Colin Keays (1994) is a writer, editor and curator based in Rotterdam, working across a number of international cultural projects. He was commissioned by Nieuwe Instituut to curate the Dutch Pavilion at the 2023 London Design Biennale, which was awarded with a special mention from the professional jury. He has collaborated with architecture and design studio Cookies since 2021 and is editor of OtherNetwork, a global platform researching independent cultural production. In 2023 he co-founded and edited the first issue of W’AHU, a new magazine celebrating queer creatives in Accra, Ghana. His writing has been published in PIN–UP, e-flux, DAMN° Magazine and Failed Architecture, among others. Colin holds a BA in Architecture with First Class Hons. from the Manchester School of Architecture (2016) and an MA in Contextual Design from Design Academy Eindhoven (2019), where he currently teaches in the BA Studio Digital-Native.
Year
Project
With
Type/Role
2024
Reclaiming Desire
DAMNº Magazine
Writing
2023
Out of Joint – Dutch Pavilion at London Design Biennale
Nieuwe Instituut,
Embassy of the Netherlands
Embassy of the Netherlands
Curator
2023
Workwear
Cookies,
Nieuwe Instituut
Nieuwe Instituut
Exhibition Design
2022
Cookies,
FCA – Ghana,
ifa Gallery Stuttgart
FCA – Ghana,
ifa Gallery Stuttgart
Art Direction, Production,
2022
Righting the Wrong
DAMNº Magazine
Writing
2022
“I didn’t learn all that much of a practical nature” – 75 Years of DAE [Upcoming]
Design Academy Eindhoven
Research
2022
Queerness in the City: Ghosts at Day’s End
IABR,
Het Nieuwe Instituut
Het Nieuwe Instituut
Lecture
2022
Club Extra Extra #4 – ‘A Romantic Night with Martin Malibu’
Extra Extra Magazine,
Dutch Pinball Museum
Cultural Programming
2021
In Light of Recent Events (preface)
Ward Goes
Writing
2021
gaybar.archive
Creative Coding Utrecht
Online Exhibition
2020
“What if all the August projects end up being about coronavirus?” Design Academy Eindhoven Graduation Catalogue
Design Academy Eindhoven,
Anastasia Kubrak,
Joseph Grima
Anastasia Kubrak,
Joseph Grima
Research, Editing
2020
A Nostalgia for the Mud? Awakening Queer Potential to Challenge the Smooth City
Failed Architecture, Independent School for the City
Lecture
2020
“Soon All This Will Be Picturesque Ruins”
TAC Eindhoven
Solo Exhibition
2019
Learning from Efteling: The Complicit Designer and Attraction-Based Urbanism
Contextual Design Department, DAE
Writing
2019
Design Academy Eindhoven Graduation Show
Design Academy Eindhoven,
Tamar Shafrir,
Joseph Grima
Tamar Shafrir,
Joseph Grima
Editing, Curation
2019
Back Gate Film Club – Screening of Arch Brown’s Pier Groups (1979)
Self-initiated
Art Direction,, Cultural Programming
2018
Eindhoven Footnotes: Tales from a Technocratic City
Onomatopee
Research, Writing
© Colin Keays 2024