India’s Largest Design Fest to Begin on Tuesday

KOCHI:
Set to boost the state’s efforts to rebuild itself after the August calamity, #DESIGN KERALA SUMMIT will kick off here on Tuesday, bringing in expert opinions that aim at a futuristic and sustainable ecosystem.

Perceived as the country’s largest design festival, the December 11-12 event being organised at Bolgatty Event Centre by the Kerala government will see think-tanks and decision-makers from all across the globe come together to “disrupt, design and ideate” for a better tomorrow.

S D Shibulal, Chairman of the Kerala Government’s High Power IT Committee, will inaugurate the summit. State IT Secretary M Sivasankar, Kerala Startup Mission CEO Dr Saji Gopinath and CIID Summer School Head Ms Ana Laura Farias will address the function. Prominent personalities like renowned architect G Shankar will address the summit in the sessions to follow.

On December 12, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will address the Summit. A major highlight of the summit will be a ‘Design District’ that functions as a platform for technological installations on future technology, ecosystems and design concepts.

Maker Village, which is India’s largest electronic incubator and the KSUM will display their innovation-driven products at a specially curated section. They include a fully-automated hospital room, EYEROVTUNA (India’s first underwater robotic drone developed at Maker village) andlive tracking of vehicles. CERA Sanitaryware, who is the sponsor of the Summit, will also come up with their installations.

‘Life Talk’ will be yet another major highlight where the fishermen who were instrumental in saving many lives during the devastating floods will share their experiences. Another speaker in the series will be Gopinath Parayil, co-founder of Chekutty Dolls that have come to the aid of weavers after the deluge.

The central theme of the meet is to “design a sustainable ecosystem for the future”. Other topics at the sessions include public infrastructure, technology infrastructure, tourism, handloom uplift and living spaces.

Other key speakers include John Ferreira (designer and entrepreneur), Cyrus Clarke (designer, architect and researcher), FilippoCutica (Creative Director, BBC), Momo Miyazaki (IDEO, San Francisco), Srini R Srinivasan (President, World Design Organisation), ManasKarambelkar (Studio 5B), V K Mathews (Founder and Executive Chairman (IBS), Alok Nandi (Architempo), Jimmy Chion (Idea designer), SiddharthBalachandran (Airbus India Bizlab ), DarlyKoshi (former director, National Institute of Design) and Prasanth Nair (Deputy Secretary, Government of India, and founder, Compassionate Kerala).

Vinod Nair (former Fashion Editor, Hindustan Times), Rahul R (MD, KTDC), Satheesh Nair and Richard Antony (Ernst and Young), Sunil Sethi (Fashion Design Council of India), Suhas Gopinath (Globus Inc) and Abhimanyu Nohwar (Founder, KIBA) will also speak and make presentations. Entry to attend Design District and Live music show by Vidwan Band is open to the public. However, the entry to the district summit is limited to official delegates only.