Onomatopee – Freek Lomme, Remco van Bladel — Eindhoven, Netherlands

“I consider our organisation like a series of cell structures – I took this from terrorist groups that have self-supporting teams, one guy is taking care of the bomb, one guy is taking care of the organisation, and they don’t necessarily know each other well, you know, and that’s also the case with Onamatopee: we do work together, we do work in teams and we have teams per project.”

Onomatopee was founded as a “bedroom”-based project in May 2006 in the Dutch city of Eindhoven by Freek Lomme in the role of curator and writer and Remco van Bladel working as graphic designer. The organisation now operates out of a project-space in Eindhoven, while publications are distributed via bookshops, fairs and various presentations around the world. Onomatopee has three modes of production – self-initiated and self-produced research projects; NEST Projects, initiated by Onomatopee on a project-by-project basis that thematically show and frame new, young and local art and design talent; and “cabinet projects” – collaborations with other institutions or individuals that deal with design from a critical standpoint.