This was WONDER 2021
Last Sunday, 14 November, the curtain fell on Please Have A Seat, the new concept of Biennale Interieur that took place during the second edition of the creative city festival WONDER. Between 15 October and 14 November, 5,206 paying visitors were registered.
For a whole month, the creative city festival WONDER occupied the factory halls on the former Van Marcke site in Kortrijk with an exciting and diverse programme of exhibitions, art installations, workshops, lectures, innovative projects and surprising presentations.
For WONDER, creative, cultural and socio-economic organisations and educational institutions in Kortrijk joined forces for a unique event.
Thus, Wilde Westen surprised with poetic sound art installations; Designregio Kortrijk brought promising design talent from all over Belgium to Kortrijk and showed the result of collaborations between companies and designers; Howest and its students paid homage to the famous Italian designer Enzo Mari and on the special site you could discover many fascinating outdoor installations of a.o. Leiedal, Library Kortrijk and Hangar K.
It was a successful second edition of WONDER, which fortunately was not interrupted by corona this year. In addition to the established designers at 'Please Have A Seat', the work of local talent from Howest, Designregio Kortrijk and our Bib was also appreciated. And all that in a location that appeals to the imagination: the Van Marcke site. On this old industrial site, as large as the Buda Island, we are working together with Van Marcke on a completely new urban district. In the meantime, the intention is that the site will be used more often for creative ideas by young talent or local residents. More info on www.landmarck.be.
Please Have A Seat was an innovative event with a scenographic route around one central theme: the chair. More than 250 chairs and seating objects were presented by 118 participants from 20 different countries. About 60% of the brands were participating in an event of the Biennale Kortrijk for the first time and about 30% of the participants came from their own country.
In this way, Biënnale Interieur met a double demand: that of the participants for an accessible formula without expensive stands and without the necessary presence of staff, and that of the visitor for a unique experience. The location also contributed to the experience factor: the historical, architectural Van Marcke site in Kortrijk was opened to the public for the first time, providing a unique setting. Digital applications were also used, by providing visitors with all information via a QR code for each seat.
During 'PLEASE, HAVE A SEAT', people had the opportunity to feel the chairs, sit on them and use them to talk to each other. This new take on the classic trade fair idea was clearly appreciated.
Biennale Interieur 2022 and WONDER 2022 will take place from 20 to 24 October.
