Brumen Biennial of Slovenian Design

The first Biennial of Slovene Visual Communications was organised by the Brumen Foundation in November 2003 at the National Gallery of Slovenia in Ljubljana with 199 works presented. Since then the biennial has become a recognisable event to evaluate and award work in over 20 categories, many of which are neglected by other similar festivals, such as the Slovene Advertising Festival (SOF) and Golden Drum Advertising Festival of New Europe. The biennial has come to provide a specialised and expert-based overview of the field of visual communication for Slovenian designers and design firms.

Visual identity for the Biennial of Slovene Visual Communications by IlovarStritar design studio in Ljubljana, 2009

Events and awards

All submitted works are first reviewed by a national jury comprised of the award winners of the previous biennial. The selected entries are shown at the biennial exhibition, accompanied by a catalogue, and assessed by an international jury, whose members present their own work in a series of free lectures held at the City Museum of Ljubljana and an exhibition called the International Design Event. The Brumen Award is granted to the best work in each individual category, the best work of the entire biennial is awarded the Brumen Grand Prix. The jury may also grant Honorable Mention to an additional work in each category.

Background

The Biennial of Slovene Visual Communications was established for the purpose of raising the quality of visual communications and promoting Slovene design. By organising international graphic design exhibitions the Brumen Foundation aims to spread the awareness of the highest quality achievements in international graphic design to a wide audience in Slovenia and abroad. The young generation of designers has thus gained an important opportunity to check, compare, and get an overview of the designers and their work, and to gain recognition of design knowledge, know-how and skills.

The biennial is open to all professionals regardless of their age. The number of entries is gradually raising; at the 4th biennial there has been a significant increase of works presented in the categories "Digital Graphics" and "TV Graphics".

International cooperation

In 2008 award-winning works from the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd editions of the biennial were shown at the exhibition Work from ... Slovenia held in the Governor's Palace in Brno, Czech Republic, as a part of the 23rd International Biennial of Graphic Design Brno. In 2009 the exhibition Best Slovenian Design in Visual Communications 01/02/03 took place in Forum Gallery in Zagreb, Croatia.