Design × Digital Collection

with Olivia Vane (UK) & Jon Stam (NL), moderated by Olivier Van D'huynslager (BE)

Design x Digital Collection is linked to the research of Design Museum Gent into how the collection can be digitally transformed into a meaningful common tool. This research is happening in regards of launching the new website when the museum reopens.

The design of a digital collection is a very relevant topic today as the physical closure of cultural institutions due to the pandemic meant that if they wanted to stay in touch with the audience it had to be done online. This exposed the lack of strategies to translate the physical collection according to a medium-specific approach, an underpinned 'online curating' that enables new ways of accessing art/design.

The digital expansion of traditional methods for presenting, curating and making the collection accessible is an echo of André Malraux's concept Le Musée imaginaire (1947). With this he wanted to show how the rise of new reproduction techniques made it possible to combine images freely and thus to make surprising connections between visual traditions and motifs. The idea of 'the museum without walls' and 'linking data' - long before the advent of linked data - brings us to the first speaker.

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Speakers & moderator

Olivia Vane is a London-based data visualisation designer and researcher. She specialises in digitally visualising large cultural datasets and translating them into user interfaces, with the aim of exploring new forms of interaction and presentation of heritage collections. She is currently working on the research project Living with Machines at the British Library and the Allan Turing Institute.

Jon Stam is a Dutch designer who co-founded Commonplace Studio, a design practice that transforms the power of the digital into meaningful material interactions. Stam has worked closely with cultural institutions such as Z33, MKG Hamburg, ...

The dialogue will be moderated by Olivier Van D'huynslager, digital strategist at Design Museum Gent and project coordinator of Collections of the Ghent.

Design Dialogues

Design x Digital Collection is part of the curated lecture series Design Dialogues organised by the Design Department of KASK & Conservatorium and Design Museum Gent. Distinctive voices from the broad field of design are invited to reflect on the role and future of design in a changing world. Each lecture is a critical dialogue around a theme and concludes with an open discussion between the speakers and the audience. After a whirlwind first edition, we are heading for a new series of in-depth talks. The concept has been slightly modified: young talent now gets carte blanche to invite an experienced expert for an inspiring dialogue. Our mission remains unchanged: to provide engaging perspectives that could help us meet the challenges of today and tomorrow.