Adorno presents the Belgian collection within the Virtual Design Destination, an interactive online exhibition at Kanal Pompidou curated by Elien Haentjens. Register to attend the virtual tour

The theme for this year's first Virtual Design Destination by Adorno is “The New Reality”. Preparations were initiated during the surge of COVID-19 in Europe. The curators of the fourteen participating countries have been asked to reflect on specific experiences, thoughts, and themes from the time of lockdown in the curation and art direction of each of their country collections. They have been working with leading designers from their design scene to develop sub-narratives to the overarching theme.

BELGIUM: CECI N’EST PAS...
Curated by Elien Haentjens

While Belgian architect and designer Henry van de Velde was amongst the first ones to strive for rational mass production of design, he was also one of the founders of Bauhaus, which philosophy ‘form follows function’ is still of paramount importance. As introduced by Bauhaus, the barriers between arts, design, and crafts disappear more and more. In abandoned factories, creative human-sized laboratories are settled and designers take the stage. Doing so, they propose a new way of producing, in a more small-scale, local, and artisanal way. Good examples are amongst others Chanel Kapitanj who – as a woman – designs and welds her metal creations herself, or Nicolas Erauw and Amandine David who use traditional production methods in a personalized, innovative way. 

The recent global crisis only strengthens this way of working. Moreover, it stimulates designers to look for more sustainable materials, such as Roxane Lahidji who works with salt, Filip Janssens who uses discarded marble or Geneviève Levivier who integrates eggshells. As Belgian artist René Magritte they play with our perception. The objects might not be what you think they are at first sight. The playful Tamayi stool by Objects with Narratives can be a stool, but also an abstracted Christmas tree, the lamp COFIT-20 by Haute Cuisine is not made from concrete, but from locally sourced stone coal and Pierre-Emmanuel Vandeputte doesn't design just a table, but always looks beyond regular functions, adding a touch of poetry to his creations. Doing so, these designers intertwine rational and more irrational driven aspects, stimulating an emotional connection to their creations. 

As our thinking, feeling, and acting are stimulated by our subconscious, according to the theory of Sigmund Freud who strongly influenced the surrealists, this way of designing might strengthen the relationships we have with objects, and function in the long run as a catalyst for sustainability. Or how dream and reality have to become one in this ‘new reality’.   

Register here to attend the guided tour of the Virtual Exhibition for the Belgian collection, hosted by curator Elien Haentjens

September 19 / 15:00 PM GMT

MEET THE CURATOR

Elien Haentjens is trained as an Art Historian at the University of Leuven, where she specialized in Modern and Contemporary Art, before completing her education as a journalist at Vlekho in Brussels. Since 2006, she works as a freelance journalist, specializing in art, lifestyle, and especially design. Since 2012 she curates and organizes exhibitions and residencies for designers, mainly in Brazil. These cultural dialogues have resulted in Joias. Since 2017 she curates and promotes Belgian design in the context of the international design platform and gallery Adorno. 

FEATURED DESIGNERS

Amandine David / Nicolas Erauw / Haute Cuisine / Filip Janssens / Chanel Kapitanj / Roxane Lahidji / Geneviève Levivier / Objects with Narratives / Pierre-Emmanuel Vandeputte

SUPPORTED BY

Wallonie-Bruxelles International / Flanders DC / MAD, Home of Creators

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