This was Forward Festivals 2022

IT’S A WRAP! 2 fantastic festivals in 2 fantastic cities, 4 days of creativity and inspiration with more than 60 speakers and over 3000 visitors – That was Forward Festival 2022 Berlin & Vienna.

We would like to review the experiences, the speakers, the happenings and the parties. We enjoyed every moment, every inspiring talk and everyone we met, including the great audience this year. Many thanks to everyone who shared these wonderful moments with us.

 

 

Berlin with two Stages

 
This meant even more insights into the creative industry from every possible angle. The speakers talked about their personal experiences, their dreams for the future and their creative processes. All the seats were taken on both stages while Cihan Tamti and Ju Schnee spoke on the forward stage and at the same time Boogie and Erik Kessels made the audience go wild on the main stage.
 

 
Anna Ginsburg showed the audience the female body in all its aesthetics, while Thierry Brunfaut from Base Design gave one or two simple but effective pieces of advice. Not to forget Eike König as moderator of the main stage, who interviewed the speakers after their presentations and further elaborated on the topics.
 

 
Forward Stage in Berlin hosted Cachete Jack on Thursday night and they talked about their working process and underlined every point they made with a theatrical show. Rachel talked about their processes and how they work together and Nuria pantomimed everything Rachel said.
 

 
On Friday, Forward Stage welcomed Mafia Mashi from Vienna to the stage. Maša showed her bold and intimate photographs and answered questions from the audience. Her images captivated the audience like no other. At the end of this year’s Forward Stage, EASYdoesit showed us how to deal with productions. And without harming the environment, with simple steps that any company or production can easily implement.
 

 

Good Old Classy Vienna
 

 
At Gartenbaukino we had the amazing Stefan Sagmeister as our host and speaker. He had the honors to welcome the audience this year. With design variety, inspiration and mood the speakers this year made the crowd laugh and inspired them at the same time.

After Stefan Sagmeister revived the struggles of past generations and transferred them to our society today with his designs. Artists like Studio Hey, Eva Cremers, Studio Mut, Erik Kessels and many more followed him on Thursday with inspiring presentations.
 

 
Jim Stoten, for example, fascinated the audience with his dance moves and humorous stories. Also Deutsche & Japaner told us how they become interns again when they hire a new intern. They turn the usual work hierarchy upside down to give the interns the opportunity to explore and learn more, while also gaining knowledge as a result.
 

 
On Friday, another Austrian artist opened the day with her lecture. Stefanie Moshammer explained her process of research, brainstorming, shooting, editing and the way to the final product – the exhibited photo. After Joasia Fidler-Wieruszewska and Dominik Einfalt (Wix Playground – Take the big Stage), Kelli Anderson talked about inventions, destruction, but also about hope and possibilities, which she not only projects onto the current problems of the world, but also reflects in the form of designs.

Foxdog Studio programmers invited everyone to participate in their cooking robot via wifi or their website. The audience worked with the studio (most players, some chose to be rebels) to cook a good old British dish.
 

 
Then Christina Worners of Dada-Projects and Kelly Anna introduced the women of the creative industry who are either pushing the boundaries or showing that it is possible to be a designer and a mom.
 

 

The Vibe
 
Not only our beloved speakers made the festival an exquisite event, but also our partners, the music shows, the parties, the food, the workshops and of course a great audience made the festival a successful event. People connected, people inspired, people laughed, people learned. We believe that pictures speak louder than words, so enjoy the impressions we captured.

PS: Look forward to 2023! Soon we will announce our plans for next year and we promise it will be epic!