Land was the result of a workshop in 2011, initiated by Droog and led by artist, designer and curator Erik Kessels, which was presented in 2012 at Art Space Z33 in Belgium. It was created as a concept for a fictional society with room for a million identities, a society that could emerge anywhere and everywhere. While a greater diversity of identities might diffuse a cohesive identity, it could also enrich it and act as an advantage. 

In Identity Land the nation no longer provides the framework for identity. Instead, it is acknowledged that people want both self-identity and collective identity. The project proposes a manifesto, together with playful symbols and tokens for Identity Land: the portrait of a king, queen or president on the coin designed by Helmut Smits has been polished down to a mirror, while the passport stamp, also by Helmut Smits, says ‘the horizon is the border’; the flag has become transparent, the anthem is a medley of all the world’s anthems and each player in the national football team is unique, in the video by Hans van der Meer. They illustrate non-identity, hyper individual identity, fluid identity and plural identity. 

In collaboration with Art Space Z33 in Hasselt, Belgium

Droog’s international debut in Milan was an adventure. Two individuals, Renny Ramakers and Gijs Bakker, who hardly knew each other, decided to join forces in February 1993 and make a statement during the Salone del Mobile in Milan with a selection of works by young Dutch designers. They had noticed a fresh trend in Dutch design, in the use of every day, re-used materials and objects, combined with a down-to-earth mentality. The designs were simple yet humoristic – literally ‘dry’, ‘Droog’ in Dutch.

Erik Kessels is a Dutch artist, designer and curator with a great interest in photography. Erik Kessels is since 1996 Creative Partner of communications agency KesselsKramer in Amsterdam and works for national and international clients such as Nike, Diesel, J&B Whisky, Oxfam, Ben, Vitra, Citizen M and The Hans Brinker Budget Hotel.

As an artist and curator Kessels has published over 70 books of his ‘re-appropriated’ images: Missing Links (1999), The Instant Men (2000), in almost every picture (2001-2019) and Shit (2018). Since 2000, he has been an editor of the alternative photography magazine Useful Photography and has written the international bestseller Failed It!