1m2 Collective at Dutch Design Week 2023!

We are 1m2 Collective, a network of creative individuals and professional design studios. Our primary focus is to open the conversation on how design festivals can provide more space for diverse design talent and do this in an inclusive way. With a critical yet positive attitude, we aim to facilitate conversation and actively look for solutions.

We are looking for your financial support for our 1m2 exhibitions during Dutch Design Week (DDW), in October 2023. Our goal is to give exhibition space to new talent who don't have the resources or connections to take part in a traditional event such as this. The design pieces will be stacked into two ‘design totems’, which takes up just 1m2 of ground space each and will be exhibited at two high-traffic locations.

Why is this important?

As a designer, exhibiting your work requires a large investment in production, materials, renting space, and the many often unpaid hours it takes to plan and then attend a ten day exhibition. For the majority of starting designers, this financial barrier is out of reach and therefore, many voices are being excluded from the exposure that events such as Dutch Design Week facilitate.

Since Dutch Design Week 2021, 1m2 Collective has actively participated in design

fairs, such as Zlin Design Week ’23, DDW ’22, and Vienna Design Week ’22. Over the course of these exhibitions, we have chosen to highlight the issues that designers face while attempting to gain exposure for themselves and their work. The message that we are conveying obviously resonates with the design community which is why this year, at DDW23, we will be exhibiting at two locations for the very first time: Van Abbe Museum, as has been the case for the previous 2 editions, but now also Sectie-C. We hope that this expansion further pushes our narrative for increasing diversity and inclusivity in what is presented at events such as DDW.

The planning and production of our 2021 + 2022 exhibitions were all done on a voluntary basis. Our goal this year is not only to offer a free space to those exhibiting, but also pay the collective for their work in facilitating this conversation.

The problem is still here, so we are back!

We need €5.000,- to professionally produce this expo!

The funds will provide a FREE and professional exhibition space during Dutch Design

Week 2023 for the selected designers. We also aim to reimburse 5 hours of work, per selected studio, for their effort and hard work to take part in the 1m2 exhibition for the time we asked from them.

Financial breakdown:

- Material costs €1000 incl. VAT

- Compensation per selected studio 5 hours (x12) (€302,50) €3630 incl. VAT

- +/-8% to ensure all transaction costs and fees are covered, €370,-

Total: €5.000,-

Main Goal: €5000,-

When we reach this goal we can pay the designers participating in the exhibition and we can fund materials to build the expo.

If we exceed our target goal, the money will be used pay the organisers and jury of the collective a fair compensation for their time. If possible, extra funds will also be directed towards growing the collective and giving the more new talent the opportunity of exhibiting their work without the burden of financial strain.

You can read more about what we did in the previous editions, and our goals for our collective on our website

www.1m2collective.com

IMPORTANT NOTE:

We want everyone to know that Dutch Design Foundation does much for the design community. They support designers outside Dutch Design Week with initiatives such as What if Lab and Driving Dutch Design. Also, we recommend checking their label World Design Embassies. Our platform focuses on (inter)national design events in general and is not targeting Dutch Design Week as an individual. We demand visible change in the design community as a whole. We ask organisations to engage with the community and us to determine what long-term changes are necessary.