Modern Belgian Handicrafts

Author : Katarina Serulus
Publisher : Leuven University Press
ISBN 13 : 9462701350
Total Pages : 325 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (627 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Design and Politics written by Katarina Serulus and published by Leuven University Press. This book was released on 2018-10-08 with total page 325 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The unique position of design in the political context of postwar Belgium In the postwar era, design became important as a marker of modernity and progress at world fairs and international exhibitions and in the global markets. The Belgian state took a special interest in this vanguard phenomenon of ‘industrial design’ as a vital political and economic strategic tool in the context of the Cold War and the creation of the European community. This book describes the unique position that design occupied in the political context of postwar Belgium as it analyses the public promotion of design between 1950 and 1986. It traces this process, from the first government-backed manifestations and institutions in the 1950s through the 1960s and 1970s, until design lost its privileged position as a state-backed institution, a process which culminated in the closure of the Brussels Design Centre in 1986, in the midst of the Belgian federalisation process. A key figure in this history is the policymaker Josine des Cressonnières, who played a leading role in the national and international design community and succeeded in connecting very different political worlds through the medium of design.