What began on the evening of 9 May with a resounding bang that echoed far beyond Graz came to an end on 1 June: Design Month Graz 2025 under the thematic focus »The New Real«. The central question throughout the four-week festival programme was what human creativity means in the age of artificial intelligence and – in a contemporary reinterpretation of Paul Watzlawick – how real reality still is. Answers were sought in exhibitions, installations, workshops, talks and other formats from a wide range of perspectives.
Between reality and virtuality: What is still real?
What does creativity mean in times when machines think, design and decide alongside us? What is still »real« when virtual spaces and artificial intelligence influence our thoughts and actions? Design Month Graz 2025 explored these questions under the programmatic title »The New Real«.
The central exhibition at the Festival Centre, Hornig Areal made the theme tangible in an immersive way: 50 video contributions by AI artists from countries including France, South Korea, Canada, Ukraine and the USA blurred the increasingly thin line between reality and virtual construction. Audiences were invited to dive into a world where perception, technology and creative visions are renegotiated.
The international design scene in Graz
The thematic diversity of Design Month extended far beyond the Festival Centre. Portuguese designers contributed a work to the »Stitching the Centuries« exhibition at the University of Graz, while Argentine media designer Eduardo Fuhrmann shared his visions of possible futures with »Oracles of Possible Futures«.
The exhibition »Rebel Prints« invited visitors to design their own screen prints with political messages together with the Berlin duo »Poster Rex«. Graphic design icon Eike König addressed consumerism, aesthetics and philosophy in an age of excess with his exhibition »Was ist, ist mehr, als es ist«.
In total, creatives from 15 countries took part, joined by numerous contributions from the Austrian design scene. The programme featured 140 events with around 160 partners – from exhibitions and talks to performances – spread across Graz and its surrounding areas.
Design Month as a platform: urban, regional, international
Once again in 2025, »Design in the City« was a firm fixture in the programme: 21 inner-city shops showcased special products by national and international designers in their retail spaces. In a relaxed atmosphere, guided tours under the motto »Slow Shopping«, organised in collaboration with the »GrazGuides«, presented design objects throughout Graz’s historic centre. The focus was on sustainability, artisanal quality and a mindful culture of consumption.
Beyond the city limits, satellite formats such as »Design ab Hof« in Pöllau and collaborations with »Schloss Hollenegg for Design« and the »Absteige zur bärigen Therese« in Trahütten invited visitors to discover the diversity of Styrian design beyond urban spaces.
A farewell: Eberhard Schrempf steps down
With the conclusion of Design Month Graz 2025, an era also comes to an end: Eberhard Schrempf, Managing Director of Creative Industries Styria, will retire at the end of August. Not only was Schrempf Managing Director of CIS since its founding in 2007, he also shaped the positioning of Graz as an internationally visible design city over the past 16 years.
In his farewell address, he emphasised: “Over the course of its 16 editions so far, Design Month Graz has built up a strong network and placed the city on the international map – especially in the context of its role as a UNESCO City of Design. This foundation should now be strengthened in a sustainable way and not be carelessly and short-sightedly undermined by renewed budget cuts.”
