Here are some photos from the 2008 International Biennial of Graphic Design in Brno, Czech Republic.

The main exhibition, designed by Radim Babak and Ondrej Tobola of Hippos design, consists of 600 works by 162 designers, arranged using chairs so that visitors can browse the magazines and books on show.

The grand prix winner for 2008 is Kasia Korczak from the Netherlands, who will present a solo show at the 2012 Biennial.

Also on show this year is a solo show of work by 2004 grand prix winner Fumio Tachibanaa, an exhibition created by designer Abbott Miller called Brno Echo, a selection of work from the Slovenian Biennial of Visual Communications and student work from the Academy of Fine Arts & Design, Bratislava, Slovak Republic.

The biennial consists of continues until 19th october.

Here's some more information from the organisers:

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23rd International Biennial of Graphic Design Brno 2008
GRAPHIC DESIGN, ILLUSTRATION AND TYPE IN BOOKS, MAGAZINES, NEWSPAPERS AND DIGITAL MEDIA
17/6—19/10/2008

The Brno Biennial showcases the very best of graphic design.

The Brno Biennial was established in 1963, and is thus the oldest exhibition of graphic design in the world. It regularly alternates between two subjects. The 23rd year is dedicated to graphic design, illustration and type in books, magazines, newspapers and the digital media, while the 2010 Biennial will focus on corporate, informational and advertising graphics and posters.

Apart from the main competition show, the Brno Biennial features a specialist symposium and a number of accompanying events, thanks to which Brno becomes a major centre of contemporary graphic design for four months.

Main exhibition

Over 600 works by 162 artists from 27 countries: this is the competition show in numbers. The international jury has selected the winners from among the books, magazines, illustrations and websites on display. The winner of the Brno Biennial 2008 Grand Prix will host his or her solo
exhibition in Brno in 2012.

Jury:

Jonathan Barnbrook (UK)
Petra Černe Oven (UK / Slovenia)
Otakar Karlas (Czech Republic)
Zuzana Lednická (Czech Republic)
Gertrud Nolte (Germany)
Fumio Tachibana (Japan)
Lucille Tenezas (USA)

Brno Echo

“Brno Echo” is a multi-media design exhibition in the City of Brno, Czech Republic, created by the designer Abbott Miller for the Brno Biennial of Graphic Design.

The exhibition is being held in the Moravian Gallery, the second largest art museum in the Czech Republic, the venue for the Brno Biennial of the Graphic Design, one of Europe’s earliest design biennials, established in 1963. The original logo for the Brno Biennial, designed by the Czech designer Jiří Hadlač, features concentric lines making up a letter “B”. This pattern has served as a starting point for the exhibition.

With a combination of print and multi-media graphics, typography, fabrics, photography and decorative arts, “Brno Echo” uses the visual motif of concentric lines to reveal graphic echoes resonating between past and present. The exhibition explores how concentricity is a shared vocabulary, linking disparate contexts and media across time and geography. Drawing upon various international sources, including the rich collections of the Moravian Gallery, the exhibition stages a dialogue between objects and images. The installation design gives this dialogue substance in galleries by transforming the space into a form of graphic echo chamber. Walls and pedestals pulsate with concentric lines encircling and framing the objects on display.

“Brno Echo” explores which simple, atavistic impulses are fundamental characteristics of design, gestures that interconnect everything from the Wiener Werkstätte through pop art to our current retro-futurism. Concentric lines frame, re-formulate, demarcate, decorate, and emphasize. “Brno Echo” makes a visual argument for understanding design as a cosmopolitan practice, one that unifies different cultures and periods.

Brno Echo, a 96-page catalogue, will be designed by Abbott Miller and published by the Moravian Gallery. It will feature images from the exhibition and a text on the show themes by Abbott Miller.

"Our Slovakia has lain fast asleep, but the voice of lightning storm calls it to awake and sell itself…”
An exhibition of work by students from the Department of Visual Communication at the College of Fine Arts, Bratislava presents projects dedicated to Slovak national identity and to visual representation of the country in the world outside. The work is selected from among the best of the current students as well as from the school’s graduates.

Visual identity of Brno Biennial 2008 by Petr Stepan (Studio Najbrt).