Archival Encounters: Narrating the Landscape of Veenhuizen
SI–LAB marked the final phase of the Design Deal — a decade-long collaboration between design researchers, cultural institutions, and regional partners — with the closing event Archival Encounters: Narrating the Landscape of Veenhuizen. Hosted in Veenhuizen, the gathering brought together partners, stakeholders, and local residents to reflect on shared work and present the latest research outcomes.
The programme combined talks, reflections, and presentations exploring how design research can engage with cultural heritage through archives, mapping, performance, and game design. Highlights included the presentation of archival research on Veenhuizen’s layered histories and the activation of two student-developed games translating archival narratives into interactive experiences.
Central to this final phase was a collaboration between SI–LAB research associate and historian Jaïr van Dijk and HKU Game Design students. Drawing on archival research into the multicultural histories of Veenhuizen, the students translated historical findings into playable formats, transforming archival material into interactive experiences. This approach explored how design can act as a mediator between historical knowledge and public engagement, allowing complex histories to be encountered through participation, play, and shared experience.
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More about the Research can be found here and here
About: Design research into the Colony of Belevolence Veenhuizen— a UNESCO World Heritage site in the Netherlands and Belgium, established in the 19th century as part of a social reform project to resettle poor families, orphans, and beggars in agricultural colonies.
Collaboration with: Regional governmental partners. Wendy Schutte and Evelin Alkema (Province of Drenthe), Willem Stohr and Nicole Kuppens (National Prison Museum), Pauline Bezemer and Marja Mentink (Municipality of Noordenveld), Bas Morsink (Nieuwe Rentmeester), Mark Goslinga and Corinne Rodenburg (Drents Archive), Irene Fortuyn (Ketter&Co), and Jan Roelof (PI Veenhuizen).
