Walker Art Center shared new details today about its inaugural Walker Design Triennial. Twenty-six designers and collectives from over ten countries will participate. The triennial’s official title is Beyond Materialism.
Beyond Materialism will explore “the fundamental shift taking place within design toward considerations of the mind, psyche, and spirit,” Walker shared in a statement, before stating participants will address “existential human needs” amid wider social challenges.
The design triennial in Minneapolis was first announced in early 2025. Walker’s Head of Design, Communication & Content Asli Altay was named its artistic director, and architect Joseph Grima its head curator. Participants invited to make new work for the design triennial are Ananas Ananas, Astronauts, Navine G. Dossos and James Bridle, Stef Fusani, and Lucas Muñoz Muñoz.
Other participants that will display past works include Anna Aagaard Jensen, Germane Barnes, Michael Bennett, Nathalie Du Pasquier, Espace Aygo, Theaster Gates, Shao-Chun Hsu, Jonghoo Jeong, Kostas Lambridis, Maximilian Marchesani, Nifemi Marcus-Bello, Objects of Common Interest, Kevin Quale, Moon Seop Seo, Superflux, Christoph Wimmer-Ruelland, WKND Lab, and Ettore Sottsass Jr.
Posthumous contributions by Buckminster Fuller, Alessandro Mendini, and the Shakers—a Christian sect in the zeitgeist with Mona Fastvold’s film The Testament of Ann Lee and a museum underway by Annabelle Selldorf—will also be on display.
Grima said participants will focus on “significant questions about environmental degradation, community-building, social and political justice, the rapidity of technological advancement, and the meaning and experience of spirituality and transcendence.”
For Altay, Beyond Materialism is “an important moment for the Walker as we expand on our institution’s longstanding commitment to design and continue our history of giving artists and designers from across the world opportunities to present in the United States.”
The Design Triennial will open October 17 and remain open through February 14, 2027.
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