Cumulus became a registered association in July 2022 in Helsinki, Finland by the Finnish Patent and Registration Office. A long-term dream to institutionalize the passion and work done by the massive number of Cumulusians and to ensure we go on well together to serve the talent of the next generations, is now fulfilled.
The idea of registration came up properly at the end of 90´s during our first Cumulus conference in April 1998 in Prague, Czech Republic. In March 2001 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands at the Cumulus conference hosted by Willem de Kooning Academy, the association model of functioning was confirmed – at the first Cumulus General Assembly, the members approved the Cumulus Statutes written in accordance with the Finnish Association Law.
Cumulus was founded in 1990 and became recognized at the time as an EU Erasmus program network coordinated by the University of Art and Design Helsinki in Finland (today one of the schools of Aalto University). The network was given its name in 1992 by a Dutch designer and academic, Peik Suyiling. When the EU redesigned the Erasmus program and changed the collaboration landscape in 1996, Cumulus members decided to stay together despite the changes.
In 2006 at the General Assembly of Cumulus, hosted by the L´École de Design Nantes in France, the association changed from European to international. Hooray! The economy of networking (C. Guellerin in 2007) always matters. Cumulus has grown over the years and became the only global association representing education and research in our disciplines.
On April 5, 2022 the Extraordinary General Assembly of Cumulus decided that Finland will be the country where the legal registration will be done. As a next step, the annual General Assembly on June 16, 2022 approved the amended Statutes of the Association; the “old” statutes became edited in order to be accepted by the authority in Finland for the registration purpose. The registration does not cause any immediate change touching the members or our activities. The service agreement enabling Aalto University to host the Cumulus secretariat, as it applied in 2019, is signed until the end of 2025.
Cumulus goes on.
Massive thanks to the past Cumulus Executive Board 2019-2022 with its President Mariana Amatullo for execution and further to our new board 2022-2025 with its President Lorenzo Imbesi and the Secretariat. Massive thanks to our members for your support, we did it.
We shall organize an informational session around the registration during the Cumulus Detroit 2-4 November 2022 conference. Stay tuned.
Any questions, please contact us by mail to [email protected].
Eija
Eija Salmi FRSA Secretary General
