Our Bakelite exhibitions are to demonstrate the enormous influence of bakelite on the daily lives of nearly everyone in the twentieth century. The great variety of products and forms offers interesting perspectives, as do also the points of contact with a number of movements in art and design, including Art Deco, Bauhaus, Streamline, and 1960s style, as well as the more sober designs of the eighties and the striking products developed by French designer Philippe Starck for Telefunken and Alessi in the final decade of the twentieth century. Although the high point of production occurred during the interwar years – and objects from this period are a major element of the exhibition – bakelite remains in production to this day.
After opening with an historical introduction beginning in the latter half of the nineteenth century. The concluding section will display technical and household products that are still being made nowadays. Along with bakelite, attention will also be paid to other thermosetting plastics like melamine- and urea-formaldehyde, which are also derived from Baekeland’s discoveries. Although many objects were designed in circumstances of anonymity – often by technicians, instrumentmakers, or engineers – we also find designers with established names like Norman Bel Geddes, Anna Castelli Ferrieri, Harold van Doren, Henry Dreyfuss, L. C. Kalff, Raymond Loewy, Isamu Noguchi, Gio Ponti, Dieter Rams, and Philippe Starck.
2022 PLASTIC: REMAKING OUR WORLD
PLASTIK. DIE WELT NEU DENKEN
Germany, Weil am Rhein, Vitra Design Museum,
26.03.2022 – 04.09.2022
The exhibition Plastic: Remaking Our World examines the history and future of this controversial material. Featured in this display will be examples of product design, graphics, architecture, and fashion. All of the items included are from the Victoria and Albert Museum collections, the Vitra Design Museum, the Amsterdam Bakelite Collection, and other international collections.
European visit of SAMPE China Delegation (Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering).
These high-tech engineers and scientists visited the JEC World 2017, and the SAMPE Europe Summit, both in Paris. In Germany, they saw the composite manufacturing plant of the BMW Group in Landshut.
In The Netherlands, our Amsterdam Bakelite Collection and Fokker Aerostructures were also on their list. It was a great pleasure to show the collection to our Chinese guests.
2016 - 2017 BAKELITE, EVERYONE KNOWS IT
The Netherlands, Rotterdam, de Kunsthal Rotterdam,
17.12.2016 – 5.3.2017
Read Gerson Lessa’s review for the Plastics Historical Society magazine
Industrial design meets nostalgia in this exhibition, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Amsterdam Bakelite Collection, the Kunsthal Rotterdam presents a historical survey of objects made of Bakelite and related materials.
Industrial design meets nostalgia in this exhibition. On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the amsterdam bakelite collection, the kunsthal rotterdam presents a historical survey of objects made of bakelite and related materials.
2016 "EPRA" Meeting
Amsterdam, 2.5.2016
The European Phenolic Resins Association brings together phenolic resins producers in Europe.
EPRA members are Allnex SA/NV, Chemiplastica AB, ERCROS S.A, Fenolit d.d., Hexion GmbH, LERG S.A., Metadynea Austria GmbH, Prefere Resins Holding GmbH, Sadepan Chimica Srl, SI Group S.A.S., Sumitomo Bakelite Europe N.V., Süd-West-Chemie GmbH, UCP Chemicals AG.
Presentation and lecture for members, titled “Mr. Baekeland and his invention”. Illustrated by historic photographs and our 1936 Bakelite Limited company movie.
2015 “Provocative Plastics" Conference
UK, Bournemouth, 17.9.2015 – 18.9.2015
The conference was organized by the Museum of Design in Plastics (MoDiP), sponsored by the Plastics Historical Society and took place at the Arts University Bournemouth.
Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands 16.04.2014
Donation to Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed (Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands) of various book titles from the company library of Corodex NV, a former Dutch Bakelite plant.
2014 Forum Kunststoffgeschichte "Plastics Heritage"
The Forum Kunststoffgeschichte 2014 with the Symposium "Plastics Heritage" provided an interdisciplinary forum for all aspects of plastics history.
The third, international Forum Kunststoffgeschichte Plastics Heritage took place at the Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft HTW Berlin. 131 Visitors from 11 countries enjoyed 26 lectures concerning plastics history and heritage: art, design, everyday’s and technical objects, conservation of plastics heritage: artefacts, technical heritage, material characterisation and collecting plastics objects..
Mrs. Sylvia Katz, plastics and design specialist and Mr. Hans Ulrich Kölsch, founder of the German Kölsch Collection.
2013 SAMPE 2013, BAKELITE IN SHANGHAI
Shanghai, China, Everbright Conference and Exhibition Center 29.10.2013 – 1.11.2013
Sponsored by:
Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences
China Phenolic Resin and Plastics Industry Association
SAMPE Beijing Chapter
SAMPE Shanghai Chapter
National Key Laboratory of Advanced Composites of BIAM
Organized by:
Puyang Willing Chemicals Co., Ltd
Beijing UFT C & E Co., Ltd
Program title: De straten van Amsterdam (The streets of Amsterdam), Transvaalkade, 12.6.2013
Amsterdam Bakelite Collection on Dutch/Amsterdam TV.
Live interview by host Pieter Hulst (in Dutch) for broadcasting station AT5.
2012
The Netherlands, Amsterdam, Royal Philips Electronics, 1.9.2012. "What you see is what you get" - Martin Scorcese comment on bakelite TV set in company movie, Our love is history.
In cooperation with production house PostPanic BV, Amsterdam Bakelite Collection provided a rare 1946 bakelite Philips TV set.
2012
Japan, Osaka, Osaka Science Museum, 1.4.2012.
The Science Museum Osaka selected Transatlantic Chemistry and The Fourth Kingdom for educational purposes for the public.
