A wrap of Melbourne Design Week 2026 featuring reflections from the curators and makers behind five standout exhibitions on a festival defined by materiality, craft and community.
Melbourne Design Week, presented by the NGV, returned for its tenth iteration this May, and by any measure it was the most expansive the festival has been, with more exhibitions, talks and workshops running across the city than in any previous year. What felt distinct about this edition was how consistently the programming returned to questions of making, material and process, a collective leaning toward fabrication and the symbiosis between design thinking and the hands that realise it. To wrap the week, we went back to some of the curators and makers behind our standout exhibitions and asked them three questions.
Arum by Tom Fereday at Melbourne Design Week 2026 | Photography by Pier Carthew
Arum by Tom Fereday at Melbourne Design Week 2026 | Photography by Pier Carthew
Arum
Abbotsford Convent
Tom Fereday’s solo exhibition drew its title from the Latin word for bronze, referencing the origins and transformation of raw material through sand casting, a process that sat at the centre of the show’s inquiry into honest design and quiet innovation. Fereday, whose work is held in collections at the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Art Gallery of New South Wales and the Powerhouse, occupied first the Oratory and then the Mural Hall across the full run of the festival.
What did Melbourne Design Week look like for you this year?
Tom Fereday: More than ever, it felt community-led. Being able to see friends’ shows and go around the city viewing beautiful spaces was such a pleasure.
Was there a moment during MDW that you felt moved by?
Tom Fereday: I think the opening day and night at the Abbotsford Convent truly felt of international quality. The sheer variety and nuance of the shows combined in one district was really quite compelling.
Whose work stopped you in your tracks?
Tom Fereday: I was really impressed by the scale and finesse of Jon Goulder’s show at Alpha 60 he has consistently produced work as a designer maker of the highest quality.
Arum by Tom Fereday at Melbourne Design Week 2026 | Photography by Pier Carthew
Arum by Tom Fereday at Melbourne Design Week 2026 | Photography by Pier Carthew
Tactile Dialogues: Fragments of Matter
Made by Morgen, Brunswick
Curated by Ryan Fernandes and presented by Made by Morgen, Tactile Dialogues brought together makers working across timber, bioplastics, ceramics, glass and textile, including Jessie French of Other Matter, Jon Goulder, Sarah Nedovic, Ned Vernon, Billy Crellin, Jordan Fleming and Ryan L. Foote.
What did Melbourne Design Week look like for you this year?
Ryan Fernandes: Melbourne Design Week felt incredibly grounded in materiality, process and conversation, with a noticeable shift towards depth and pieces that revealed the hand of the maker. Curating Tactile Dialogues within that context felt particularly meaningful, the exhibition becoming more about creating an environment where visitors could slow down. One of the highlights was an opening night dinner collaboration with Manzé that brought scent, flavour and memory into the experience.
Was there a moment during MDW that you felt moved by?
Ryan Fernandes: The opening night, seeing the makers together within the space for the first time. There was something powerful about watching those conversations around transformation and the beauty of imperfection resonate so naturally with people moving through the exhibition.
Whose work stopped you in your tracks?
Ryan Fernandes: What stayed with me most was work that carried a real sense of restraint and honesty. I won’t play favourites although the quarry cabinet by Made by Morgen with Jessie French is pretty special. Beyond that, Table Manners, the champagne buckets, and LOST HiDE really took me.
Tactile Dialogues: Fragments of Matter at Melbourne Design Week 2026 | Photography by Matthew McQuiggan
Tactile Dialogues: Fragments of Matter at Melbourne Design Week 2026 | Photography by Matthew McQuiggan
Ryan Fernandes for Tactile Dialogues: Fragments of Matter at Melbourne Design Week 2026 | Photography by Matthew McQuiggan
MUJI, Made.
Gertrude Glasshouse, Collingwood
Developed with creative direction and curation by Marsha Golemac and Colby Vexler, MUJI, Made. brought together a selection of MUJI products alongside new responses by Australian architects, designers and makers, including Andrew Walter, Charlie White, Colby Vexler, Kim Bridgland, OKO OLO, Olivia Bossy and SOZOU, asking what restraint, clarity and material consideration look like when refracted through local practice.
What did Melbourne Design Week look like for you this year?
Marsha Golemac: The week moves quickly and there is often a lot of rushing around. The moments that tend to stay with me are the smaller ones, running into people unexpectedly or hearing someone speak passionately about their work. The highlights are often less about a single project and more about the conversations and connections that emerge along the way.
