Jan Boelen
Jan Boelen (born 1967 in Genk, Belgium) is a curator of design, architecture and contemporary art. He studied Product Design at the Media & Design Academy in Genk, and he is the founder and former artistic director of Z33 – house for contemporary art in Hasselt, Belgium. Boelen was the head of the Masters program in "Social Design" and the Masters program in "Design Curating and Writing" at the Design Academy Eindhoven, Netherlands; he is a member of the Flemish Committee for Architecture and Design.
Jan Boelen
régine debatty / we-make-money-not-art · CC BY-SA 2.0
- Name
- Jan Boelen
- Born
- 1967
- Birthplace
- Genk
- Nationality
- Belgium
- Occupation
- designer · scenographer · docent
- Languages
- Dutch
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Jan Boelen (born 1967 in Genk, Belgium) is a curator of design, architecture and contemporary art. He studied Product Design at the Media & Design Academy in Genk, and he is the founder and former artistic director of Z33 – house for contemporary art in Hasselt, Belgium. Boelen was the head of the Masters program in "Social Design" and the Masters program in "Design Curating and Writing" at the Design Academy Eindhoven, Netherlands; he is a member of the Flemish Committee for Architecture and Design.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Jan Boelen. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q2672714 · wikipedia · Jan Boelen
In this article
Biography
Biography
Boelen developed the idea of a European Design Parliament as a driving force for change, and he curated the international design festival BIO 50 in Ljubljana, Slovenia, the oldest design biennial in Europe. Since 2016, Jan Boelen has held the position of artistic director of Atelier LUMA, an experimental laboratory for design at LUMA Arles in Arles, France. In 2018, Boelen curated the 4th Istanbul Design Biennial A School of Schools. He held lectures in international cultural institutions and universities, such as Harvard University in Cambridge. He is appointed curator of the Lithuanian Pavilion at the postponed 17th Biennale Architettura in Venice, which opened in May, 2021. From 2019 to March 2022, Boelen has been director of the Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design. He is one of the initiators of the international research program Driving the Human, taking place in 2020-23. He co-edited the book (with Michael Kaethler): Social Matter, Social Design: For Good or Bad all Design is Social.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Jan Boelen • Born — 1967 • Birthplace — Genk
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Modern design
3,254 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- James WyattDesigner
- Jamie ChambersDesigner
- Jamie ReidDesigner
- Jan BočanDesigner
- Jan ConstantineDesigner
- Jan DekkersDesigner
- Jan des BouvrieDesigner
- Jan FišerDesigner
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Jan Boelen?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.