Consider a place like Belgium, where some citizens grapple with the challenge of pinpointing tangible examples that define who they are. It’s a nation of converging cultures: a hybrid populace juggling between three languages; a culture shaped through centuries of rule by France, Spain, Austria, and Holland; and a society further transformed by recent waves of immigration, particularly from its former African colonies. Taking this “identity crisis” as a starting point, the Dutch design platform Droog, collaborated with artist Erik Kessels to proffer a creative solution. What emerged was Identity Land, a speculative space accommodating a myriad of identities. This project contemplates how designers and artists might better define the components that constitute a people, encapsulating aspects ranging from language and literature to currency, music, and politics, at a time when conventional notions of national identity become obsolete. As declared in the manifesto, “As an Identity Lander, you can be at home anywhere. We hope you enjoy the space for a million identities.”

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www.droog.com

www.kesselskramer.com