Between archive and urgency

How can we develop a vocabulary of solidarity through an interplay between archive and urgency? In response to socio-political issues our visual language steps in to inform, alert, or even mobilize people. In this iteration of Its All Graphic we examine the involvement of graphic designers in archiving and counter archiving as a method for reinventing languages fit to address the issues of our times. How can we develop a vocabulary of solidarity through an interplay between archive and urgency? Met in dit programma Werker Collective Studio Pinopotato Geke Zaal

These subjects will take to the stage and insights shared from:

Werker Collective is rooted in a fascination in self-representation, collective authorship, image analysis, and self-publishing. Through workshops, publications, and installations, they explore design as both a strategic and reproductive tool of activism, reactivating the archive to engage with contemporary social movements. For Werker Collective, the archive is not a static repository but a shared, living space for reuse and reinterpretation in collective struggle.

Studio Pinopotato is the creative practice of Pauline Wiersema, a social artist and sociologist. Her work is bold, colorful, and thought-provoking—designed to make an impact within seconds. Developing accessible strategies her work results in political campaigns, interactive installations, and visual translations of urgent social issues. While working across disciplines she often collaborates with other makers and experts, aiming to disrupt deep-rooted assumptions and to make way for a fairer and more inclusive future.

Geke Zaal is an Amsterdam based graphic designer, working independently and in collaboration with artists and culturally involved initiatives. Her work is intrinsically typographic; by treating text as an image she investigates both the legibility and the playfulness of language. She graduated from the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in 2019.

About the moderators

Richard Niessen is a graphic designer known for his colourful posters and expressive typography, and fellow of the Wim Crouwel Institute in Amsterdam (NL). He initiated The Palace of Typographic Masonry, a collaborative project inviting other designers to celebrate the splendour and variety of visual languages. While conducting workshops and lectures around the world, he teaches at the Royal Academy of Arts in The Hague.

Kylièn Sarino Bergh is a researcher, writer and practitioner in the field of graphic design. He is a fellow of the Wim Crouwel Institute in Amsterdam (NL), board member of Zefir7 and lecturer histories and theories of graphic design at the Royal Academy of Arts in The Hague, the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam and the University of Amsterdam.

About It’s All graphic

It’s All Graphic is a series of events on graphic design, addressing its cultural and social impact. It is co-produced between the Wim Crouwel Institute and Pakhuis de Zwijger, and supported by NADD (Netwerk Archieven Design en Digitale Cultuur). The Wim Crouwel Institute investigates the heritage, current and future position of Dutch graphic design. The Wim Crouwel Institute is supported by Pictoright Fonds, Bijzondere Collecties/Allard Pierson, and the Amsterdam University Fund.

For more information, see www.wimcrouwelinstituut.nl