5th Triennial

CENTRAL THEME
The actual concept of the Triennial has been developed based on this paradox.
On the one hand, beauty is heterogeneous, it has many faces, it cannot be objectified, it is an “I don't really know what”. On the other hand, it is based on a striving towards unity and a deeper desire for harmony. It implies a promise of happiness.
Beauty is therefore unity and diversity, hence the title of the Triennial:
Schoonheid Enkelvoud ~ Meervoud / La Beauté Singulier ~ Pluriel / Beauty Singular ~ Plural

LOCATION AND ORGANISATION EXHIBITION
The Royal Museum of Art and History in Brussels was an obvious choice of location for the Triennial: nowhere else is the beauty of man's creation, through time and space, so clearly evident. The exhibition was divided over two galleries: the Van Overloop and the mezzanine gallery. In the Van Overloop gallery, visitors were guided along a contemporary design route. The emphasis was on chairs and dishes, starting with an archetype of (respectively) a chair and a dish and ending with a very lavishly finished or atypical chair and dish. This selection was completed with a limited number of lamps, sofas, cutlery, reclining chairs, cupboards and tables which were similarly placed, in contrast (for example, the straight contour as compared to the wavy contour) with each other. With this, we wanted to show the visitors the unity and the heterogeneity of beauty.
Next, on the mezzanine level, we brought contemporary design face to face with historical items from the museum. A number of the museum's curators were asked to select items from their own collection and discipline (from Roman earthenware to Persian carpets, Egyptian pottery and Flemish tapestries), in which, for them, beauty was personified. The designers then chose one of these objects and confronted it with one of their own objects. Their own object was exhibited on the patio alongside the historical item. A short text explained the designer's motivation for choosing the particular historical item and the importance of beauty in their work.

PARTICIPANTS
Leo Aerts, Philippe Allaeys, Roel Beernaert, Alain Berteau, Damien Bihr, Casimir, Hans De Pelsmacker, Nora De Rudder, Tjok Dessauvage, Nicolas Destino, Nathalie Dewez, Nedda El-Asmar, Linde Hermans, David Huycke, An Lanckman, Bart Lens, Alain Monnens, Gaultier Poulain, Luc Ramael, Helena Schepens, Stefan Schöning, Annick Schotte, Piet Stockmans, Salima Thakker, Anna Torfs, Roos Van de Velde, Vincent Van Duysen, Fabiaan Van Severen, Roel Vandebeek, Danny Venlet and André Verroken.
Eva Coudyzer and Francis Smets were responsible for the coordination with regard to content and practical issues.

PUBLICATION
As usual, a high quality book was also published for the Triennial which contains a number of articles on beauty and an overview of the participating designers. The book was designed by Tim Oeyen and Sanny Winters.
The book was published by Stichting Kunstboek.
The texts were written by Evelyn Aelbrecht & Gino De Vooght, Lise Coirier, Eva Coudyzer, Willem Elias, Francis Smets and Johan Valcke. Illustrations of all exhibited objects are included.
The price of the book is EUR 30.00.

PRACTICAL
The exhibition ran from 14 December 2007 to 2 March 2008 in the Royal Museum for Art and History, Jubelpark, 1000 Brussels.