Melbourne Art Fair: Design Conversations
for FUTUREOBJEKT
28.02.26

Last week, we immersed ourselves in Melbourne Art Fair 2026, hosting three Design Conversations as part of the inaugural edition of FUTUREOBJEKT – a collectible design salon bringing together galleries, studios and practitioners at the intersection of art, design and material culture.

By any measure, the fair was a landmark edition. Record attendance saw over 20,000 art and design aficionados come through the doors, with an estimated AU$16.4M in artwork and collectible design sales injected into the local sector. More than 60 galleries and Indigenous art centres joined the lineup alongside FUTUREOBJEKT, which debuted with over 20 designers and design studios — a compelling first chapter for what promises to be an enduring fixture of the fair.

Exhibition photography by Annika Kafcaloudis.

As Melbourne Art Fair‘s marketing and communications partner, NHO led strategy development by first defining the Fair’s objectives, target markets and key messages. This informed a comprehensive tactical plan across owned and earned channels, including digital marketing, events, media partnerships, programming and public relations.⁠
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We took to the stage too, with NHO Founding Director, Neil Hugh Kenna, curating and moderating a series of Design Conversations – an invitation for a diverse cohort of designers, gallerists, curators, collectors and cultural figures to interrogate the ideas, tensions and trajectories shaping contemporary design practice and collecting.

The first conversation, ‘From Creativity to Capital: Scaling Practice in a Global Economy’, examined the structural obstacles facing emerging and established design practices — from manufacturing and logistics to financing — and the strategic pathways toward commercial viability. The discussion brought together Volker Haug, Founder of Volker Haug Studio; Jordan Fleming, Designer; and Susan Tait, Creative Director of Tait, exploring how local grounding and global engagement intersect in building sustainable, resilient practices.

The second conversation, ‘Collecting with Conscience: Power, Privilege and the Politics of Collecting’, turned to the evolving landscape of design collecting, where a new generation of collectors is demanding greater transparency around diversity, sustainability and ethical practice. The panel — comprising Nicole Durling, Executive Director of Craft Victoria; Interior Designer Brahman Perera; and Mayatili Marika, General Manager of Agency Projects — explored how socially conscious collecting is expanding visibility for underrepresented artists and designers, and redefining what responsible stewardship looks like.

The third and final conversation, ‘Fetishising Function: The Cultural and Economic Codes of Collectible Design’, interrogated the moment at which an object transcends utility to become a cultural artefact — and the forces that determine its value. Neil was joined by Gemma Savio, Curator of Contemporary Design and Architecture at the NGV, and Artist and Designer Anna Varendorff, for a discussion on the criteria shaping collectability and the trajectories influencing the market’s future.

Together, the conversations established FUTUREOBJEKT‘s Design Conversations program as a platform for critical, timely dialogue at the intersection of design, culture and commerce, reflecting the fair’s ambition to position collectible design within a broader cultural and intellectual context.

Our thanks to all speakers joining Neil in conversation, and to the truly dedicated Melbourne Art Fair team and Board, particularly for their commitment to the strategic planning process, as well as all our partners and collaborators who contributed to a Fair to remember.⁠