Every culinary experience is in one way or another related to design – it is a perpetual ritual, a part of our everyday existence and something that brings together everything from the growing of ingredients to the preparation and presentation of food, thus exerting influence over the society and environment.

Both food and design are recognized as sources of the same values, namely local, sustainable, sensory, and ritual, all of them serving as the basis on which we wish to create a new place setting design for a multi-course menu to be created especially for this purpose by the renowned Slovene chef Jakob Pintar. It is our firm belief that gastronomy is a sensory and romantic experience and therefore in need of a combination of design and culinary mindset to fully combine the stories of design and dining.

This open call is launched under the programme DESIGN DINING: Slovenian Tableware Design, which is carried out by the Museum of Architecture and Design and the Centre for Creativity under the auspices of European Distributed Design Market Platform. We will select up to 10 designers who will receive financial incentives to design a new product, to be used as a place setting, and also produce it (as a limited series). The selected tableware series will be presented at pop-up dinners and exhibitions in Slovenia and abroad.

The Distributed Design Market Platform (DDMP) is an exchange and networking hub for the European maker movement and the outcome of the intersection of two global trends: the Maker Movement and the digitisation of the design discipline. Joining together 18 European organizations working in the field of design, distribution and production, the platform is a four-year project co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union.

The Museum of Architecture and Design (MAO) is a national and international centre and hub for the transfer of knowledge in the fields of heritage and creativity, featuring innovative programme formats dedicated to the preservation of heritage and supporting emerging creatives. MAO is the custodian and promotor of the world’s most comprehensive collection of Slovenian architectural and design heritage.

The Centre for Creativity (CzK) is an interdisciplinary matchmaking, presentation and development platform for Slovenia's cultural and creative sectors. The Centre’s programmes are aimed at strengthening the social and economic value of both sectors while forging stronger ties with other sectors and the economy in general. Together with grants by the Ministry of Culture it forms the support framework for the development of the creative sector in Slovenia.