Social Energy
The exhibition project Social Energy – Contemporary Communication Design From the Netherlands was a travelling exhibition about contemporary Dutch graphic design, curated by Chinese curators. The selection was made by lecturers in graphic design at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, under the direction of Li Degeng, who had done all preliminary research.
From April 2008 the exhibition had travelled to various cities in China (Chengdu, Beijing, Shenzhen and Hong Kong). Through a contribution from DutchDFA it was possible to also feature the exhibition in Shanghai and to link it to SICIW. Close to 5,000 visitors went to the Shanghai Duolon Museum of Modern At to see this element of Dutch Design Works.
The exhibition highlighted the curators’ vision that graphic design had an important social strength embedded within it. On the one hand the work carries the characteristics of Dutch society. But even more important for the organisers was the impact of the work on society, as it has gained itself an autonomous position, alongside communication by the government and commercial forces.
Part of Social Energy was a forum with lectures by Irma Boom, Maureen Mooren and Michel de Boer (Studio Dumbar), among others. The forum received attendance of some 500 visitors too. Recent image research has highlighted that this long-running project has contributed to the positioning of Dutch graphic design in China.
- pictures here