Was there a moment during MDW that you felt moved by?
Marsha Golemac: Witnessing the undeniable support within Melbourne’s design community. The smaller conversations that happen on the sidelines, the willingness to share knowledge, make introductions and encourage one another. Curatorial approaches also felt increasingly generous, creating space for emerging and established designers to sit alongside one another.
Whose work stopped you in your tracks?
Marsha Golemac: Admittedly I’m biased here, all the works in MUJI, Made., having seen firsthand the time and effort each designer put into their work. Beyond that, Charlie White’s Glacé Chair at 100 Chairs and Olivia Bossy’s singing letterbox in You’ve Got Mail.
MUJI, Made. at Melbourne Design Week 2026 | Photography by Pier Carthew
MUJI, Made. at Melbourne Design Week 2026 | Photography by Pier Carthew
MUJI, Made. at Melbourne Design Week 2026 | Photography by Pier Carthew
You’ve Got Mail!
Above Mitty’s Newsagency, Bourke Street
Curated by set designer Athanasia Spathis and Sean Brickhill, You’ve Got Mail! took the letterbox as its subject, commissioning Olivia Bossy, Kenny Yong Soo Son, Belle Thierry, Nic Morgante, Adam Goodrum and Georgia Weitenberg to reimagine the object, alongside mail contributed by international designers.
What did Melbourne Design Week look like for you this year?
Athanasia Spathis: Hosting a show definitely made design week a lot busier, and the sense of missing out was very real at times. But the highlight for me was the collaborative process behind putting the exhibition together, seeing how differently each local designer interpreted the concept, and receiving mail sent to us from around the world felt really special, and honestly a little surreal at times.
Was there a moment during MDW that you felt moved by
Athanasia Spathis: Seeing how much talent exists in Australia. At each show I saw there was an abundance of beautiful ideas and craftsmanship, which was so exciting and inspiring to witness.
Sean Brickhill: I think seeing such a huge turnout at the convent was pretty special gives me hope that these events can keep growing year by year.
Whose work stopped you in your tracks?
Athanasia Spathis: I’m going to be unapologetically biased here and say the designers who were part of our show. Reimagining a letterbox was definitely not an easy task, but each of them developed such clever ideas that felt so thoughtful and considered in completely different ways. Seeing the level of detail and care that went into each piece was such a magical moment when the works first arrived.
Sean Brickhill: The light-up conveyor belt by Remington Matters and More Studio was pretty incredible to see.
You’ve Got Mail! at Melbourne Design Week 2026 | Photography by Matthew McQuiggan
You’ve Got Mail! at Melbourne Design Week 2026 | Photography by Matthew McQuiggan
You’ve Got Mail! at Melbourne Design Week 2026 | Photography by Matthew McQuiggan
Industry
North Magdalen Laundry, Abbotsford Convent
Presented by Isabel Avendaño Hazbún with Raven Mahon, Industry examined what legitimate sustainability looks like in a small designer-maker studio, producing furniture, lighting, textiles and sculpture from timber and recycled tyre inner tubes, all designed to be disassembled and repurposed.
What did Melbourne Design Week look like for you this year?
Isabel Avendaño Hazbún: I was involved in three exhibitions, plus my own solo show Industry, shortlisted for The Australian Furniture Design Awards at Stylecraft, a chair in 100 Chairs and a transparent quilt in Finite at Dowel Jones. So I was pretty busy in the lead-up to Design Week. The highlight for me was having amazing friends to help me be ready on time.
Was there a moment during MDW that you felt moved by?
Isabel Avendaño Hazbún: The incredibly positive feedback I got from the people who visited Industry.
Whose work stopped you in your tracks?
Isabel Avendaño Hazbún: I didn’t get to see as much as I wanted but I saw images of Table Manners, The Romance was Born show at Artbank, would’ve loved to go to Useful Objects and so many more. I did love Richard Greenacre’s chair for 100 chairs and also Ash Allen’s homage to female designers at Cam’s kiosk.
Industry by Isabel Avendaño Hazbún with Raven Mahon at Melbourne Design Week 2026 | Photography by Matthew McQuiggan
Industry by Isabel Avendaño Hazbún with Raven Mahon at Melbourne Design Week 2026 | Photography by Matthew McQuiggan