British artist and designer Samuel Ross has been appointed the artistic director of the London Design Biennale 2025.
Founder of A-COLD-WALL*, a luxury sportswear brand that he has described as a "material study for social architecture,” SR_A SR_A, an artisan-driven company, and the Black British Artists Grants Programme, Ross maintains a multidisciplinary practice spanning fashion design, product design, installation art, and sculpture.
The fifth edition of the biennial will be held at the historic Somerset House in central London from 5 to 29 June 2025. It will feature the works of local and international designers addressing the theme Ross set of 'Surface Reflections.’ Accompanying the Biennale will be a program of curated events, talks, performances, and workshops. Additionally, a series of Ross’s large-scale sculptural works will be unveiled, marking his first major UK installation.
The ’Surface Reflections’ theme will explore how ideas are fuelled by internal experiences and external influences.
It will delve into how revelations in life, prompted by personal histories, inform who we are. Each being’s traditions fuse with what emerges later in life. Our ‘Surface Reflections’ factor into the hues of human experiences, which will be uncovered at the London Design Biennale in 2025. “The elder and child versions of ourselves, in spirit, harvest experiences pooled from the same well,” says Dr Samuel Ross MBE. “The time between each visit to the well does not distort the composition of the water. A different reflection, or means of extraction, may occur over time, due to the compound’s characteristics. Generations of design-thinkers portray similar behaviours.”
According to Ross, “London’s consistent spirit of experimentation and palpable artistic culture, remain a fresh forum for global thinking. Taking part in the 2025 London Design Biennale as Artistic Director is an honour, I look forward to collaborating with each practitioner, ideally fuelling a spirit of experimentation, blurring the edges of where design meets art.”
Director of the London Design Biennale, Victoria Broackes, shared, “2025 will be an important year for design in the UK. We are absolutely delighted to be working with Samuel Ross as Artistic Director for the London Design Biennale 5th edition, combining his vision with creativity and innovation from all over the world. London Design Biennale 2025 will present an international showground for original and imaginative ideas, solutions and thrilling opportunities for enriching exchanges.”
