The Foreign Affairs of Dutch Design. It seems like a
strange title for an exhibition, but when you realise it comprised of
work done by Dutch designers for foreign clients, or in some cases
multinational clients based in Holland, then it made sense.

In many ways it was a refreshing show of
work; no nominations, no awards, no sour grapes – just a showcase of
the very best in Dutch visual communication, product and spatial
design. Clear, cascading typography by Thonik explained the work on a
beautifully designed display system by Gilian Schrofer.

But it was not just flat graphic panels, real products were
there; the Senseo coffee maker, the Bugaboo pram from Sex and the City
and the Sexy Relaxy chair by Richard Hutten. It was inspirational. It
made you glad to be a designer. With your head full of ideas you wanted
to get back to the studio and do a lot better.

The exhibition was an initiative of the Association of Dutch
Designers (BNO), the Dutch Design Foundation (Premsela) and supported
by EVD, a division of the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs. Prior to
coming to Dublin, over the past 18 months the exhibition had been to
London, Cape Town, Berlin, Amsterdam, Budapest and Munich.

There are 46,000 designers in the Netherlands and they
contribute €2.7 billion to the economy. This is no accident, the number
of jobs in the Dutch creative sector grew by 25% in the past ten years
due to a government policy which fully embraced the power of design,
both culturally and economically.

We were privileged to get this exhibition to Dublin. Andrew
Fallon suggested the idea to me and with the help of Bert van der
Lingen and Ruth Connaughton at the Royal Netherlands Embassy we made it
a reality. It took a year of careful planning and the commitment of a
small group of motivated people, in particular David Smith (IADT), Ian
Doherty (ICAD), Arthur Duff (IDI ) and Shane O'Toole (Irish
Architecture Foundation).

Foreign Affairs was a catalyst for a whole series of satellite
events – talks and workshops by Koeweiden Postma (Graphics),
Kesselskramer (Advertising), MVRDV (Architects), Warehouse
(Multimedia), Natasha Drabbe's Re-f-use (Sustainable Product Design)
and a showcase of contemporary furniture design by Hella Jongerius and
Marcel Wanders.

These events added a distinctly orange flavour to Design Week
which for the first time in its ten year history stepped up to
international status. What a week it was. The Dutch events attracted
over 2000 people. Wim Crouwel turned up along with 100 or so invited
guests at the excellent 'Exhibition in Mono' organised by Image Now in
association with on-line design store Blanka – and that was before
Design Week had officially started.

There were 140 people at the opening of Foreign Affairs with a
further 750 visitors over the course of the week, 220 people at The
Morrison for Koeweiden Postma and Kesselskramer, 800 people at the
Gaiety for an inspirational presentation by Winy Maas of MVRDV
Architects, 70 people at NCAD for Warehouse Multimedia, 100 people at
DIT for Natasha Drabbe's lecture on sustainable product design, 60
people at IADT for Gilian Schrofer's lecture on exhibition design and a
strong turnout for the ICAD Upstarts exhibition at Creative Inc,
attended by Jacques Koeweiden and Hugo van den Bos.

For once our many creative clubs – ICAD, IDI, GDBA, RIAI and
the Irish Architecture Foundation – came together under one banner to
showcase creativity. Everybody was into it and everybody had a part to
play. It is hard to remember a more positive buzz around the city for
things creative.

Once again it took the Dutch to provide the vision and
inspiration. They have been prodding us into action here since the
early 1950s. So it was gratifying to hear an Irish government minister
finally acknowledging the contribution of Jan de Fouw to the Irish
creative landscape. It was heartwarming to see Norman Mongan
acknowledging the talent of Piet Sluis at the screening of Oranje &
Green at the Netherlands Embassy.

It was a Design Week to remember. I hope we can do it again,
but it will be difficult to find the same support and commitment we
received from the Dutch in putting it all together. The success of the
Foreign Affairs exhibition could be mirrored here by a positive
showcase for Irish creativity.

ICAD, IDI and the GDBA have their award shows and they have a
role to play in raising standards but we are not seeing a
representative showcase. Many are tired of creative competitions. It is
time for an exhibition that simply celebrates Irish creativity and
sends a positive message to our government about the cultural and
economic power of design.

Conor Clarke is a director of Design Factory.