IDW 2026 - BE+LONGING
In a world marked by constant change, migration, fragmentation, and hyper-connectivity, the question of where and how we belong has become more urgent than ever. Belonging is about more than identity—it is about relationships, rituals, language, care, and the spaces we inhabit, claim, and share.
BE+LONGING invites us to explore the complex relationship between being and longing—to ask not only where we belong, but what we long for. To belong is to feel seen, rooted, included. But it also requires us to reckon with systems of exclusion, histories of displacement, and the deep human desire for connection.
IDW 2026 encourages designers to see longing not as a lack, but as a generative force. To treat belonging not as a static state, but as an ongoing process—a becoming. Let’s design spaces, futures, and imaginaries where everyone can belong!