Prestigious New Exhibition & Awards Program
to be Held at Melbourne Museum

Entries are now being called from Australian designers living here and overseas for a prestigious new design exhibition and awards program launched today (10/2/04) at Melbourne Museum. The inaugural Design 2004 Exhibition and Awards will be a comprehensive survey of current Australian design and will feature Australia's richest design prize, the $40,000 Victorian Premier's Design Award.

The Design 2004 Exhibition and Awards is the centrepiece of the State of Design Festival, Australia's first design festival, which will be held from 28 July' 5 August, 2004. A major component of the Victorian Government's design initiative, the State of Design Festival will be presented in partnership with Museum Victoria's designed to inspire program.

Professional designers across all disciplines are invited to enter their best work completed between 1 January, 2002 and 1 April, 2004. This work will be judged by a distinguished panel of Australian designers, and up to 100 projects will be selected for the Design 2004 Exhibition, which will run for three months at the Melbourne Museum. An expanded judging panel will then review the exhibition to select the winners of the Design 2004 Awards. The inaugural Victorian Premier's Design Award ($40,000) will be awarded for the most outstanding design project in the exhibition.

Six other prizes will also be awarded: the Melbourne Museum Design Acquisition Prize; The Melbourne Design Prize ($5,000), supported by the John Truscott Design Foundation and MELBOURNEmagazine; a $5,000 Award for Promise for emerging designers; and two Highly Commended Awards ($5,000). A People's Choice Award will also be presented.

"The Design 2004 Exhibition and Awards is a great moment for Australian design," said Festival Program Director, Kathy Demos. "Firstly, it brings together the best-of-the-best recent work, puts it in context with the work of other designers, and puts it on public display at the Melbourne Museum, a stunning example of design in itself. Secondly, it offers substantial recognition and prizes. And thirdly, the program is wrapped within a festival which will demonstrate and celebrate the fantastic standard of design here, and highlight the value that good design can bring.

"Over 500 expressions of interest have already been received, including many of Australia's leading designers and I urge all Australian designers to put their best work forward," she said.

To obtain the Call for Entries Handbook and for information, visit http://www.designfestivalaustralia.com.