These two Japanese subtitled movie trailers are delivered by ABC.
2011 JAPANESE PLASTICS PRODUCTION, 100 YEARS
More than 2.500 visitors in three days!
Japan, Tokyo, Science Museum, 22.12.2011 – 25.12.2011
Canada, Toronto, Ontario, CBC Broadcast Centre, 6.3.2009 at 10 pm PT on CBC Newsworld
Contribution to CBC documentary Forever Plastic with 1937 film footage
The Fourth Kingdom (trailer 6'22", see below)
2008 - 2009 SAGINAW WELCOMES BAKELITE
United States, Saginaw, Michigan, Historical Society of Saginaw County at the Castle Museum, 16.11.2008 – 16.2.2009, extended to 30.6.2009 Heat and Pressure – 100 Years of Bakelite
Belgium, Ghent, Museum voor de Geschiedenis van de Wetenschappen, 23.4 – 14.12.2007 En toen was er ... Bakeliet : 1907 – 2007
Belgium, Ghent, Museum for the History of Sciences, And then there was ... Bakelite : 1907 – 2007
Illustrated lecture at Sumitomo Bakelite Co., Ltd., Shizuoka Plant, for Research and Development Department.
2011
Japan, Tokyo, Royal Dutch Embassy, 22.12.2011.
Meeting and illustrated presentation at Press and Cultural Department.
2011
United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Chemical Heritage Foundation, 02.11.2011.
Image research for Transatlantic Chemistry documentary on chemistry from renaissance period till early 20th century.
Informal presentation at department of Rare Books at Othmer Library of Chemical History.
2011
United States, Rochester, New York, George Eastman House, International Museum of Photography and Film, 28.10.2011.
Visiting George Eastman Archive and Study Center to research connections between Baekeland and Eastman. In 1928 Eastman launched his first Kodachrome Color film; among the guests were also Thomas Edison and Leo Baekeland.
A small presentation was given to the Curator of The Eastman Legacy Collection.
2011
United States, Syracuse, New York, Syracuse University, 27.10.2011.
Presenting Bakelite: The Material of a Thousand Uses, an illustrated lecture in the Peter Graham Scholarly Commons at Bird Library. The lecture is presented in conjunction with the ongoing exhibition Just One Word: Plastic, at the Special collections Research Center, Syracuse University Library.
During this lecture our recent acquisition was presented to a highly interested audience: BAKELITE THE MATERIAL OF INFINITE USES, a British corporate movie, produced in 1936 by PUBLICITY FILMS Ltd., for BAKELITE LIMITED, 16mm black & white.
2011
Germany, Bremen, Hochschule für Künste Bremen/University of the Arts Bremen, July 1, 2011. Forum Kunststoffgeschichte 2011: Form und Material - Kunststoffe in Kunst, Architektur und Design, 30.06.2011 - 01.07.2011
Participation of symposium organized by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Kunststoffgeschichte e.V./German Society of Plastics History
Lecture given about Amsterdam Bakelite Collection.
2011
Germany, Erkner (near Berlin), Freundeskreis Chemie-Museum Erkner e.V., March 18, 2011.
Meeting and visiting world's first commercial bakelite plant; Bakelite Gesellschaft m.b.H., Heimat-Museum and Dynea premises.
A small presentation was given at the Freundeskreis offices, based at the Dynea premises.
2010
United States, Lowell, Massachusetts, University of Massachusetts Lowell, 9.2.2010
Guest Lecture at Department of Plastics Engineering
2010
United States, Yonkers, New York, Hudson River Museum, 6.2.2010
Opening of the exhibition Bakelite in Yonkers: Pioneering the Age of Plastics
Talk with the experts: A discussion of the work of Leo Baekeland
Reindert Groot, founder/curator, Amsterdam Bakelite Collection
Hugh Karraker, great grandson of Leo Baekeland
Dr. Louis A. Pilato, chemist and author of Phenolic Resins: A Century of Progress
2008
Germany, Cologne, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Kunststoffgeschichte e.V.
at Cologne University of Applied Sciences / Institute for Conservation Sciences, 13.12.2008 Annual Meeting 2008
2008
United States, Saginaw, Michigan, Historical Society of Saginaw County at the Castle Museum, 15.11.2008
Opening of the exhibition Heat and Pressure – 100 Years of Bakelite
2008
United States, Saginaw, Michigan, Rotary Club of Saginaw, 12.11.2008 Wednesday Meeting Program
2008
United States, Redding, Connecticut, Mark Twain Library, 5.4.2008 Heat and Pressure – 100 Years of Bakelite
The exhibition Heat and Pressure – 100 Years of Bakelite is the result of the close cooperation between Hugh Karraker, Redding, Connecticut and Reindert Groot, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
2007
Belgium, Ghent, Museum for the History of Sciences, 24.9.2007
Symposium Baekeland 2007: Thermosets, 100 years after Bakelite
2007
United States, Manchester, Connecticut, Sumitomo Bakelite North America Inc., 11.5.2007 Heat and Pressure – 100 Years of Bakelite
2007
United States, New York, New York, The Chemists’ Club, 7.5.2007
Annual Meeting
Our Bakelite exhibitions are to demonstrate the enormous influence of bakelite on the daily lives of nearly everyone in the twentieth century. The great variety of products and forms offers interesting perspectives, as do also the points of contact with a number of movements in art and design, including Art Deco, Bauhaus, Streamline, and 1960s style, as well as the more sober designs of the eighties and the striking products developed by French designer Philippe Starck for Telefunken and Alessi in the final decade of the twentieth century. Although the high point of production occurred during the interwar years – and objects from this period are a major element of the exhibition – bakelite remains in production to this day.
