Local Heroes
Presenting Scottish design at home and internationally. Directed by localheroes.design
Local Heroes is a not-for-profit, social enterprise founded in 2016 by design curator Dr Stacey Hunter. Local Heroes is independently run on a project-by-project basis and promotes Scottish design at home and internationally. Aims & Objectives
- Seek out and offer designers hig
h quality platforms and provide good relationships with producers and galleries in order to facilitate the realisation of new and exciting work
- Find opportunities for designers to expand their own practice, build their portfolio and collaborate in new territories
- Begin to identify and develop a design language for Scotland
Increase and diversify audiences for design and to develop design culture in Scotland
- Present to international audiences and promote design in new ways with galleries, festivals and at art and design fairs
- Reimagine modes and models of presentation, production and partnerships
*A new movement in Scottish design*
Scotland is becoming increasingly renowned for its contribution to international design and while tradition and heritage remain a focal point in the popular imagination – diversity, pluralism and connectedness to global networks are influencing a whole generation of designers. For Scotland’s Year of Innovation Architecture and Design in 2016, we asked some of the country’s leading designers to reimagine the souvenir and produce a unique travel-themed design object. The resulting collection celebrated a new movement in Scottish design that embraces colour, pattern, and the use of innovative techniques and materials. The exhibition presented design that communicates confidence and intellectual rigour and was polished, professional and accessible. Director
Dr Stacey Hunter is a design curator and creative producer whose work connects design thinking and practice to the everyday life of cities. Dr Hunter trained as a designer at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design (Dundee), and received a Ph.D. With the inaugural exhibition of Local Heroes in 2016, Hunter initiated a major public exhibition of newly commissioned Scottish design. Located at Edinburgh Airport and a key part of Scotland’s Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design, Local Heroes presented contemporary design to a global audience spanning 120 different locations and three continents.
“For many visitors Local Heroes was a first impression of Scotland, or part of a fond farewell. Design is one of the most accessible expressions of 21st century creativity and the unique location of Edinburgh Airport offered the opportunity to present a snapshot of Scotland’s colourful and confident design scene to a diverse public audience.”
