A design collection

Managed by the CID, the Hainaut Province’s design collection has not been built up in a linear fashion. Each purchase is linked to its programme.

A number of themes are emerging from the collection, which has been growing since the late 1980s. This has meant that Belgian output occupies an important place at the heart of this collection. BIG-GAME, Chevalier-Masson, Nathalie Dewez, Jean-François D’Or, Xavier Lust, Maarten Van Severen, Muller Van Severen, UNFOLD, Sylvain Willenz and many others have been the subject of individual exhibitions, and we are lucky enough to still have some of their pieces in our reserve collection. Many artists have been the subject of major monographic exhibitions here: Aldo Bakker, the Bouroullecs, Pierre Charpin, Jasper Morrison, Nendo, Martin Szekely... The CID has managed to gather together significant, documented collections by these figures.

Since 2012, acquisitions have focused on pieces that are more closely connected to the creative process itself. Exhibitions pay particular attention to new tools and new working methods, dreamt up by a generation of designers who are much more committed to reinventing processes that are more respectful towards people and the environment than just producing a new chair. A number of pieces, such as those by UNFOLD, Dirk Van Der Kooij and Jolan van der Wiel, reflect this. Keeping a close eye on how issues relating to design are evolving, the programme of exhibitions - and the ensuing acquisitions - focus on research, experimentation and more forward-looking projects. Design is becoming political, discursive. This is reflected in the collection.