History provides us with abundant raw material for a European design tradition. But defining that tradition is difficult. That’s because it’s unclear how we should make the choices necessary to do so.
So argued Polish art historian Józef Mrozek at the 2007 Premsela Lecture. About 200 people attended the talk, held last April at Amsterdam’s Koninklijk Instituut voor de Tropen.
"We have the material from which we might construct a European design tradition,” Mrozek said. “What we lack is a method. We do not know how to resolve contradictions, fill in gaps, and above all how to adopt criteria that will allow us to select from our heritage those elements that might constitute the tradition we seek.”
Mrozek (b. 1946, Warsaw) heads the department of design history and theory in the industrial design faculty at the Academy of Fine Arts, Warsaw. Growing up in post-World-War II Poland, he lived through the East-West division of Europe. He has since witnessed the ascent of a generation that sees Europe in economic rather than cultural terms.
Mrozek has written and lectured extensively about the question of European design tradition – a relevant one in these days of globalization and questions about European culture and national identity. His view on design is historical and contextual.
Each year Premsela invites an ‘outsider’ to share his or her vision of contemporary developments in design with an audience. The goal of each Premsela Lecture is to spark discussion and debate.
