Eben Keun’s redesign of the National Arts Festival logo
Review/Interview?
By Benevolence Mazhinji
At first glance, the 2025 National Arts Festival logo appears to be effortlessly simple. Two hands facing each other, connected by clean lines and circular forms. On the surface, they seem to reach or mirror one another in an act of exchange. However, this visual ease belies a profound depth and a meticulously crafted system, designed to serve as an open and welcoming invitation.
For Eben Keun, Chief Brand Architect at Breinstorm, the process of designing this logo began with listening, before any visuals could take form. This process involved gathering insights not only from workshops and festival directors but also from engaging directly with artists and audiences to invite their stories, hopes, and memories. Keun says, “That meant pouring over 50 years of visual and cultural history to truly understand the Festival’s legacy and the meaning it holds”.
The circles in the palms of the hands represent rhythm and they speak to intention and reception, which encapsulates the idea that while the Festival is about performance, the exchange between artist and audience, speaker and listener, is just as vital an element. A reminder me that we are all part of this give and take and that we are constantly witnessing and shaping culture together.
This sense of shared meaning and continuity extends beyond the logo itself. In its evolution, the team drew inspiration from the weaver bird, which is known for building communal nests that shelter generations. It’s a metaphor for what the Festival represents: a space constructed in collaboration and shaped over time by many hands. In this sense, the logo honours what has come before while remaining open to what lies ahead. And when asked what the logo would say if it could speak, it made perfect sense that Keun said, it would simply read: “Welcome home. Let’s begin again.”
