Dezeen Magazine

Inaugural Ventura New York launches with 14 projects from Dutch designers

Dezeen promotion: a rug patterned like mould and calligraphy created from heartbeats were among projects by Dutch designers showcased for the launch of Ventura Projects at New York's design week (+ slideshow).

Ventura Projects New York
Ventura New York – the Dutch edition featured the work of 14 designers, including Ward Wijnant

Titled Ventura New York – the Dutch edition, the exhibition featured the work of 14 designers from the Netherlands, including Design Academy Eindhoven graduates, at Wanted Design Manhattan during NYCxDesign.

Ventura Projects New York
Studio Lizan Freijsen exhibited rugs and photographs based on patterns created by mould

The exhibition was curated by Margriet Vollenberg, founder of Dutch agency Organisation in Design and Ventura Projects.

Ventura Projects New York
Daniel de Bruin presented a mechanical 3D printer called This New Technology

Ventura Projects first began with an exhibition at Milan's Ventura Lambrate district during the city's design week in 2010. It has since expanded, with projects running in Berlin, London, Kortrijk and now New York.

The cutting-edge design projects on display in New York addressed cultural diversity in the industry, the unconventional use of novel technologies and the production process as a final object.

Ventura Projects New York
The Primitive Collection by Hongjie Yang was influenced by the human bone crafts of Aztec culture in the 14th century

Lizan Freijsen counteracted attempts to eradicate mould from everyday environments by creating a series of rugs with patterns representing moisture stains.

Ventura Projects New York
Rogier Arents and Bin Yu's Heart Calligraphy project creates graphics from heartbeats

"Instead of trying to get rid of fungus (as one normally would) she enhances and even beautifies it in her rugs," said the curator.

Ventura Projects New York
Studio Rik ten Velden showcased the Urchin floor lamp, which features a removable woollen shade

Rotterdam-based artist and graphic designer Rogier Arents and biomedical engineer Bin Yu presented their Heart Calligraphy project, which is based on the idea in traditional Chinese culture that calligraphy is a silent reflection of the mind.

Attendees attached their fingers to the machine to create small painted graphics on paper that were drawn as a response to their heartbeat.

Ventura Projects New York
Siba Sahabi's room divider references the Mudéjar style of Moorish architecture in the 12th to 17th centuries

Hozan Zangana, who was raised in Kirkuk in the north of Iraq, also presented a work based on script. His set of objects recall the curves of his homeland's 7th-century Kufic calligraphy.

Ventura Projects New York
Hozan Zangana created sculptures that are based on the curves of 7th-century Kufic script

Other designers participating in Ventura New York were Studio Jeroen Wand, Studio Rik ten Velden, Studio Susanne de Graef, HandMade Industrials, Carina Wagenaar, Ward Wijnant, Hongjie Yang, Siba Sahabi, Envisions, Daniel de Bruin and Simone Post.

Ventura Projects New York
Carina Wagenaar's wall hangings that look like enlarged medallions were also shown

"I don't know if it is in our collective genes, but there is something provoking and boundary pushing about this next generation of Dutch designers," said Vollenberg.

"They are upside-down and inside-out thinkers who have a unique way of processing the world around them."

Ventura New York took place from 13 to 16 May 2016 at Manhattan's Tunnel venue.

Photography is by Dominique Sindayiganza.

www.venturaprojects.com