Student drawing, Koninklijke Academie voor Schone Kunsten, Gent, 1952-1953 © Kunstenbibliotheek, Kask & Conservatorium

Design Museum Brussels x PAF

Due to the patriarchal forces that historically shaped design, the work of women designers is often absent or invisible in collections, archives and academic literature. How do gender bias and inequality still work today? How have patriarchal mechanisms shaped the (interior) design sector, from gender-coded education to ideas on professionalisation and authorship? What is the experience of women designers in Belgium today? What do they still come up against and what tactics or strategies do they use to flourish in their design practice? And are there any tactics we can learn from the women designers who came before us? In this conversation, we reflect on these questions with Nina Serulus (co-curator of the exhibition Untold Stories - Women Designers in Belgium 1880-1980), Benoît Vandevoort (PhD researcher on the professionalisation of interior design), Mathilde Pecqueur (textile designer, Maak&Transmettre) and Stefanie Everaert and Caroline Lateur (Doorzon interior architects).

On February 11th, 2025, PAF and Design Museum Brussels join forces to organize the conversation ‘Rebalancing gender bias in the design world’, accompanying the exhibition Untold Stories- Women designers in Belgium 1880-1980. Together with the speakers and the audience, we discuss themes represented in the exhibition ranging from professionalisation versus domesticity, (un)visibility, authorship, and collaboration. We invite everyone to join the conversation and share experiences and ideas to build a more equitable and inclusive (interior) design sector.

Program

19u00 – 19u15 Introduction
19u15 – 20u00 Conversation with the speakers on rebalancing gender bias and inequality in the (interior) design sector. 
20u00 – 20u45 Conversation in small groups on 

• Professionalisation <> Domesticity

• Visibility <> Unvisibility

• Collectives/Collaboration <> Autorship

20u45 – 21u00 Conclusions

Tickets

Tickets: 5€ student / 10€ regular / 15€ support ticket
Pre-registration via the link below is required.
Does it better suit your financial situation? Then choose a free ticket.

Speakers

Mathilde Pecqueur, Maak&Transmettre

Conceived as a collective space devoted to textile creation, Maak & Transmettre was founded by textile and industrial designers Alice Emery, Mathilde Pecqueur and Salomé Corvalan. The practice of the collective oscillates between art and design, while combining the different sensibilities of each designer involved. Diverting the tuft technique and developing several designs that go beyond the traditional carpet format, Maak & Transmettre creates everyday objects with intuitive strength and poetic overtones. 

Some of their tufted objects are so large that they become theatrical, inviting the user not only to experience them, but also to contemplate them or even lie down on them, creating multi sensory reactions.

Socially and politically committed, the design collective collaborates with local neighbourhood associations, or by taking part in conferences dealing with the place of women within the design world. Such interactions and exchanges tend to feed the daily and creative practice of Maak & Transmettre.

Katarina Serulus

is an independent design historian and curator. She studied art history and design cultures at the KU Leuven and the VU Amsterdam. In 2016 she defended at the University of Antwerp her PhD thesis entitled Design & Politics: The Public Promotion of Industrial Design in Postwar Belgium (1950-1986) that was published in 2018 by the Leuven University Press. Her research interests include national discourses, gender, transnational networks, club culture and non-disciplinary practices in the field of design, architecture and visual culture. Between 2017 and 2023, she was project manager at the Flanders Architecture Institute in Antwerp where she was responsible for the policy on design archives and initiated the project Wiki Women Design (2020). 

Stefanie Everaert / Caroline Lateur, Doorzon interieurarchitecten

Doorzon interieurarchitecten was founded in 2005 by Stefanie Everaert and Caroline Lateur. Initially, their work focused on the private sector, with projects ranging from new construction and renovations to custom furniture design. Over the past 20 years, their scope has expanded to include public and international projects, prestigious competition designs, scenography, and exhibitions. Since 2016, both have been teaching at KU Leuven, and they recently lectured at EPFL in Lausanne. Each year, Doorzon delivers lectures and, in 2013, published a first monograph in an edition of Vlees & Beton (No. 90), featuring texts by Prof. Ir.-Arch. Christophe Van Gerrewey and Halewijn Lievens (Nu architectuuratelier).

The firm explores the boundaries of its field with a vision unafraid of scale, complexity, and societal challenges. Through international collaborations, Doorzon examines the role of interior architecture within a broader context, aiming to position the discipline prominently both nationally and internationally.

Benoît Vandevoort

 is a doctoral researcher at KU Leuven's Faculty of Architecture. He submitted a dissertation dealing with the history of professional interior design in Belgium. His project employs educational history to historicise the fluid identity of that discipline. He has a broad interest in how (design) ideas circulate within professional communities, and in the social systems and professional ideologies responsible for this. In September 2023, he co-organised the international symposium ‘Educating the Interior Designer’ in Ghent. In 2025, the Flemish Architecture Institute, together with Leuven University Press, will publish the Bronnengids Interieurontwerp België, 1945-1999, which he co-edited.

Collaboration Design Museum Brussels x PAF

Initiated by the Atomium’s acquisition of a private collection, the Design Museum Brussels is a museum dedicated to design and its history. Favoring a historical approach and echoing current and future research, the museum aims to make design accessible and understandable to all audiences. A place for encounters, discoveries and sharing, the Design Museum Brussels promotes the multidimensionality of design through its collections, exhibitions, and mediation activities.

PAF (platform voor architectuur & feminisme) is a community where women, and anyone who feels involved, share knowledge and experiences about the architecture and design sector in Flanders and beyond. PAF talks about how work culture and ingrained norms in the sector contribute to the lack of perspectives, as well as how to shape architecture practice from alternative, feminist values.

Expositions Design Museum Brussels

This evening accompanies two exhibitions on women in design, currently on show in Design Museum Brussels:

• 'Here We Are! Women in Design 1900 - Today' (16 October 2024 - 25 March 2025)

• 'Untold stories - Women Designers in Belgium 1880 - 1980' (16 October 2024 - 13 April 2025)