WO17, Photo: Jonas Verbeke
About ‘Week van het Ontwerpen’
‘Design Week Kortrijk’ (or in dutch ‘Week van het Ontwerpen‘) is a collaboration between Designregio Kortrijk, University College West Flanders (Howest), city of Kortrijk, Voka Chamber of Commerce West Flanders, Intercommunal Leiedal and Biennale Interieur with the aim to highlight the added value of creative technical design education as a catalyst for regional development. Designregio Kortrijk is the platform for creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship for the region Kortrijk, and the focal point of Kortrijk UNESCO City of Design.
‘Design Week Kortrijk’ has been putting creative and innovative student projects in the spotlight since 2004. For the past 14 years the event has become the main platform for inspiration and exchange of ideas between Belgian design courses and the industry, focusing on themes such as creativity and design. The core event consists of an exhibition of the best student projects of the creative design courses, titled ‘We Are The Next Generation’. Every two years, ‘Design Week Kortrijk’ expands and shows multiple design exhibitions, organizes workshops and networking events. Before the international exhibitions ‘No Randomness’ (Saint-Etienne Design Biennale, 2015) and the Museum of Failure (Stockholm, 2017) were shown in Kortrijk as part of the event.
In 2019, the event will take place from October 23 to 27 in the new city district ‘Kortrijk Weide’ where various facilities come together: a green zone for relaxing, an event hall, an urban sports park, the co-creation hub for start-ups ‘Hangar K’, and a new Olympic swimming pool.
About the call
Kortrijk UNESCO creative region invites international exhibitions and installations to submit a proposal to showcase at ‘Design Week Kortrijk’ 2019. The aim is to integrate an international exhibition in the program of ‘‘Design Week Kortrijk’. The theme must appeal to a wide audience of Belgian and international designers, entrepreneurs, policy makers, education specialists, design students and creatives. Submitted proposals can come from the various design fields. They should incorporate the ideas of design thinking and meaningful design in the works they showcase.
Both new to develop exhibitions as existing exhibitions are welcome to apply.
Deadline for Submission
March 31, 2019
Selection criteria & process
The jury will consist of representatives from Designregio Kortrijk, Howest, city of Kortrijk, Voka Chamber of Commerce West Flanders, Intercommunal Leiedal and Biennale Interieur.
The jury will choose according to following criteria:
- The objective of the exhibition is in line with the above mentioned setting of the Kortrijk region.
- Concept / substance / message is easy to understand and transparent for a wide audience.
- The proposed conditions such as needed space are possible within our premises (250 square meters).
- There is a clear price stated for curatorship, scenography, transport and other logistics.
The submitters will be contacted about the jury’s decision by the end of April. When the assignment is awarded, an agreement is drawn up and signed by both parties.
Further information about the call such as regulations, the composition of the jury, prices and rewards, etc. are soon to come.
How to submit?
Send your proposal to per mail to Stijn Debaillie from Designregio Kortrijk
Further Information
Design Week Kortrijk Belgium: October 23–27, 2019
See the official website here
FYI: Once all information are provided, this call will comply with the regulations established by the UNESCO Cities of Design Network.