Spiegelaer

Spiegelaer is a series of meetings at FoAM Lab in Amsterdam that started in October 2005. In these events the Lab is opened for an evening of visuals, sounds, tastes and discussions around a central theme. The participants are selected and invited to form a group of mixed professions and back-grounds but with a shared interest in the topic of the event. The name Spiegelaer indicates the cross-disciplinary nature of the series and comes from the old Dutch word for an alchemist. Usually for Spiegelaer events there are about 7 to 12 participants, which creates an intimate atmosphere where people can meet and share ideas or thoughts. Matching food, drinks and sometimes even outfits to the theme, helps to create a real sense of occasion and engagement. It is really a lot of fun. In the week after participants receive a debriefing which serves as a kind of memorandum so that the things that happened and the insights gained don’t just dissolve into dusty oblivion. This makes participants willing to invest in the conversations, which brings a very nice and concentrated atmosphere.