Search

Lecture / congress

Women, Design and Heritage

May Neama with her work for the provincial prize for graphic arts 1965 Collection City of Antwerp Letterenhuis
Copyright
23 September 2021
Art & History Museum
Brussels
Sold out

On September 23, an international conference will take place as the conclusion of the Wiki Women Design project. The conference brings together researchers, experts and designers to reflect on women, heritage and historiography and and the future steps required in advancing research on women and design and in creating a shared effort to address the gender gap in the heritage field.

Simone Guillissen Hoa in her office Rue Langeveld 1970 Roularta Media Group NVSA Femmes d Aujourdhui Roland d Ursel Fonds S Guillissen Hoa Archives J P Hoa II

Results of Wiki Women Design

The conference is an opportunity to reflect on the preliminary results of the project. This will include not only Wikipedia articles and important (re)discovered Belgian female designers, but also the awareness that the project has brought to a wider audience and the positive impact this has had on the design sector.

Archive of Helene Van Coppenolle

Women designers in heritage collections

During a lecture series, we will discuss future steps to promote research and education on women in design and the inclusion of women in design and architectural heritage collections. By doing so, we would engender a better representation of women in design history. We will take a closer look at the contemporary heritage field and contemplate a concerted effort to bridge the gender gap that still exists.

Stefanie Everaert Caroline Lateur Doorzon Interieurarchitecten

The contemporary field

We will carry the reflections through to women in contemporary design professions. There is still a large gender gap in contemporary architecture and design practices. The reasons for this can be sought on several levels. We will further explore this issue during the evening debate at MAD Brussels, where contemporary designers from different fields will share their experiences and reflect on how this gender gap can be overcome.

Discover the evening debate

Program

9:00 - Registration and coffee

9:45 - Introduction by Dr. Nina Serulus (project manager Wiki Women Design, Flanders Architecture Institute)

10:00 - Keynote by Dr. Jane Hall (Assemble Studio, VK): "Born Digital: Locating the Work of Women Architects Online"

10:30 - First session: Making Room for Women in History, Heritage Collections and Design Professions

Chair: Prof. Hilde Heynen (KU Leuven)

Lectures by:

  • Florencia Fernandez Cardoso (KU Leuven): "Where Are the Women Architects? Evaluating today’s Documentation of Women Architects in Recent Modern Architecture Publications"
  • Jannetje in 't Veld en Toon Koehorst (Koehorst in ’t Veld, Rotterdam (NL)): "Atelier Nelly and Theo van Doesburg"

Discussion

12:00 - Lunch

13:30 - Second session: Feminist, Decolonial and Queer Approaches to History and Heritage

Chair: Prof. Lara Schrijver (UAntwerpen)

Lectures by:

  • Prof. Elke Krasny (Academy of Fine Arts Vienna (AT))
  • Dr. Angela Jansen (Research Collective for Decoloniality & Fashion (NL)): "Decoloniality and the Possibility of a Diversity of Fashion Futures"
  • Prof. Dirk van den Heuvel (Het Nieuwe Instituut, Rotterdam en TU Delft (NL)): "Queering Architecture: Hidden Stories and Intersectional Methodologies"

Discussion

15:00 - Coffee break

15:30 - Third session: Collections & Archives

Chair: Setareh Noorani (Het Nieuwe Instituut, Rotterdam (NL))

Lectures by:

    • Sam Donvil (meemoo): "Addressing the gender gap through Wikimedia platforms"
    • Prof. dr. Fredie Floré (KU Leuven): "The feminisation of interior architecture in Belgium. Detecting women protagonists of an emancipating profession"
    • Terry Scott (Design Museum Brussels): "Carla/Carlo Scolari. Forgotten and/or misnamed"
    • Prof. dr. Hilde Heynen (KU Leuven): "The Leaky Pipeline in Flanders"
    • Prof. dr. Véronique Boone (ULB): "The Chain of Constructing Knowledge. A Diversity of Methods to Discover the Career of Eliane Havenith"
    • Prof. dr. Marjan Sterckx (UGent): "Salonfähig. Women designers in Belgium during the belle epoque"
    • Dr. Karolien De Clippel (Modemuseum Hasselt): "Tracing women in Fashion"
    • Marie Becuwe (Design Museum Gent): "Women in Research and Collection Development at the Design Museum Gent"
    • Dr. Elke Couchez (UHasselt): "Questioning ‘peripheries’ of professional design"

    16:30 - Wrap-up by dr. Jane Hall

    Practical

    • DATE:

      September 23, 2021, from 9:00 until 17:00

    • LOCATION:

      Art & History Museum

    • ADDRESS:

      10, Parc du Cinquantenaire, 1000 Brussels

    • ENTRY:

      Free

    The conference will be held in English.

    Sold out
    May Neama with her work for the provincial prize for graphic arts 1965 Collection City of Antwerp Letterenhuis Wiki Women Design main image project page

    Wiki Women Design

    The Flanders Architecture Institute aims to bring to light women who have left their mark on the designed environment in Belgium - from (interior) architecture and graphic design to fashion and product design. Many female designers remained under the radar of heritage institutions, researchers and collectors, and thus also outside the canon. This project aims to use Wikipedia edit-a-thons or writing sessions to record the contribution of women on Wikipedia and make up for this backlog.

    More about this project