A record number of partners from September 8-13 transforms the city into a network of exhibitions, workshops, and studios, before the festival moves to the renovated Academy of Fine Arts.
From September 8 to 20, 2026, Zagreb will turn into a grand stage for contemporary design. The 13th edition of Zagreb Design Week brings a significant novelty, for the first time in the festival's history, partner venues will open the program, and in record numbers. As many as 30 galleries, fashion ateliers, creative studios, and museums will welcome the audience to this year's festival edition before the main program moves to the Academy of Fine Arts.
From September 8 to 13, partner venues across Zagreb, from the strict city center to Sesvete, will host exhibitions, workshops, collection presentations, and open studios. Instead of being mere side content, these spaces become the festival's introduction for the first time, inviting visitors to discover design where it is created, in the workspaces of the authors shaping the local scene.
One of the exhibition programs is being prepared by KO:KE Space, where illustrator and animator Hana Tintor will open the exhibition "Everyday Life Taken Away." Through drawings created during the COVID-19 pandemic, the author reexamines the importance of small daily rituals, highlighting how crucial closeness, socializing, and the environment are in today's world. A new addition to Zagreb's cultural map, the MOON ROOM gallery, opens its doors to the public for the first time with the multimedia exhibition "Invisible Forces" by artist Martina Moon Zelenika, accompanied by a talk with the artist and an experimental drawing workshop.
The HDD Gallery will present the exhibition "To Be Found" by young designer Jakov Habjan, which explores the relationship between craft, industrial design, and sustainability through found objects. The Design Studio Gallery will open an exhibition of Korana Mileusnić's graduate thesis, which questions our relationship with hygiene and everyday objects. At the Oris House of Architecture, the audience can expect the exhibition "City in Passing" by artist Tin Jakopec, organized by ULUPUH, dedicated to Zagreb's architectural heritage and its digital reinterpretation.
In the suburbs, the citizens' association Sljeme will welcome artist Kristijan Horvat at the former Sljeme factory in Sesvete, where he will exhibit his works and lead a screen-printing workshop. Dizajnholik will mark twenty years of activity with an exhibition of objects that have become contemporary classics, while Brigada will present the Evoluta brand and the concept of outdoor kitchens. At the SOBA showroom, a gathering titled "Design Lives Here" will take place, and at Bruketa&, an exhibition of contemporary packaging design will open.
Fashion enthusiasts will get an up-close look at the local scene. Boudoir, celebrating 25 years of work, will open its atelier doors and present a new collection alongside archival pieces. MINAMI will bring the process of garment creation closer through an open showroom and the collection "The Luxury of Time," while Garderoba Concept Store, with its newly opened Garderoba², will showcase a blend of Scandinavian design and lifestyle concepts. Partner venues also include Maria Store, Planet, -Love, Ana. design studio, Hippy Garden, Boya Shop & Atelier, and Lapidarium Author Jewellery. The Museum of Video Game History will remind visitors with its exhibition "The Art of Box Art" how packaging design has shaped the gaming experience for decades.
After a week of design filling the city, the festival moves from September 15 to 20 to the renovated spaces of the Academy of Fine Arts, which will host the main program for the first time after a complete renovation. For context, the ninth Zagreb Design Week in 2022 was held at this very location, just before the building was closed for renovation. This year's 13th edition thus marks the festival's return to one of its most iconic addresses.
In collaboration, the co-organizer of the space and the main program turn Zagreb into a hub for design, architecture, fashion, art, and creative industries from September 8 to 20, proving that design is not tied to a single space but is an integral part of the city and its routine.
