Jan Boelen

Jan Boelen is a curator of design, architecture, and contemporary art. He is rector at the Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design, and artistic director of Atelier Luma, an experimental laboratory for design in Arles, France. Boelen studied Product Design at the Media & Design Academy in Genk and is the founder and former artistic director of Z33 – House for contemporary art in Hasselt, Belgium. He was curator of the 4^th Istanbul Design Biennial in Istanbul (2018) and initiated Manifesta 9 in Belgium (2012). Over the years he has been fashioning projects and exhibitions that encourage the visitor to look at everyday objects in a novel manner. Boelen recently edited »Social Matter, Social Design: For Good or Bad, all Design in Social« (Valiz, 2020), and his writing addresses the implications of design in everyday life, and how artistic practices shape the discipline.