The Museum of Architecture and Design (MAO) has announced that curator and professor Alexandra Midal has been appointed as curator of the 28th edition of the Biennial of Design (BIO), Europe’s longest-standing design biennial. 

BIO, which celebrates its 60th anniversary in 2024, is organized by the Museum of Architecture and Design (MAO) in cooperation with the Centre for Creativity (CzK). 

BIO28, themed as Double Agent, will be held between November 2024 and April 2025 in Ljubljana, Slovenia. 

MAO permanent collection. Image © Klemen Ilovar / MAO

Portrait of BIO28 curator Alexandra Midal. Image © Lucija Rosc / MAO

Alexandra Midal is a professor at the University of Art and Design HEAD in Geneva and Head of the Department of Critical Thinking at Ensci-Les Ateliers in Paris. 

As a distinguished art and design historian, she combines practice and theory-based research as an artist-curator, theoretician and film essayist. 

Her research explores the blind spots and grey areas of design history, as evident in her two latest books, The Murder Factory (Sternberg Press, 2023) and Design by Accident: For a New History of Design (Sternberg Press, 2019). 

BIO27 Opening. Image © Urban Cerjak / MAO

She studied literature, architecture and art history at Princeton University (NJ) and in Paris, completing her doctoral thesis at Paris Sorbonne while a Rome Prize recipient in architecture at Villa Medici. 

She has curated a number of international exhibitions about visual culture, design, and politics, such as Top Secret: Cinema and Espionage and Tomorrow Now – When Design Meets Science Fiction. Her films, including Mind's Eyes, Possessed, and Heaven is a State of Mind, have been screened in museums across the globe. 

BIO 50 Kick-off. Image © Ana Kovač / MAO

"Double Agent will uncover itself as a narrative linking"

"I am thrilled to work with the BIO team for the next edition of the Ljubljana Design Biennial. This event provides a unique opportunity to engage in a dialogue on historical and contemporary design issues," said Alexandra Midal, curator of BIO28.

"My commitment is to illuminate alternative design perspectives and the diverse voices within the field from an international standpoint." 

"I am deeply interested in reevaluating the concept of a Double Agent, which will uncover itself as a narrative linking a seemingly mundane flower to its hidden, cryptic, and secretive role in shaping identities and politics," she continued. 

"I am excited to showcase that BIO is not just an exhibition but also a platform, a laboratory for exploration, and a crossroads for research and societal engagement throughout its entire duration," Midal added.

Portrait of assistant curator Emma Pflieger. Image © Lucija Rosc / MAO

In addition, French designer Emma Pflieger - who is co-founder of the innovative design studio Studio Pflieger-Foeglé, will serve as the assistant curator. 

She is a French designer and co-founder of the innovative design studio Studio Pflieger-Foeglé, which employs a research-driven cross-disciplinary approach to craft spaces, installations, and graphic design.

BIO 25 Genterovci. Image © Peter Giodani

"Since its inception at the height of the modernist movement in Slovenia, BIO has witnessed numerous shifts and developments within the discipline of design," said Maja Vardjan, the newly appointed acting director of MAO. 

"By breaking away from the narrow and strictly disciplinary concept of design, the last four editions of BIO have promoted extensive investigations of various interdisciplinary intersections." 

"Through her ground breaking research and projects, Alexandra Midal is an uncompromising curator who excels at establishing and maintaining such intersections." 

"Therefore, we are thrilled to have her as the curator of BIO28, scheduled for November 2024," Vardjan added.

BIO 25 Rožni studenec, Kočevje. Image © Peter Giodani / MAO

The unveiling of the BIO28 curatorial framework is scheduled for December 2023, which will coincide with the launch of an open call inviting designers, creatives, and spatial practitioners, as well as a special call for video and filmmakers to participate in the BIO28 Design Film Festival.

BIO 25 Lipica Quarry. Image © Peter Giodani / MAO

BIO 1, 1964, at the Museum of Modern Art, Ljubljana. Image © MAO

BIO – The Biennial of Design in Ljubljana, founded in 1963, is organized by the Museum of Architecture and Design (MAO) in cooperation with the Centre for Creativity (CzK) and serves as an international platform for innovative approaches to design. 

BIO holds the distinction of being the first design biennial in Europe.

More information and updates can be followed on the Biennial's website. 

Top image in the article: Portrait of BIO28 curator Alexandra Midal. Image © Lucija Rosc / MAO.

> via Museum of Architecture and Design

Alexandra Midal Biennial Of Design curator design biennial