October 4th was the opening of the Culture Cult Exhibition. It is wonderfully organized by Nadja Schreurs, coordinator of the D&A platform of the Hotel, which has the aim to promote diverse designers and artist through exhibitions in…
Many people have been asking me when the multicultural souvenirs will be available on the market for purchase. I admit, I would love to see the new Dutch Kissing Couples and the Stroopwafels on the market somewhere. It…
Dutch Design Week 2018. It’s already been one year! It all goes so fast! A year ago, To Kiss or Not to Kiss participated in this design event in collaboration with the Innovation Networks Lectorate from The Hague…
Dutch Design Week is busy. We all know that. But that we would be stormed by people with questions, remarks and suggestions in this way is something we didn't see coming. And we loved it. The months of…
This post about ' Kissing" is a contribution from Allison Heidrich. Allison studies International Communication Management at The Hague University of Applied Sciences. She's been supporting the project with the external communication and social media about our participation…
The richness of cultural diversity can be expressed in different types of souvenirs. As an opportunity to expand this idea, Aliana Bertolo one of my students at IDE/Open Innovator took the challenge to explore how she could express…
The project is expanding in interesting directions. Through the co-creation sessions I met Anja Overdiek who works as a senior researcher at the Innovation Networks Lectorate of The Hague University of Applied Sciences. After a couple of inspiring…
While the Chinese kissing couple was in the glazing process, I thought it would be a valuable opportunity to involve a multidisciplinary and multicultural group of students in the project. In agreement with the IDE-Open Innovator program managers…
It has been a while since the last time I posted something about this project. Apart from being busy with work and my own education, my approach to this project has been to take it one step at…
...said Jenny Ho, whom I was fortunate to meet a few weeks ago. Jenny is a sociologist and co-founder of the China town Amsterdam Foundation. During our conversation I felt like a knew her for a long time.…
Working on the ‘Chinese Kissing couple’ has been a journey that is making me learn many aspects of this country and Chinese people. What I find most relevant are the small things that during different conversations have slapped…
I went to visit the new Exhibition at Textile Research Center -Leiden "Decorated with Gold and Silver". I recommend to visit it and to dive into the fascinating world of Silver and Gold embroidery and garment accessories. Here…
This project has made me pay more attention to concepts such as multiculturalism, integration, inclusion and social cohesion. I met with Dr. Daniela Vicherat Mattar who is Assistant Professor in Sociology in the Global Challenges Program of Leiden…
I have been working on the Chinese female. The shape is almost ready and I have started to create the Chinese male so I will have the first couple ready soon. I will combine this process with a…
As I mentioned in a previous post, visiting TRC-Leiden has been like finding the Holy Grail. Thanks to Dr. Gillian Vogelsand- Eastwood I met with Christopher Ng, who is a collector of Chinese and South East Asian textiles…
When I visited the National Museum of Ethnology, I discovered that my next visit should be the Textile Research Center in Leiden. A few weeks later I visited this amazing place which to me has been very valuable…
Many things inspire me for this project. From what I see around me, to books, phrases, exhibitions and my students. I will be sharing some of these inspiration sources with you. Today I’d like to start with these…
Next to the production of models, I’ve been doing research for the content of the project, learning a bit about Immigration History in the Netherlands and facts and figures about its present population. I am also discovering many…
