EVJ x Het Nieuwe Instituut: Take Home an EVJ!EVJ x Het Nieuwe Instituut: Take Home an EVJ!

Elisa van Joolen started the EVJ project more than a year ago as part of Open Studios 2020 at the Jan van Eyck Academy in Maastricht. With this project, in order to disrupt assumptions and expectations around value, she replaced the usual promotional tote bag with an institutional print with handmade, upcycled versions. Instead of disposable bags or the apparently more sustainable alternative of the square fabric bag, with EVJ she offers a conscious design object. Each bag is unique and constructed by hand from deconstructed plastic bags.

The new series in collaboration with Het Nieuwe Instituut consists of 300 unique examples, each equipped with a special carry strap with the institute's logo. The bags ask borrowers whether something seemingly worthless can gain value the moment it is handed over to our care. What does it mean to take care of something that doesn't belong to you, and that does not represent any monetary value? Especially for the Things That Matter exhibition, Elisa van Joolen and Het Nieuwe Instituut present a limited edition of 25 museum bags with a DDW label.

During DDW, visitors, participants or users of the design event will have the opportunity to actively relate to the value, responsibility and ownership of something as mundane as the carrier bag that you take with you after a visit. On the website www.evjbags.com you can borrow a bag for a period of six months. As borrower, or temporary 'bag caretaker', you can pick up an EVJ bag you have selected online for free at Microlab Hall | Strijp S after completing an agreement. Browse through the ever-growing archive of EVJ bag stories, and read up on the history, theory and psychology of care, maintenance, and commons.

Things that Matter is one of the sub-themes of Dutch Design Week 2021. The exhibition examines the relationship between people and products and the design of value, and is located at in Microlab Hall (Strijp-S).