Zavod Big

Zavod Big – Center for creative economy of Southeast Europe is a non-profit organisation that conducts a wide range of activities with the aim of fostering cooperation between the private sector and creative industries active in the fields of architecture and design.

In 2018, Zavod Big significantly upgraded the front-facing aspects of its work under the banner BIG SEE – Where Life is Creativity. The re-brand corresponds with the ambitious goal of serving as a central creative hub for the broader region (SEE stands for Southeast Europe), with the organisation deepening its involvement with the 19 countries that make up the region and broadening its scope to take in a vast range of design-adjacent fields such as art, culture, sports, science, education, politics, commerce, and travel and hospitality.

Activities

Festivals

Zavod Big (BIG SEE) organises festivals that serve as an opportunity to showcase relevant achievements and promote interaction and networking between creators and businesses: the annual Month of Design festival since 2003; the Big Architecture Festival since 2008; along with younger events the Wood Icon Festival, highlighting the importance of products from wood in the region and offering an important point of exchange among those working in the wood sector; and the Creative Tourism Festival, aimed at developing attractive, innovative and sustainable tourism solutions for the region.

Awards

Pursuant to the goal of calling the attention of private sector actors to excellence in architecture and design, awards play a central role at all these festivals. The National Design Awards presented at the Month of Design recognise excellence in Slovenian design. In addition, BIG bestows the BigSEE Awards.

Since 2018, BIG SEE sought to draw creative forces throughout the Southeast Europe region into its ambitious festival and trade fair infrastructure to stress the creative vitality of the region as a whole. Although the organisation continues to acknowledge achievements in Slovenian design with the National Design Award, the awards have been expanded considerably and are now presented to outstanding creators from the 19 countries for architecture and a wide range of design fields. A Visionary Award was also added to recognise the lifetime achievements of the biggest names in design from the region.

In the future, BIG SEE envisions a more permanent presence for its trans-regional activities. Towards this end, it has established BIG SEE Force, a community of previous award winners that actively addresses problems and opportunities facing creatives throughout the region. BIG SEE's ambitious plans ultimately see individual countries setting up permanent pavilions to continuously showcase local design excellence to partners from the region and beyond.

Publications

Besides maintaining a website that serves as a go-to resource for creatives and stakeholders from throughout the region, BIG SEE also publishes the BigSEE Report – Creative Atlas of Southeast Europe, an annual review of the creative strength of the region, featuring awarded products and interviews with their designers in an effort to reveal the passion and business potential of the SEE region.