AGDA has announced that, in 2012, the AGDA Biennial Awards will be renamed The Australian Design Biennale.

According to Biennale chair, Andrew Ashton, the name change follows reflections on the concept of an ‘awards program’. The program has been running for 20 years now and change was inevitable. “In the ten years since 2002 [when the awards were last held in Melbourne] we have witnessed awards programs popping up everywhere and I have been thinking about ways in which a beast like an awards program can offer engagement, knowledge and meaning to the community. This process has brought into question the motives and reasons why awards were created in the first place, and has encouraged the formulation of a new brief – a shift in approach to celebrating design excellence, craft and community,” Ashton says.

The new approach will stay close to its origins, but will attempt a more “stripped back approach,” encouraging the idea of “getting back to the basics of design.”

Stay tuned for more announcements in the lead up to the awards night, which will be held on 17 November in Melbourne. Head to AGDA’s site for more details.

Thumbnail image taken from AGDA’s site.