The Role of "Empathy" at St. Etienne Design Biennial

Mark Thompson READ TIME: 2 MIN.

St. Etienne, France - Created in 1998, the Biennale Internationale Design Saint-�tienne has established itself as a major design event for the professional and general public, on an international scale. A rendez-vous firmly rooted in innovation, prospective, and research through design.

The 8th Edition will run from the 14th through to the 31st March 2013, with the ambition of further developing interactions between the Saint-Etienne region and designers, local cultural and economic actors, and national and international invited guests.

The Biennial will take place throughout the Saint-Etienne region, hosting more than forty exhibitions at the Cit� du design and other external sites, along with conferences and events organized by numerous different actors.

A novelty for 2013: Several thematic circuits will be proposed to discover the Biennale in all its splendor.

With its international dimension, and its role as a catalyst in the region, the Biennale Internationale Design Saint-�tienne will also be part of the general development approach through design of Saint-�tienne, a UNESCO creative city of design since 2010.

The principal theme of the 2013 edition is empathy, or experiencing the other. It explores the different issues that an empathetic society generates, and its capacity to re-build the world; what it proposes, but also the risks involved. The task is to understand how design can question, and respond, to these projections.

DETAILS:
14 to 31 March 2013
Open to the general public
13 March 2013
Official Inauguration
14 to 17 March 2013
Professional Days
14 and 15 March 2013
Forum Design & Innovation for economic actors, heads of companies and sector professionals.

LINK: www.biennale-design.com

____________________________________________________________________________


by Mark Thompson , EDGE Style & Travel Editor

A long-term New Yorker and a member of New York Travel Writers Association, Mark Thompson has also lived in San Francisco, Boston, Provincetown, D.C., Miami Beach and the south of France. The author of the novels WOLFCHILD and MY HAWAIIAN PENTHOUSE, he has a PhD in American Studies and is the recipient of fellowships at MacDowell, Yaddo, and Blue Mountain Center. His work has appeared in numerous publications.

Read These Next