Exhibition “Young Designer Prize 2026”: 15 Perspectives on the Design of the Future
10 September – 4 October, 2026
On September 10, the exhibition of the national “Young Designer Prize” competition will open its doors at the Museum of Applied Arts and Design (Arsenalo St. 3A, Vilnius). It will present the work of 15 of this year’s most promising design graduates. Running until October 4, the exhibition will invite visitors to explore the diverse practices, research, and creative journeys of emerging designers.
A Competition That Encourages Growth
The “Young Designer Prize” competition has been organized by the Design Innovation Centre of the Vilnius Academy of Arts since 2011. Over more than a decade, the initiative has become an important part of Lithuania’s design scene, encouraging students to develop their competitiveness and skills while helping them take their first steps toward professional careers.
Alongside the nominations and awards, an exhibition of the competition’s best works is organized each year, giving designers an opportunity to present their work beyond the academic community.
What Questions Are Being Raised by the New Generation of Designers?
This year, 91 applications were submitted to the competition. The exhibition presents 15 projects selected by an international jury—three projects each in the categories of product, communication, fashion, interior design, and design research.
Exhibition curator Daina Eičaitė notes that this year’s projects address a broad range of social and political issues:
“The creators explore themes of emotional intelligence and social well-being, looking for ways to strengthen inclusion, community, and interspecies relationships. In searching for alternative futures, they question established ideologies and systems. Experimenting with materials and forms of expression, the designers ask: perhaps it is already time to change and reassess what surrounds us?”
The competition entries were evaluated and the exhibition projects selected by renowned design professionals: Willem van Hooff (the Netherlands), Antonio Lo Presti (Italy), Francesca Pedroni (Italy), Linda Lissola (Sweden), and Pärtel Vurma (Estonia). Drawing on their diverse professional backgrounds, the experts assessed not only the aesthetic qualities of the projects, but also the potential of their ideas, the designers’ ability to address contemporary issues, and their capacity to clearly develop and present a concept.
The Exhibition’s Home – the Museum of Applied Arts and Design
Since 2023, the “Young Designer Prize” exhibition has been held at the Museum of Applied Arts and Design. According to museum curator Lina Bilinskienė, the exhibition is important not only as the final stage of the competition, but also as a space where the young generation of designers, the museum, and the public come together.
“For young designers, this is an important opportunity to present their work to a wider audience. For many, taking part in this exhibition becomes one of the first significant stages of their professional career—a chance to showcase their work on a national scale and to be noticed not only by visitors, but also by design professionals, business representatives, and potential creative partners.
For the museum and its visitors, the exhibition provides an opportunity to discover the new generation of Lithuanian designers and see which ideas and themes matter to young creators today. Their work reflects social, ecological, technological, and cultural issues, making the exhibition a kind of map of contemporary design that allows us to see the direction in which it is developing.
I believe that exhibitions like this are precisely what help a museum remain vibrant and relevant. They remind us that a museum is not merely a guardian of the past—it is a place where dialogue with contemporary creativity takes place, new ideas emerge, and the future directions of creative practice take shape,” says L. Bilinskienė.
The Exhibition Architecture – a Reflection of the Multifaceted Design Field
The exhibition architecture was created by designers Vytautas Gečas and Emilija Kazakevičiūtė. Their unified, spatially decentralized architectural installation symbolically brings together different authors and their fields of specialization. The participants’ projects are presented alongside one another, while each retains its own individual space. In this way, the works remain autonomous while simultaneously becoming part of a larger whole, revealing the multifaceted nature of the design field.
“The overall structure resembles a communal table, around which people gather once again, as if after the end of a student celebration, to spend time together, share, and reflect. The exhibition becomes an extension of this gathering—a space where everyone brings their own contribution, and where different works reveal themselves not only individually, but also through their relationship with their neighbours,” explains V. Gečas, presenting the concept behind the exhibition architecture.
Educational Workshops to Complement the Exhibition
On September 11, exhibition visitors will be invited to take part in an educational workshop led by one of the exhibition participants, Ringaile Demšyte. Participants will be introduced to Physarum polycephalum, a slime mould frequently used in biological and interdisciplinary research, and will explore its potential in experimental design, bio-art, and visual research.
The educational programme continues the exhibition’s exploration of alternative creative practices, interspecies relationships, and different ways of relating to the environment. It gives visitors an opportunity not only to observe the young designers’ work, but also to engage in an experimental process themselves.
More information about the competition: www.jdp.lt
Competition organizer: Design Innovation Centre of the Vilnius Academy of Arts
Competition funded by: Lithuanian Council for Culture
Information partner: LRT
Competition partners: Museum of Applied Arts and Design (LNMA), State Patent Bureau of the Republic of Lithuania, European Union Intellectual Property Office, Intelektine.lt
Competition sponsors: Nordcurrent, Jung, Fiskars, Clo
3A Arsenalo st, Vilnius, Lithuania
+370 5 212 1813;
+370 5 261 25 48; +370 5 262 80 80.
tddm@lndm.lt
