Annelys De Vet
Annelys de Vet
Annelys de Vet (1974, NL, she/her) is a Belgium-based designer, researcher, and educator with a practice for long-term, participative design projects that actively engage in social and political struggles. De Vet initiated the publishing initiative' Subjective Editions,' facilitating workshops that map regions from the inside out by the inhabitants themselves, offering situated and human perspectives. Notable publications include 'Subjective Atlas of Amsterdam' (2023), 'Subjective Atlas of Brussels' (2018), 'Subjective Atlas of Colombia' (2015), and 'Subjective Atlas of Palestine' (2007). Initiated by Dr. James Riding, she is now developing a 'Subjective Atlas of Bosnia and Herzegovina' in collaboration with the Post Conflict Research Centre in Sarajevo.
De Vet co-founded 'Disarming Design from Palestine,' a thought-provoking design platform developing artisanal products from Palestine that convey alternative narratives about life under occupation. Starting in 2012 in collaboration with Khaled Hourani and the International Academy of Arts Palestine, since 2015, it is a Belgium-based independent non-profit organisation.
Informed by this platform, de Vet established the temporary master's program 'Disarming Design' (2019–2022), centring design practices in situations of oppression at the intersection of crafts, politics, and community. It was part of the Sandberg Instituut, where she was the course director of the MA in Design from 2009 to 2019.
De Vet edited 'Design Dedication' (Valiz, 2020), a publication exploring adaptive mentalities in design education. Currently, she is a PhD candidate at ARIA, a practice-led doctoral study at Sint Lucas School of Arts and the University of Antwerp. Her research focuses on participative design practices that engage with social and political struggles. She teaches in the master's program at the Sint Lucas School of Arts and regularly lectures on alternative cartography, critical pedagogy, and relational design practices at various institutions and platforms worldwide. As a total, the body of work explores the role of design in public and political discourse, seeking to develop methods, structures, and tools that challenge dominant narratives, question preconceptions, and foster dialogues about how to live together.
See:
www.bureaudevet.be
www.subjectiveeditions.org
www.disarmingdesign.com