...The answer begins with our management agreement from the Flemish Government. This document defines our role and our mission for the upcoming years.
The Flemish design sector is rich and diverse. It is filled with talent and ideas. At the same time, it's fragmented, and knowledge is dispersed. The development of our discipline is under pressure. That is precisely where our mission lies.
We exist to create space for content and reflection. For encounters. For a design culture that is more than just production.
Our management agreement mandates us, as Designpunt, to develop the Flemish Expertise Centre for Design. This means that we are a point of contact for the sector. We gather and share knowledge. We monitor and visualize developments. And we do this in close collaboration with the field itself. We are a central player who helps maintain the cultural infrastructure surrounding design.
Our actions are based on three major pillars. These overlap and reinforce each other. But they all stem from the same conviction. A strong sector needs knowledge, visibility and reflection.
Pillar 1:
DEVELOPMENTAL SUPPORT AND FIELD ANALYSIS
We follow the currents in the sector (needs, developments, topics, players, gaps, etc.). We monitor cultural policy and subsidy mechanisms and make this information accessible. This makes the landscape readable, so designers and organizations can better position themselves and knowledge isn't lost. We also actively develop the talent of curators and critics, thus building additional design culture capacity within the field.Pillar 2:
PROMOTION AND PRESENTATION
We make contemporary design culture visible. We showcase work, but also the context surrounding it. We create space for content, stories, and processes. Not to reduce design to projects or objects, but to demonstrate what it means as a cultural practice.Pillar 3:
REFLECTION AND DISCOURSE
Design needs a language. We support analysis, conversation, and critique. That's why we're building critical capacity and spaces where reflection is allowed. Where doubt is allowed to exist and new questions can arise. Not as an academic exercise, but as a necessary component of a vibrant field.
An important point is that we don't do all of this on our own. Our management agreement explicitly prioritizes collaboration. We work in a network. This means we don't overlap with existing practices and we connect with the existing field to strengthen it. We seek complementarity.
We also prioritize fair practices. This means we strive for fair compensation and transparency. We care about people and processes. Not because it sounds good, but because a sector can only grow if its foundations are fair.
We are building this online platform as a knowledge hub. But we are also focusing on physical publications (at least one per year), exhibitions (at least one per year), and events (at least three per year). We develop the talents of curators and critics and monitor cultural policy. Not all at once, but step by step.
Our management agreement serves as the mandate that defines what we are enabled to achieve. It mandates us to collaborate on a stronger design culture landscape.