The global London Design Biennale will take place 4 - 23 September 2018 at Somerset House

“Emotional States” is the chosen theme for the second London Design Biennale to take place at Somerset House situated on the banks of the Thames in the heart of London, from 4 - 23 September 2018.

The inaugural London Design Biennale was held at the Somerset House in 2016.  Photo by Bradley Lloyd Barnes.

Building on the success of the inaugural 2016 London Design Biennale, this second edition global event will be participated by more than 40 countries and territories, including France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, UK and USA.  The UK entry will be curated for a second time by the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A).

UK entry at the London Design Biennale 2016 at the Somerset House.  Photo by Ed Reeve.

Taking over the entirety of Somerset House, the exhibition will see the world’s nations presenting newly commissioned works in contemporary design, design-led innovation, creativity and research.

India's entry for the 2016 London Design Biennale at Somerset House.  Photo by Ed Reeve.

The theme of ‘Emotional States’ is deem to provoke a broad interpretation across design disciplines, with immersive and engaging installations that interrogate how design affects every aspect of people’s lives – the way we live and how we live – but also influences our very being, emotions and experiences.

Sustainability, migration and conflict, civic responsibility, pollution, water, social equality, and innovative solutions for issues in 21st-century life are some of the big issues of our time being explored.

Just a few months ago, Gallup released their Global EmotionsReport 2017, based on 149,000 interviews across 142 countries, measuring feelings and emotions that traditional economic indicators ignore. This index finds Paraguay as the country with the highest positive emotional experiences, and Yemen the lowest (Syria, previously ranked bottom, was too dangerous to survey).

At the 2016 Year in Focus exhibition at Getty Images London, people of various nations in conflict, civic unrest and various social issues were illustrated through photographs.

The UK is positioned at no 38, alongside Mali, South Africa, USA they were struggling.  In the two years leading to Brexit, there was a 15% decline in the number of people rating their lives ‘thriving’, the largest drop in the history of polling. However, 75% stated that they had smiled and laughed in the previous day.

Thus it will be interesting to see how the various countries will respond to the theme of “Emotional States” at the Biennale event in London in September; their investigation into the relationship between design, strong emotional responses and real social needs.

It is widely expected that the Biennale will see some of the world’s most exciting and ambitious designers, innovators and cultural bodies gather in London to celebrate the universal power of design and explore the role of design in our collective futures.