Roundup: London design biennale builds cross-cultural platform for Global South

The Star

06-06-2025

LONDON, June 6 (Xinhua) -- The 2025 London Design Biennale was launched Thursday at the city's historic Somerset House, under the theme "Surface Reflections." Now in its 25th year, the Biennale features over 30 pavilions from five continents, providing a cross-cultural platform for collaboration for designers from all over the world.
Somerset House, once home to civil servants, is also celebrating its 25th anniversary as an arts institution. The historic site now houses over 2,000 artisans and innovators.
"What many don't realize is that beneath the surface, Somerset House is a home for cultural innovators," Director Jonathan Reekie from the Somerset House Trust told Xinhua. "We sit at the intersection of art, design, and technology. That spirit of creative collision is what powers both our program and this Biennale."
This year, led by Artistic Director Samuel Ross MBE, the Biennale has turned its focus toward the Global South.
One of the centerpieces for the Global South pavilion is "Wura" -- a shimmering installation by Danielle Alakija, CEO of the SOLI Group. Composed of over 3,000 individually drilled cowrie shells from five different species, and 1,000 meters of gold chain, the piece evokes the textures of fishing nets and colonial-era trade routes, as well as indigenous currencies.
In the "Silk Road Teplo Pop-Up Store," Timur Kamalov and Charos Kamalov, co-founders of Teplo, bring together work from over 300 independent brands across Central Asia, 95 percent of which are led by women.
"The Silk Road is not just about silk. It's about cultures that stretch from China to the Mediterranean," said Timur Kamalov. Meanwhile, Charos Kamalov noted: "Design can be such a bridge for people coming together. When we show these crafts in a city like London, we create a common language -- a way to connect and start meaningful conversations."
China is represented at the exhibition by a pavilion set up by Jingdezhen Ceramic University, which blends ancient porcelain-making with cutting-edge technologies like ai glazes and 3D printing. Professor Xiong Jingjing, who leads the university's product design program, told Xinhua: "London is a city with a deep artistic heritage, and porcelain from Jingdezhen is a medium for global cultural discourse."
"We aim to offer more than the porcelain which people already associate with Jingdezhen -- we want to show that Jingdezhen also leads in innovation, craftsmanship, and color technology. This exhibition is about exchange -- just like how two people from different countries talk about food and start a conversation, our porcelain becomes a bridge," said Xiong.
For Amir Berbic, dean of VCUarts in Qatar, participation in the Biennale is an "expansion of the narrative beyond typical canons."
"It's wonderful to see more participation from the Global South," he said. VCUarts' "Matter Diplopia" pavilion features work by students and faculty that draws from the Qatari context, while engaging in global discourse.
Ross summarized his vision for this year's Biennale as "holistic design for change." He added: "Every ilk, continent, nation, and culture has its own virtue, its own cadence that should be celebrated and moved into the remit of design."