Dutch Design Week 2024 tips

The echoes of the carnival chronicles
How can you bring heritage stories to life using sound? The echoes of the carnival chronicles by Fiera del Suono is a spatial-sound experience involving augmented audio, and has been supported through the Open Call Presentations Abroad for a presentation at the South by Southwest festival in Texas. A grant from Innovationlabs allowed further exploration of how sound can contribute to audience experience at exhibitions and heritage sites. During Dutch Design Week, you can experience the result at the Koelhuis, and a fortune teller will take you on a time-travel journey into the future, accompanied by a symphony of artists, circus horses, barrel organs and AI prophets.

Psychedelic textiles
With subsidy from the Design Grant Scheme, Shushanik Droshakiryan explored the versatile and sustainable applications of wool in textile design. In the process, she focused on creating fully biodegradable biomaterial combinations. During Dutch Design Week, six large textile installations will be on display in the interactive Psychedelic textiles exhibition at the Klokgebouw. Each installation showcases a unique biomaterial crafted from Dutch wool combined with an unusual mix of coffee waste, charcoal and cocoa powder.

Poetics of prompting
For Poetics of prompting, a crash course in ‘machine language’, MU Hybrid Art House is collaborating with The Hmm. The Hmm is a platform that focuses on a better understanding of digital culture, and last year received subsidy from the 1 and 2-year Activities Programme Grant Scheme, which has been used to work on this programme, among others. The exhibition is an exploration of new languages generated in the collaboration between machines and human creativity, between prompting and poetry. New and existing works, interactive projects and workshops by artists and designers explore the relationship between people and their AI tools.

Collaborations for future
Collaborations for future is a research project to better harness the thinking and making power of creative makers in the climate challenge. With a grant from the Innovationlabs programme, a development track was launched for designers and climate scientists to work together on climate issues. Participants are challenged to critically examine their established patterns of thinking, professional position and the boundaries of their discipline. In the exhibition by social-design collective Foundation We Are at Strijp-S, you can discover the collaborations that have been entered into and their outcomes.

Pokka
Pokka is a 3D character created by artists Dylan van Dael and Mick Thörig. The figure has a shy character and plays a central role in the project of the same name supported through the Upstream: Music x Design Grant Scheme. In this project, Van Dael and Thörig examine how social interactions are changing due to the increasing digitalisation of society. They worked on a performance at the intersection of music and visual art. During Dutch Design Week, an installation can be seen at the Koelhuis, and the digital musical production will be performed live at the Effenaar on 24 October.

(w)aardewerk
Crafts Council Netherlands’ (w)aardewerk programme addresses pressing issues concerning raw-material extraction and the making of ceramic products. The programme, which has been supported through the 1 and 2-year Activities Programme Grant Scheme, aims to create a sustainable ecosystem within the ceramics sector, with a focus on fine ceramics such as tableware, vases and interior products. A major highlight of this long-running project is the presentation during Dutch Design Week at the Fabriek in Eindhoven, where different designers present their perspectives on sustainability.

Gezocht: talentvolle gemeenten
With subsidy from the Innovationlabs programme, the Gezocht: talentvolle gemeenten project examines which obstacles stand in the way of equal collaboration between artists and municipalities. During a networking session, both the artists involved and municipal policy officers share their inspiring but also frustrating experiences. The session is aimed at municipal policy officers looking for new perspectives and artists who want to contribute to social change. Would you like to attend this session? Sign up via this link.

How to build in 2030?
In 2024, the KeileCollectief received a grant from the Architecture Grant Scheme for their project Hoe willen wij bouwen M4H 2023. The exhibition could be seen until September at the Keilepand, itself located in the M4H area in Rotterdam. For How to build in 2030, the KeileCollectief travels south and focuses not only on the M4H area but also on the industrial Kanaalzone in Eindhoven, both of which are about to be transformed into vibrant hubs for living and working. To what extent are these areas similar, where do they differ, and how can we create a future-proof living environment that is ready to tackle tomorrow’s challenges?

Eigengrau Pavilion
The Eigengrau Pavilion is a 360° sensory environment where an interplay of light and darkness takes place. This special inflatable space, filled with mist, creates an intimate atmosphere in which the boundaries of the space blur, so you cannot tell where it begins or ends. Zalán Szakács invites the public to experience this new work, supported through the Immerse\Interact Grant Scheme, during Dutch Design Week at the Koelhuis.