Jan Boelen

Jan Boelen (born 1967 in Genk, Belgium) is a curator of design, architecture and contemporary art. He is the initiator of Manifesta 9. 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 acted as 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. Boelen developed the idea of a European Design Parliament[1] as a driving force for change, and he curated[2] the international design festival BIO 50 in Ljubjlana, Slovenia, the oldest design biennial in the world. In 2018, Boelen curated the 4th Istanbul Design Biennial A School of Schools. He holds lectures in international cultural institutions and universities, such as Harvard University in Cambridge.[3] He is appointed curator of the Lithuanian Pavilion at the postponed 17th Biennale Architettura in Venice,[4] which will open in May, 2021. Since 2019, Boelen is director of the Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design.[5] He is one of the initiators of the international research program Driving the Human,[6] taking place in 2020-23.