You Can’t Miss These 7 Exhibitions at Graphic Matters Breda 2017

Graphic Matters is an event created in 2008, in the Dutch city of Breda. The first five editions of the event were called Graphic Design Festival Breda, until 2017, when it received a new name that celebrates a new set-up with one main location, and with several events aimed both at professional designers and the general audience. Join Daily Design News on this exclusive tour of the best exhibitions on Graphic Matters Breda 2017.

The Design of Dissent

Originally curated by Milton Glaser and Mirko Ilic, the Design of Dissent was first displayed in 2005 at The School of Visual Arts, in New York. A portion of this exhibition is on loan from The School of Visual Arts. The new iteration, curated in collaboration with Civilization and Graphic Matters, is a direct reaction to the state of current affairs.

Dreaming of Mass Behaviour

Dreaming of Mass Behaviour shows the rise of Studio Smack by means of several visionary animations. For example, in ‘Bigger, Better‘ (2003) they predicted the current political situation in the US and they visualized the surveillance state, even before cameras were visibly present on the streets.

Community Service Announcements

Jeremyville started drawing Community Service Announcements in 2010 as a daily online project. He shares the CSAs through social media with messages of environmental action, social change, inner growth and positive daily actions. To this day he still draws several ideas on a daily basis and has hundreds online so far. The aim is to hopefully connect with people and to provide a moment of quietness during our often fast-paced lives.

Speak Up!

From a record number of 2561 entries, from 91 countries the winners were selected by the jury. Due to the large number and the quality of the entries, it was decided to exhibit not just 50, but 60 posters during the festival. Every edition the competition turns out to be a great way to discover talent and to see how the trade is developing.

Clearer Words

“Save Our Souls” reflects on two realities which coexist side by side. Two groups of travelers; tourists and migrants, cross each other on a daily basis in the Mediterranean sea. A collection of headlines from different international media concerning both groups are exposed through an exemplary common object: the buoy. Leisure and safety buoys are disposed of randomly, serving simultaneously as furniture and signboards. The installation brings to awareness this very urgent and paradoxical situation of leisurely riches and desperate flight, sharing the Mediterranean sea.

THEY JUST DONT GET IT

Ralph was first introduced to graffiti at the age of 12. A magical encounter that greatly influenced his youth and adult life. When he took a photo of a piece he made, he later discovered that his friend was standing in the picture, wearing a balaclava. This made the photograph more than just a registration of his painting, after which his spray can often get replaced by a photo camera.

Tolerance Show

Mirko Ilić explains the role of the designer in promoting tolerance and establishing peace: “The initial idea of this exhibition was to invite well-known graphic designers to create posters based on their understanding of tolerance in their mother tongue. One of the conditions was that the exhibition is placed in a public space, among the citizens, not in art galleries. The purpose of the exhibition is not only to exhibit posters, but also the gathering and approach of people.”