Real / Unreal: Dutch Design Week 2024

Dutch Design Week 2024 (DDW24) takes over the city of Eindhoven between October 19-27, 2024. With 415 locations and over 2,500 designers taking part this year, this year’s edition is as dynamic as ever. The theme for DDW 24 is ‘Real/Unreal’, an appropriate topic that includes a host of subjects from AI to agriculture. Creative Director of DDW, Miram van der Lubbe, notes that “what sets DDW apart is that it is truly a ground up initiative. It was started by the designers and continues to be run by designers.” DDW does have more of a punk/playful design feel about it and while more brands and ‘established’ names take part, it retains its edgy approach and the experience is one of discovery and the unexpected. Below is a small selection of highlights from the citywide event.

Design Academy Eindhoven Graduation Show at Microstad

At the core of DDW24 is the much-anticipated graduation show of over 200 Bachelor’s and Master’s projects that explore how these graduates “understand their role as designers, and as humans, in an increasingly automated and interconnected world.” While it difficult to classify such a diverse group, certain themes appear including: Joy and humour as resilience, the environment, climate and agriculture, belonging, death and spirituality, surveillance and tech, social and mental wellbeing and restitution, heritage and cultural reclamation, among many others. Many projects here and elsewhere at DDW24 include activations through sound, performances and touch – perhaps a way to ground oneself to the real and to the body.

Microlab – Strijp-S

Microlab is a buzzing, must-see space where innovative design, materials and experimentation are on display across dozens of installations and exhibitions. A few of the many projects include: ‘Crafting Connections’, a collaboration between Marte Mei and Studio Van der Zee of found wood and ceramics, a collaboration between Zeefier and The Knitwit Stable using local Dutch wool and seaweed; Wad van Waarde, which focuses on local crops in the Wadden area of Holland, like flax, to develop plastic-free products; “The Magic of Touch”, an exhibition of German graduate students curated by Anton Rahlwes and Nina Sieverding and RAW Color that revolves around touch, an important theme that ran throughout many exhibitions; and the Dutch Design Awards exhibition that pairs 10 previous Dutch Design Award Winners with a younger designer who has been selected by the previous winner. The 5mini-exhibitions create a dialogue between past and present with categories including: Thriving Planet, Living Environment, Health & Wellbeing, Equal Society, and Digital Future.

Kazerne

The Kazerne presents a series of curated exhibitions including “Human = Non-Human”, with nearly 40 emerging and established artists who are exploring the human condition and the boundaries of what is real and not real. This comes through materials, our connection to nature, to tech and cyberspace, to the power of algorithms. Other exhibitions and presentations include:  “Back to the Flax” featuring 10 DAE students exploring the potential of this local resources, and the “Roots exhibition, From Dutch Soil”, curated by Simone van Es, that looks at plant-based materials featuring work by Diana Scher, Piet Hein Eek and others.

Piet Hein Eek

You could spend all day at this legendary design campus of red brick industrial buildings where young and established design and art come together. Not only a showcase for the distinctive designs of Piet Hein Eek and his innovate, collaborative practice, but it also brings together dozens of younger designers who have spaces to present their work – from colourful children’s furniture to hand woven linen jackets to ceramic plates and books. Don’t miss Tweek-Eek, launched by Hein Eek’s twin daughters that repurposes machines to create a unique line of jewellery.

Isola Design

This is the 6th consecutive participation with DDW24, this year, taking over Area 51, Netherlands’ largest indoor skate park. Four exhibitions, set in rooms off of the bustling skate park, are inspired by Isola’s theme: The Future is Currently Unavailable. Included in this program is “Routes to Roots” exhibition, featuring contemporary design from the MENA region, “Forms Unfolding,” which includes an installation by Social Label Movement, “The Floor is Yours,” set in the dance studio of Area 51 and “Disclosure”, featuring workshops and performances in addition to the design.

Soils at the Van Abbemuseum

Inspired by the Palestinian writer Munir Fasheh and his writings about four types of soils: earth soil, the communal soil, the cultural soil and the spiritual soil, this exhibition, a curatorial collaboration between the TarraWarra Museum of Art, Struggles for Sovereignty and the Van Abbemuseum, presents work by artists who connect to soil from their understanding of their place on Earth. Featuring installations, experimentations, objects and paintings, this is a multi-sensory exhibition that gives a new appreciation for the earth we stand on.

Kiki and Joost

Kiki van Eijk and Joost van Bleiswijk opened their studio and new exhibition space and garden to the public. The over 1000 sq. metre space with 9-metre high ceilings, located near the canal, was designed and built by the designers and their team and constructed in an ecological way: from solar panels to recycled wood. The exhibition, which during DDW24 features an in-depth presentation of new and old work by both designers, along with a shop, is intended to host workshops, events and other designer’s work. “Building our own exhibition space has been a long-held dream. We wanted a place to showcase work and new experiments in a way that truly embodies the dynamic, fast-paced, and experimental nature of our practice. The space embraces a less predictable, more innovative approach, where exhibitions and events can change quickly and new work can be presented in a raw and immediate way, perhaps even straight form the studio with wet paint,” said Kiki & Joost.

For more information and a look at all the programming events visit:

www.ddw.nl

@dutchdesignweek