Australia’s Biggest Design Festival Is Back and Refinery29 Australia Is Going

There's never a shortage of things to see and do in Sydney. And if you're interested in getting a few pearls of wisdom from some of the best minds in the creative scene right now, attending Semi Permanent Festival should be at the top of your list.

Running from May 31 through to June 2, the 21st instalment of Semi Permanent is set to bring together the creative industries from across the Asia Pacific region for three full days of inspiring keynote talks, panel discussions, workshops, exhibitions, demonstrations, installations, and more. The event will take place at Sydney's iconic Carriageworks as part of the already stacked Vivid Sydney 2023 lineup.

This year's speakers include Namila Benson (TV presenter, radio host and producer), Mona Chalabi (data journalist), Mikaela Stafford (motion graphics artist), Jazz Money (artist and poet), Bijan Berahimi (designer and founder of FISK), and our very own Head of Editorial at Refinery29 Australia, Zahra Campbell-Avenell. You can check out the complete list of talent here.

Campbell-Avenell will also deliver a session about how the R29AU brand communicates taboo topics in a way that resonates with young people. The workshop will also discuss the importance of diverse design teams in growing and evolving audiences and brands.

Curator Mitchell Oakley Smith said that the festival celebrates our generation's chance to "right past wrongs, reform seemingly immutable practices, and redesign the world in a shape we'd like to see".

"One look around will tell you the seeds have already been sown: the promise of a borderless Web3 world; the reclaiming of time via remote work capabilities; the dismantling of industrial hierarchies and traditions prioritising some consistently over others. And in its place, something new is beginning to emerge: new creative languages and new ways to communicate, create, organise, disrupt, and rebuild. New ways to speak, hear, interpret, understand, and connect. Less barriers to entry and more possibilities for brilliance. With all the chips seemingly thrown in the air—which of these do we catch, and which do we let go?" says Oakley.

You can grab your tickets for Semi Permanent 2023 right here.