BIO 26| Common Knowledge

How do we recognize “fake news”? Which sources do we trust? How can we be sure of the information we use to build our knowledge? The 26th Biennial of Design in Ljubljana, BIO 26| Common Knowledge, is taking on one of the greatest challenges of our time: information. 

The opening of the 26th Biennial of Design BIO 26| Common Knowledge will take place on Thursday, November 14, at 6:30pm at the Ajdovščina passage in Ljubljana. Guests will be welcomed by Matevž Čelik, the director of MAO, the curator Thomas Geisler and assistant curator Aline Lara Rezende. Petra Culetto, State Secretary at the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia, will officially open the biennial.

The evening will continue with BIO 26| Open Knowledge Night, a guided tour of the commissioned projects at partnering institutions of the biennial around Ljubljana, from 7 to 10pm. BIO 26| Underground Music Hall, featuring independent Slovenian music labels with alternative means of content dissemination, starts at 9PM at Ajdovščina passage.

On Friday, November 15, guided tours at the partnering institutions will continue during BIO 26| Open Knowledge Afternoon (from 1pm to 4pm). At 5pm, BIO 26| Talk #1 Information Crisis and Knowledge will take place at MAO. The evening with conclude with the first guided tour of BIO 26| Common Knowledge exhibition at MAO in the company of the curator and assistant curator.

BIO 26| Common Knowledge, curated by Austrian design curator and cultural producer Thomas Geisler together with assistant curator and journalist Aline Lara Rezende, focuses on interrelations between the multidimensional crisis in information and citizenship, and explores the role and potential of contemporary design in shaping of knowledge and truth.

Discover six major commissioned projects, enjoy an impressive central exhibition at MAO and experience multiple side events, which are all trying to shine a light on the issues caused by the overload of information and different types of data.

Central exhibition, commissioned projects and much more
In an attempt to pin down the comprehensive theme, BIO 26| Common Knowledge adopted the data–information–knowledge–wisdom (DIKW) Knowledge Hierarchy diagram. The DIKW system will be used as a base to structure the central exhibition, commissions, catalogue and public programs at BIO 26| Common Knowledge. The central exhibition and accompanying catalogue, which will be released as a magazine of 5 issues, will be divided into five thematic chapters: the four components of the pyramid diagram—data, information, knowledge, and wisdom- and one introductory chapter dedicated solely to the “information crisis” as a whole.

BIO 26| Common Knowledge is organised around a central exhibition of historic and contemporary projects that will be presented at MAO, the Museum of Architecture and Design in Ljubljana. At the central exhibition prominent works of Superflux, Dunne & Raby, Otto Neurath, Orson Welles, Viktor Papanek, Forensic Architecture, Otl Aicher, acclaimed infographist Jaime Serra, editorial designers Mark Porter & Francesco Franchi and the intrinsic Institute of Patent Infringement project will be on show. The 26th Biennial of Design is proud to collaborate with international partners, such as ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe, Germany and MU Eindhoven from The Netherlands. Both are showing exciting exhibitions on the framework of the biennial.

Besides the central exhibition, BIO 26| Common Knowledge presents six major commissioned experimental projects by multidisciplinary teams selected through a designathon process. For the commissioned projects BIO 26| Common Knowledge has partnered with six institutions central to knowledge production and dissemination, such as a museum, library, university and newspaper, but also a botanical garden and retirement home. The six winning teams have been guided by a professional and international team of Design Mentors, namely Commonplace, Paolo Patelli, Apolonija Šušteršič, Kathrina Dankl, Futurefarmers and Bureau d’études. The six Design Mentors will also present their own work(s) in the central exhibition at MAO.

During BIO 26| Common Knowledge, visitors will be amazed by the Serendipity Searcher, a visual atlas and a physical search engine that generates unexpected pathways to the treasured archive of the National and University Library of Slovenia. At the University of Ljubljana the nomadic classroom-kitchen, Course K, will be launched, serving an inter- and multidisciplinary curriculum in a social hub, striving for new learning ergonomics. Focusing on the data treasure of our senior citizens, the project Rethinking Retirement/Academy of Life opens up opportunities for intergenerational exchange and discovery of knowledge and life experiences of the elderly.

Submerging into the world of fake news, Delo Lab will be launched, an open collaborative research platform rebuilding collective memory. From fake news to experiencing data, the project Murmurmurs from the hi-hi-hills is trying to understand the reflected echoes from the forest by transforming the space of the Botanical Garden in Ljubljana by introducing interactive objects, sounds and words, which contributes to engaging with the environment sensory and emotionally on top of the hard data that it is described by. And lastly, in the spirit of modern dance, the “playable archive” installation Bodies of Knowledge at +MSUM breaks the internal logic of the archive by releasing the emancipatory power of movement. Visitors are invited to access and contribute to archive content through their gestures and movements.

The six institutions are all located in the city centre of Ljubljana (or nearby) as well as a BIO 26| Common Knowledge Info Point at the central Ajdovščina passage, amongst other things used for the biennial’s talks and workshops.