Declaring Reason, 2017

project collaboration Graphic Design

Declaring Reason is a collaboration between the Graphic Design department at the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague, and Museum Meermanno – House of the Book, The Hague that presents the works of third year Graphic Design students who investigate the history of parliamentary democracy by means of books and manuscripts from Museum Meermanno’s collection. The exhibition juxtaposed books from the museum’s historical collection with innovative new impressions by students, and was on show for the public from the 3rd of June until the 24th of September 2017. The books were selected for their influence on the understanding of democracy and include Atlas Maior (1662–1665) by Johannes Blaeu, Tractatus Theologico-Politicus (1670) by Spinoza, Encyclopédie (1751–1772) by Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d’Alembert, Social Contract (1762) by Jean Jacques Rousseau, Aan het Volk van Nederland – To the People of the Netherlands (1781) by Joan Derk van der Capellen tot den Pol and the 1814 Dutch constitution.

Read more about the project on meermanno.nl and onlineopen.org.

concept and project supervision in collaboration with Lauren Alexander and Maarten Cornel; student participants: Matyáš Barton, Hilde Barwegen, Nóra Békés, Leith Benkhedda, Kylièn Bergh, Paul Bille, Antonia Brell, Thijmen van Brunschot, Kiki Coster, Rudi van Delden, Carmen Dusmet Carrasco, Niels van der Donk, Vanessa Eck, Jan Egbers, Lukas Engelhardt, Elizaveta Glukhova, Michiel Heemskerk, Daniel Hernández Chacón, Saber Javanmard, Rebecca Joly, Ies de Jong, Daan Kars, Dóra Kerekes, Rik Laging, Iris Lam, Jungeun Lee, Anna Lenczewska, Zuzanna Loch, Andréas van der Mast, Kay Pisarowitz, Paw Poulsen, Taisiia Reshetnik, Guillaume Roux, Rebecca Rui, Josephine van Schendel, Theresa Scherrer, Marika Seo, Asya Sukhorukova, Lou Top, Lin Ven, Natalia Vishnevskaia and Wannes Vrijs; exhibition design: Chrissy Ramaekers and Judy Wetters

Museum Meermanno façade with Declaring Reason exhibition banner. – Photos by Boel Backaert Declaring Reason on display combining selected political books from Museum Meermanno and student projects. Kay Pisarowitz and Marika Seo, Do Not Cross!, wall mural graph. Hilde Barwegen, Counterfeit Knighthood, video. Exhibition view. Antonia Brell and Rebecca Rui, We Construct, website and word game. Daniel Hernández Chacón and Dóra Kerekes, Changing Paradigms; interactive glossary. Vanessa Eck and Rebecca Joly, Reconstructing Power, European voting timelines. Exhibition view. Nóra Békés and Wannes Vrijs, Happiness on Sale, advertising boards. Taisiia Reshetnik and Theresa Scherrer, EU Coherence publication and flags. Anna Lenczewska and Natalia Vishnevskaia, Social Environments, publication. Exhibition view. Iris Lam and Lou Top, 5th Grade video.