgueiro, the mayor of Matosinhos, did not forget ‘the contribution that the Porto Design Biennale has made both to the territory and to society’.
The program chosen for this edition aims to provide space for reflection on collective spaces, the recreational use of time, and the present,  one of the strengths of this "four-year alliance with esad—idea’" says the Mayor of Matosinhos.

Among the main focuses of this edition are interventions in public and/or community spaces selected from local projects by local authorities, associations, co-operatives, and movements.

Angela Rui, pointed out, "these interventions, directed by teams of local and international designers, will feature different activities and projects that aim to remain in the community", paying greater attention to the ‘now and common’, refusing the ephemeral. 

With three editions under its belt, the Biennale invites visitors to reflect on the role of design. ‘It proposes to go beyond its role as an institution to operate as a constitution - a living process that generates new social relationships, forms of organization, and modes of collaboration,’ continues the Italian curator.

"The exhibition that will (re)activate"

The programme will also include the exhibition ‘TIME IS PRESENT. Designing the Common’, at Casa do Design in Matosinhos.
In addition to the curatorial work, it will include a selection of national and international projects that reflect and dialogue with the needs of communities.

The projects will be chosen on the basis of an open call launched on 28 March, which invites designers to take in the exhibition. This open call aims to integrate projects, artistic processes, and/or archives that remain from them, giving them a new place to reactivate themselves, bringing different perspectives, debates, and experiences to the ‘time that is present’.

To this end, the event organisers will support the selected projects by: transporting the works to and from the exhibition venue; supporting the installation; and sharing the projects, giving them greater visibility by including them in the exhibition catalogue and communication materials.

In addition, a collection of essays and speculative fiction will be launched, curated by Andreia Faria, based on the projects chosen as having a ‘potential for resistance and joy’.

The Comunoteca - a public program - will host reading groups, presentations, debates, and tours, initiatives organized by designer, editor, and publisher Nina Paim, where the aim is to explore work, trade unionism, organization, and cooperativism.