Designers to visit Whanganui as part of Auckland Design Week

The Durie Hill Elevator will be a stop on the Whanganui visit during Auckland Design Week. Photo / Whanganui Connection

Whanganui will host a satellite design event as part of Auckland Design Week in March.

Aotearoa’s Design City event, partnered with Air Chathams, will showcase Whanganui as New Zealand’s only Unesco City of Design and aims to draw awareness, talent and economic opportunities to the city.

It will be the first time Auckland Design Week has partnered with a region outside Auckland.

“We’re so excited to take part in Auckland Design Week in their first-ever regional collaboration,” Unesco City of Design manager and Whanganui & Partners strategic lead creative industries Emma Bugden said.

“We see it as a chance to really tell the story of Whanganui as a Unesco City of Design.”

More than 30 design professionals will fly into Whanganui from Auckland on March 7 and spend the day exploring Whanganui’s most prominent design attractions.

They will begin at Durie Hill Elevator before visiting Whanganui design company GDM, Playground Centre, Te Whare o Rehua Sarjeant Gallery, and finish at the Whanganui War Memorial Centre where an exposition of local designers will showcase their work.

“We’ve got extraordinary design businesses here in Whanganui and we’re really leading the way with co-design and design-partnership initiatives,” Bugden said.

Whanganui will have a booth at the main Auckland Design Week event on March 2-10.

Whanganui design industry representatives – Tyrone Ohia from Extended Whānau and Whitney Nicholls-Potts from Kaputī Studio – will speak in Auckland about Whanganui’s opportunities.

“[They are] two speakers who are really passionate about Whanganui and design,” Bugden said.

The design sector is worth $17.5 billion in New Zealand.

Auckland Design Week has an existing network of industry leaders, potential investors and creative talent.

Whanganui & Partners team lead Tim Easton said partnering with Auckland “helps us capture more of the design sector’s growth – attracting design businesses, creative professionals, and creating opportunities in tourism and education”.

The theme of next year’s Auckland Design Week is people and place, which Bugden said spoke to Whanganui’s strengths.

“This is a significant opportunity to broaden the conversation of design, marking Whanganui’s role as a leader.”