Established in 2012, so a good three and half years after smow Blog, just sayin', Munich Creative Business Week, MCBW, is today, according to its own claim, "Germany's largest design event". A claim we see absolutely no reason to doubt, but also haven't tried to verify. Primarily because we see so little reason to doubt it. Despite our famed cynicism.
Initiated by bayern design, Bavaria's "international design competence centre", and from the very beginning known as Munich Creative Business Week... which, and digressing slightly, is a perplexing decision for an English title in the normally so Heimat fixated Mia San Mia Bavaria; a corner of the contemporary Germany that, in many regards, is still smarting that it was forced to join Prussia in a unified German Empire rather than remain the independent Alpine nation many Bavarians still believe it to be. Having not yet heard the result of the Austro-Prussian War of 1866. Most odd.
And while over the years the MCBW format has altered, as these things tend to do, it has generally always featured talks, conferences, seminars, workshops etc alongside exhibitions, showcases and presentations. A format that although at times can get a little too 'brand' focussed for our liking, often, for our taste, focusses a little too heavily on the 'business' of its title rather than the 'creative', can at times forget that the 'business' is but necessary in order to allow the 'creativity', to enable the 'creativity' to develop and evolve, and not a 'creativity' that is the basis for a 'business', the 'creative' isn't a commodity, and can also have an unfortunate hang to typography, yet despite such thoroughly subjective, and arguably unfair, positions on our part, especially as concerns typography, MCBW always offers a varied programme across the city which invariably integrates a pleasingly wide variety of institutional and industry and civic partners. And, certainly of late, a varied programme staged in context of an over-arching theme; not a theme all components need must respond to or correspond with, but which does set the tone of the event: following Moving Horizons in 2022 and Why disruption unleashes creativity in 2023, in 2024 MCBW is being staged under the banner: How to co-curate with nature. There's that English again. Most, most, odd.
A MCBW that over the years we have always enjoyed and learned from, has always been entertaining and instructive to visit; if, admittedly, a MCBW we have been but infrequent visitors of, and that for no other reason than calender clashes: MCBW used to be in March, and we tend to be busy in March. And only rarely in the vicinity of Munich in March. Since 2022 it's been staged in May. We're assuming not because of our calendars. But May is more convenient.
And in 2024 we did indeed make. A bit late. But we did make it.
In the coming days and weeks we will bring you some of our thoughts and reflections on some of those works and projects and positions experienced, and some of our thoughts and reflections on Munich Creative Business Week 2024 as an event. Munich Creative Business Week 2024 as a co-curation with nature.
Full details on Munich Creative Business Week 2024 can be found at www.mcbw.de
Earth Centered Design. An Exhibition at the Hochschule München
Wellen, Wogen, Wirbel. Water as a source of inspiration at Galerie Handwerk
The Biophilic Workspace at the Technische Universität München
