In the summer of 2015, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen will be staging a retrospective of Dutch and Belgian design over the past 200 years. Five hundred objects will be on show from the two neighbouring countries, varying from silver, glass, ceramics and posters to furniture, fashion and cars. The design of the exhibition was designed by Studio Parade.
Belgian design is seen as craftsman-like, aesthetic, with the occasional surrealistic detail. For Dutch design, descriptions frequently mentioned include simple, sober and conceptual. But similarities emerge just as frequently as differences, when the two neighbouring countries shared the same inspiration or when an unmistakeable exchange took place. Where names such as Berlage, the Bruynzeel kitchen and Philips set the tone in Dutch design history, these positions in Belgium were assumed by Henry Van de Velde, the Cubex kitchen and the household products of Nova and Kalorik.
A catalogue will appear with the exhibition, in which eight historical and theoretical themes are discussed in depth. After it closes in Rotterdam the exhibition will travel to Ghent (23 October 2015 to 14 February 2016).
Exhibition ‘Design Derby: The Netherlands–Belgium (1815-2015)’
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Museumpark 18-20, Rotterdam
20 June to 13 September 2015
