Agent

Info

The agent endpoint provides access to a single agent (person or organisation) related to the collection of Design Museum Gent, enriched with authority links, biographical data, Wikipedia thumbnail, nationality, and birth/death information.

endpoint:

GET https://data.designmuseumgent.be/v2/id/agent/{PID}

examples:

GET https://data.designmuseumgent.be/v2/id/agent/DMG-A-00162
GET https://data.designmuseumgent.be/v2/id/agent/DMG-A-03731

# check if an agent exists
curl -k -I 'https://data.designmuseumgent.be/v2/id/agent/DMG-A-00162'

ARK identifiers

All agent URIs are also resolvable using the ARK identifier format:

GET https://data.designmuseumgent.be/v2/id/ark:/29417/agent/{agentPID}

Response codes

Code	Description
200	Successful request returning a single agent as CIDOC-CRM JSON-LD
404	Agent not found
500	Server error

Response format

Data is returned as CIDOC-CRM compliant JSON-LD using the following vocabularies:

Prefix	Namespace
`crm`	http://www.cidoc-crm.org/cidoc-crm/
`owl`	https://www.w3.org/2002/07/owl#
`rdfs`	http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#
`xsd`	http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#
`prov`	http://www.w3.org/ns/prov#
`dcterms`	http://purl.org/dc/terms/

Fields

Basic identification

Field	Type	Description	Example
`@id`	URI	Internal DMG URI for the agent	`https://data.designmuseumgent.be/v2/id/agent/DMG-A-00162`
`@type`	string	CIDOC-CRM class	`crm:E21_Person` or `crm:E74_Group`
`rdfs:label`	string	Default label (full name)	`"Memphis"`
`prov:generatedAtTime`	xsd:dateTime	Timestamp of last harvest	`"2026-04-24T01:45:12"`

Authority links

owl:sameAs links the agent to external authority records. May include Wikidata, RKD, Getty ULAN and the Stad Gent datahub:

"owl:sameAs": [
    "https://stad.gent/id/agent/530000534",
    "http://vocab.getty.edu/ulan/500125093",
    "https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q1273221"
]

Warning

Stad Gent URIs (stad.gent/id/...) used in owl:sameAs are persistent identifiers but do not currently resolve. Getty, Wikidata and EU Publications Office URIs do resolve and return linked data.

Provenance — `prov:generatedAtTime`

Each record includes a prov:generatedAtTime timestamp indicating when the record was last harvested from the source system. This is not the date the object was created or modified in the museum's collection management system — it is the date the DMG API last processed and stored this record.

"prov:generatedAtTime": {
    "@type": "xsd:dateTime",
    "@value": "2026-04-28T10:38:46.7599119"
}

Field	Description
`@type`	Always `xsd:dateTime`
`@value`	ISO 8601 timestamp of the last harvest

Incremental harvesting

Use prov:generatedAtTime together with the ?modifiedSince= parameter to build efficient incremental sync pipelines — only fetch records that have changed since your last harvest:

GET https://data.designmuseumgent.be/v2/id/agents?modifiedSince=2026-05-01&fullRecord=true

The ETag and Last-Modified response headers on single entity endpoints expose the same timestamp for HTTP cache validation:

Identifiers & titles — `crm:P1_is_identified_by`

An array of crm:E41_Appellation and crm:E42_Identifier nodes.

`@type`	Description
`crm:E42_Identifier`	Internal DMG reference number, typed as `intern-referentienummer`
`crm:E41_Appellation`	Preferred name
`crm:E41_Appellation` (Wikipedia)	Multilingual Wikipedia title, typed as Getty AAT `300404670`

Wikipedia titles

When a Wikipedia page exists, multilingual titles are added as crm:E41_Appellation nodes typed using Getty AAT 300404670 (preferred title), with source link and CC BY-SA 4.0 license.

Attribution

All Wikipedia-sourced titles are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. When displaying this content, attribution to Wikipedia and the license must be included.

Gender — `crm:P2_has_type`

Gender is expressed using the EU Publications Office human sex authority:

Value	URI
Male	`http://publications.europa.eu/resource/authority/human-sex/MALE`
Female	`http://publications.europa.eu/resource/authority/human-sex/FEMALE`

Info

Not all agents have a gender — organisations and groups will not include this field.

