MIEKE GERRITZEN NEW DIRECTOR GRAPHIC DESIGN MUSEUM
The Graphic Design Museum, Beyerd Breda, has a new director. Nettime Reader designer Mieke Gerritzen has been appointed by the Supervisory Board of the Graphic Design Museum, with the approval of the City Council of Breda. She will assume her new position on January 1, 2009.
Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Hedy D'Ancona: 'Mieke Gerritzen will bring a strong vision to this new national museum. She has a unique combination of qualities as an internationally renowned designer, publicist, curator and organiser of exhibitions both in the Netherlands and abroad and has, in addition, considerable experience in art education.'
Mieke Gerritzen (1962) attended the Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam. She was involved from the start in the design of the World Wide Web. In the early nineties, she worked on the very first Dutch websites, including that of radio and television broadcaster VPRO. At the moment, Gerritzen makes films, publishes books and organises public events such as The Biggest Visual Power Show in the Netherlands, Germany and Los Angeles. She creates networks between designers, writers and artists. Mieke Gerritzen is head of the Graphic Design section of the Sandberg Institute, the masters’ course affiliated to the Gerrit Rietveld Acadamy.
Wilbert Willems, Alderman for Culture, Traffic and the Environment in Breda: 'The city of Breda, with its focus on graphic design, is delighted with the arrival of Mieke Gerritzen. In her, we have an excellent designer with strong roots in education, who will manage the museum. It is fully in line with the Dutch tradition of appointing multi-talented top designers as museum directors, such as Willem Sandberg at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam and Willem Crouwel at the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen.'
The Graphic Design Museum, Beyerd Breda, the first museum in the world that specifically focuses on graphic design, was opened on July 11, 2008. It is an institute that acts as national museum, knowledge centre, education environment, shop for graphic culture, designers’ café and production house for graphic design. The Graphic Design Museum offers an international podium to established designers and also provides a springboard for new top talent.
Peter Rijntjes, currently interim director of the Graphic Design Museum, Beyerd Breda, will, from January 2009, act as trailblazer to promote the nomination of Brabantstad as European Culture Capital in 2018.