17 MAY 2013 FOR IMMEDIATE BROADCAST/PUBLICATION WDC 2014 INTERNATIONAL ADVISORY COUNCIL MEETS IN CAPE TOWN AND WITH
EXECUTIVE MAYOR PATRICIA DE LILLE World Design Capital Cape Town 2014 (WDC 2014) International Advisory Council (IAC) members today met with the Executive Mayor, Alderman Patricia de Lille, ahead of reviewing the outcomes from the first call for public submissions vying for a spot in the year-long programme under the WDC 2014 banner. The Mayor met with the IAC members as part of her ongoing commitment to WDC 2014 and spoke with deep interest and passion about various projects currently underway around Cape Town. Design, she believes, enables us to look at the citys problems through a different lens and fosters new, innovative solutions. The IAC comprises the best of local and international design thinking with recognized leaders in their respective fields such as Trevyn McGowan, Kunl Adeyemi, Ravi Naidoo, Srini Srinivasen and Sean Carney (who was unable to travel due to a prior commitment). We are thrilled to host IAC members in Cape Town to review the rigorous curatorial process we have followed thus far. We received 572 public submissions from the first call and while it hasnt been an easy process for our 39 curators, it has been incredibly rewarding and uplifting to see so many fantastic ideas coming through for design-led transformation in Cape Town, said Cape Town Design CEO, Alayne Reesberg. The breakdown of public submissions received across the four themes for 2014 programme is: African Innovation. Global conversation 140 submissions Beautiful Spaces. Beautiful Things 124 submissions Bridging the Divide - 184 submissions Today for Tomorrow- 124 submissions
As this is the first meeting of the IAC for WDC 2014, it is a great opportunity for them to evaluate the efforts of our curators, and to infuse a global design perspective into the 2014 programme development process using their knowledge and expertise over the next two days, added Reesberg. Icsid executive board member, Mugendi MRithaa said the presence of the IAC members brings international and global visibility to the curation process that has been going on in the past few weeks. The IAC members will assist the local efforts to articulate vision and plans on a global stage, in their personal and professional capacity, he added. The IAC has three main roles: to assist the curatorial panel in placing submissions within a global context; advise Cape Town Design NPC on programme development and to be global ambassadors for WDC 2014. The second call for public submissions opens on 1 July - 31 July 2013. Details will be available closer to the time on [Link] while a series of public information sessions have been planned in the lead up to the second call. In addition follow @WDC2014 on Twitter and Like /WDC2014 on Facebook for regular news and updates on WDC 2014. ENDS Notes to Editor: ABOUT THE IAC: The appointment of the IAC forms part of the WDC host city agreement and was created jointly by Cape Town Design NPC, the implementation agency for WDC 2014, and Icsid (International Council of Societies of Industrial Design), which is responsible for the designation of WDC cities around the world. For bios and more information on the IAC go to [Link]. ABOUT CAPE TOWN DESIGN NPC: Cape Town Design NPC is the implementation company of World Design Capital Cape Town 2014. As an independent, not-for-profit organisation, the implementation company is responsible for ensuring the requirements
of the WDC 2014 host city agreements are met, and that the programme delivery is aligned with Cape Towns vision of bridging historic divides and repositioning the city for a sustainable, inclusive future through design. Issued by: Cape Town Design NPC. For more information, please contact: Priscilla Urquhart PR and Media Manager Priscilla@[Link] / 082 852 2428