"The Forward Festivals 2022 seek to place a spotlight on the origins of creativity with honesty and authenticity."
Othmar Handl, Founder Forward Festival
FORWARD FESTIVAL 2022 CELEBRATES HONEST CREATIVITY
When the Forward Festival was founded in 2015, their clear mission was to serve as a platform for creatives and to foster exchange within the scene. In 2022, the events continue to focus on this goal. From 10-12 March 2022, the all-digital festival will kick off the season as a satellite event of mcbw.
The festival is from the scene for the scene. "Creativity has so many different shapes, it can be anything and it can arise anywhere. We all, and especially creatives, always try to portray ourselves and our own work to the outside world as perfect, omitting the chaotic process that leads to the result. Yet it is precisely this process that is brimming with creativity and inspiration. Digitisation has reinforced this even further," says Forward founder and curator Othmar Handl.
The carefully selected speakers feel and appreciate this very fact when they contribute personal stories about their successes and failures in the creative process, the importance of inspiration and collaboration across disciplines, as well as their views of the creative industries. All this makes for a well-balanced blend, adding to the very special atmosphere that cannot be experienced at any other festival.
Meanwhile, the Forward Festival is known not only far beyond the boundaries of its hometown Vienna but also far beyond the creative bubble. The event formats have gained international recognition at venues in the DACH region as an influential platform for the creative industries. Protagonists from virtually all creative disciplines gather every year in Vienna, Berlin, Hamburg and Munich for talks, workshops, exhibitions and side events. From (graphic) design, typography, marketing, VR/AR, Artificial Intelligence and architecture to photography, film and TV.
In 2022, the festivals address the topic of creativity in its original form, where it emerges from and how it can be moulded, especially in the era of post-digitisation. The 2022 festival season kicks off with an all-digital event from 10 - 12 March 2022, which also heralds this year's mcbw. Erik Kessels will set the tone as moderator and make sure that participants as well as speakers rediscover their fearlessness and manage to fight their way back to untamed creativity in times of adversity.
Insights into their individual creative processes will be provided by photography icon Oliviero Toscani, designers Paula Scher and Mirko Borsche, face filter and augmented reality artist Johanna Jaskowska, YouTube creative director Gabriela Namie, designer Nicole McLaughlin and the typography studio Grilli Type. Alongside the talks, interactive workshops have become a regular feature of the Forward Festival. The digital artists Looping Lovers, consultant Emily Cohen and calligrapher Claudia Dzengel offer visitors advice and expertise in a virtual exchange. Interactive Q&As, side events and networking sessions round off the program.
More information on Forward Creatives at forwardcreatives.com