Each year for London Design Festival we invite a group of international delegates to join us for Design Connections. This year directors and senior curators representing design museums, festivals and leading design organisations from Brazil, China, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Kuwait, Mexico, Morocco, Philippines, South Africa, Thailand and Turkey will take this curated tour of the festival. They will meet leading UK designers, curators and design organisations along the way as well as uncovering new work and exciting emerging practitioners.

The programme offers international delegates and their UK counterparts an opportunity to share knowledge, debate key issues effecting design and design curation globally and explore possible collaborations. This year delegates will be visiting the V&A, the Design Museum, Jerwood Space and Makerversity to find out more about their upcoming and touring programmes. We’ll be delving into the work of Thomas Heatherwick, Bethan Laura Wood, Morag Myerscough and many more through studio visits and exhibitions viewings. We’ve also picked some of the most exciting exhibitions and events from the festival including the Craft’s Council’s Crafting Narrative exhibition, landmark project A Place called Home and Aram Gallery’s Future Stars?.

With over 300 events, London Design Festival is one of the biggest design events in the world, at a time when the spotlight is one London as a design capital Design Connections offers an important moment to consider how we can share ideas and collaborate internationally.