The Mediterranean Design Workshop is a new international design and cultural event that will take place annually on the Greek island of Tinos. It’s organized by design professionals, encouraging a global view on everything design-related, and anything design can find common ground with for a creative intercourse. Graphic design, illustration, fine art, literature, architecture, industrial design, animation, cinema, theatre, folk art, crafts, education, and theory–these are the fields whose disciplines, qualities and attributes we’ll attempt to blur, compare and ponder within the frame of our everyday reality and practice.

MDW is based on the concept of a series of lectures and hands-on workshops, at the end of which an open dialogue between lecturers and participants will be established. The activities of MDW will always be under the umbrella of a common theme that will be different each year. In parallel to the workshops and lectures, there will be exhibitions, shorter presentations, and thematic excursions exploring the rich historical and cultural heritage of the island. Tinos, due its century-long tradition in the arts and architecture and diversity of landscape, is considered an ideal place for field trips linked to the intellectual and artistic explorations of MDW.

The theme of the inaugural MDW is Hand Vs. Machine. Through the lectures and workshops we will explore to what extend our artistic practice and human existence are dependent on machines and anything mechanical, be it a computer, a car, or a mobile phone. Is the machine a substitute for human touch? In what ways do machines define our happiness, how much do they “steal” from it, and, ultimately, what can we design, create and accomplish using only our hands? The first MDW will take place at the Cultural Foundation of Tinos, who generously doanted the use of their space for our activities. A part of our program will be the international exhibition Voices in Freedom, shown for the first time in Europe, and presented in collaboration with the International Poster Biennial, Mexico. The 115 limited edition posters, created by some of the world’s leading poster artists, celebrate the bicentennial of the Mexican Independence.

The 2010 Mediterranean Design Workshop was organized by internationally acclaimed American artist and designer Luba Lukova and award-winning Greek graphic designer Dimitris Karaiskos. Since 2011 MDW has been organized solely by Mr. Karaiskos.