Designer Irma Boom demonstrates how to handle archival material.
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2007's Archiving Design 02 symposium opened with two pieces of good news. Since the previous symposium in 2004, a central database of Dutch design archives and a list of archives urgently needing homes have been created. The issue of preserving Dutch design’s heritage is on the national radar.
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen director Sjarel Ex speaks at the symposium.
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Participants attend a workshop.
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About 180 people turned out for the symposium, held on 31 May 2007 in The Hague.
The Netherlands Institute for Art History provided a highlight: the launch of its new
Centraal Register van Vormgevingsarchieven . The database keeps track of important design archives in the Netherlands and their locations, sizes, contents and accessibility.
Mariet Willinge of the Netherlands Architecture Institute formally presented the new book
Het ontwerpproces bewaard
(‘Preserving the Design Process’) to Dick van Hoff, a product designer for companies including Droog Design and Royal Tichelaar Makkum. This Dutch-language manual explains how designers can manage their own archives. It will soon be available from the booksellers
Nijhof & Lee .
Speakers at Archiving Design 02 included Netherlands Institute for Art History director Rudi Ekkart, designer Irma Boom, Reinwardt Academy director Theo Thomassen, design historian Frederike Huygen, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen director Sjarel Ex, Van Abbemuseum librarian and archivist Diana Franssen, and graphic designer Lies Ros. The second half of the day was devoted to various workshops.
The symposium closed with a festive presentation of a new book on Bob Noorda’s work to the graphic designer himself. Based in Italy since the 1950s, Noorda came to the Netherlands for the occasion. The designer turns 80 this year.
The book presentation was a joint production of Premsela, Museum De Beyerd (now the Graphic Design Museum), the Association of Dutch Designers, and publishing house [Z]OO.
