06/02/2026
documentation from the Group Show “BECOMING OTHERWISE” OCT 2025
🪞 Curated by Esto Association
The exhibition explores how contemporary design practices can evolve through deeply personal, auto-ethnographic approaches, challenging traditional approaches and the externalised focus of conventional design methodologies. The exhibition aims to offer an alternative perspective on design as a form of cultural critique, self-inquiry, and collective connection, highlighting the relevance of personal narratives in shaping
broader social and political dialogues. Traditionally, design has often been an act of materialising “otherness,” fulfilling external market, industrial, or political needs, frequently reinforcing social hierarchies. Inspired by the book The
Autoethnographic Turn in Design (ed. Louise Schouwenberg and Michael Kaethler), this exhibition critically examines these dynamics and invites both designers and audiences to reconsider the role of
the personal within design processes.
The exhibition asks: What happens when the designer becomes both the subject and object of their work? By centering their own lived experiences, the participating designers blur the lines between
personal and collective narratives, showcasing works that address themes such as memory, identity, trauma, and belonging. Through this lens, design becomes not just a tool for production but a site for reflection, critique, and connection.
The exhibition aims to shift the focus in design from external demands to self-inquiry alongside cultural reflection. It proposes a dialogue between personal narratives and broader societal issues,
presenting emerging voices from the Design Academy Eindhoven (DAE) in a transnational collaboration.
With .bernichan
