Thoughts from Riga by Pablo Calderon

From the 7th to the 12th of November, in Riga, the MakeDesign Riga – Dutch Design made in Latvia workshop took place, getting together students from the Design Academy Eindhoven and the Academy of Arts of Latvia to collaborate in projects with different craftsmen from the country. It consisted of an intense week of collaborative work in order to deliver several products and projects, to be exhibited the last day on a pop-up exhibition on the the Birza Museum, which also served as a working space for the diverse working groups during the week.

Interview with Jan Boelen on ARTERRITORY

Saruna ar mākslas un dizaina kritiķi, kuratoru un pedagogu Janu Bulenu (Jan Boelen, Beļģija, 1967), kurš Rīgā viesojās novembrī projekta Make Design! Dutch Design Made in Latvia ietvaros un arī uzstājās ar lekciju par jaunām dizaina definīcijām. Jans Bulens ir Eindhovenas Dizaina akadēmijas Sociālā dizaina nodaļas vadītājs, kopš 2002. gada viņš vada laikmetīgās mākslas centru Kunstcentrum Z33 Hasletas pilsētā Limburgas reģionā, kas kļuvis par nozīmīgu Beļģijas mākslas un arhitektūras norišu centru. 2012. gadā tas uzņems Eiropas laikmetīgās mākslas biennāli Manifesta.

Read the interview.

Interview with Rianne Makkink on ARTERRITORY

Dienu pirms radošo darbnīcu noslēdzošās pop-up izstādes atklāšanas, Rianne Makinka tikās ar Arterritory.com un sarunā atklāja savu šodienas un rītdienas dizaina vīziju. Saruna notika Latvijas Mākslas akadēmijas telpās pēc īsas, iepazīstinošas ekskursijas LMA nodaļu darbnīcās. Patīkami pārsteigta par koktēlniecības darba telpā redzēto, viņa cieši piesaka glabāt līdz ar akadēmijas dibināšanu uzstādīto – jau 90 gadus veco, koktēlniecības nodaļas mašinēriju, savukārt sarunā viņa atklāj, ka latviešu salmu puzuru trauslumā viņa saskata nākotnes dizaina aprises.

Read the interview.

Video about the workshop on tv24

On Design and Crafts

On the first week of classes at my recently started MDes Social Design programme at the Design Academy at Eindhoven, besides design, the most mentioned word has been crafts. Sometimes as something that supports designers in a positive way, and in other cases as a burnt cliché that misleads designers on trying to achieve authenticity.

Art Academy of Latvia opening the workshop

Today we had our first serious discussion about the MakeDesign! workshop. We made up teams, we chose the crafts to work on and will now start with establishing the first contacts with the craftmen. Everyone is excited about the chance to create something real in such a short period of time, and we are looking forward to meet our Eindhoven partners!

Welcome to Make Design! workshop

From 7 to 12 November in Riga Master students from Design Academy Eindhoven and Art Academy of Latvia will be working with local craftsmen to create new handmade designs in traditional techniques.