Nationality — `crm:P107i_is_current_or_former_member_of`

Modelled as membership of a crm:E74_Group typed as nationality (Getty AAT 300379842), with the country as a crm:E53_Place using the EU Publications Office country authority. Country labels are provided in Dutch, English and French.

"crm:P107i_is_current_or_former_member_of": {
    "@type": "crm:E74_Group",
    "crm:P2_has_type": {
        "@id": "http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300379842",
        "@type": "crm:E55_Type",
        "rdfs:label": "nationality"
    },
    "crm:P7_took_place_at": {
        "@id": "http://publications.europa.eu/resource/authority/country/ITA",
        "@type": "crm:E53_Place",
        "rdfs:label": [
            { "@value": "Italië", "@language": "nl" },
            { "@value": "Italy", "@language": "en" },
            { "@value": "Italie", "@language": "fr" }
        ]
    }
}

Birth — `crm:P98i_was_born`

Field	Description	Example
`crm:P4_has_time-span`	Date of birth as `crm:E52_Time-Span`	`"1956"`
`crm:P7_took_place_at`	Place of birth — Getty TGN URI	`http://vocab.getty.edu/tgn/7005903`

Death — `crm:P100i_died_in`

Field	Description	Example
`crm:P4_has_time-span`	Date of death as `crm:E52_Time-Span`	`"2005"`
`crm:P7_took_place_at`	Place of death — Getty TGN URI

Tips

Birth and death places use Getty TGN URIs. For organisations, crm:P98i_was_born represents the founding date and place.

Wikipedia image — `crm:P65_shows_visual_item`

When a Wikipedia thumbnail is available for the agent, it is exposed as a crm:E36_Visual_Item with pixel dimensions and a CC BY-SA 4.0 license. The first available thumbnail across Dutch, English and French Wikipedia is used.

Field	Description
`crm:P138i_has_representation`	Direct URL to the Wikipedia image
`crm:P43_has_dimension`	Width and height in pixels
`dcterms:license`	Always `https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/`
`crm:P67_refers_to`	Link to the Wikipedia source page

"crm:P65_shows_visual_item": {
    "@type": "crm:E36_Visual_Item",
    "crm:P2_has_type": {
        "@id": "http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300264863",
        "@type": "crm:E55_Type",
        "rdfs:label": "digital image"
    },
    "crm:P138i_has_representation": {
        "@id": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f0/Maarten_dan_fabian.jpg",
        "@type": "crm:E38_Image",
        "crm:P43_has_dimension": [
            {
                "@type": "crm:E54_Dimension",
                "crm:P2_has_type": { "rdfs:label": "width" },
                "crm:P90_has_value": 829,
                "crm:P91_has_unit": { "rdfs:label": "px" }
            },
            {
                "@type": "crm:E54_Dimension",
                "crm:P2_has_type": { "rdfs:label": "height" },
                "crm:P90_has_value": 1248,
                "crm:P91_has_unit": { "rdfs:label": "px" }
            }
        ]
    },
    "dcterms:license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/",
    "crm:P67_refers_to": {
        "@id": "https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maarten_Van_Severen"
    }
}

Attribution

Wikipedia images are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 or compatible licenses. Always check and display the license when using these images.

Biographies — `crm:P67i_is_referred_to_by`

Array of crm:E33_Linguistic_Object nodes containing Wikipedia biography snippets, one per available language. Not all agents have biographies.

Field	Description
`rdfs:label`	Biography text (Wikipedia introductory paragraph)
`crm:P2_has_type`	Classifies this as a biography
`crm:P72_has_language`	Language of the biography
`crm:P67_refers_to`	Link to the Wikipedia source page
`dcterms:license`	Always `https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/`

Attribution

All biography texts are sourced from Wikipedia and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. When displaying this content, attribution to Wikipedia and the license must be included.

Example response

{
  "@id": "https://data.designmuseumgent.be/v2/id/agent/DMG-A-00162",
  "@context": {
    "crm": "http://www.cidoc-crm.org/cidoc-crm/",
    "owl": "https://www.w3.org/2002/07/owl#",
    "xsd": "http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#",
    "prov": "http://www.w3.org/ns/prov#",
    "rdfs": "http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#",
    "dcterms": "http://purl.org/dc/terms/"
  },
  "owl:sameAs": [
    "https://stad.gent/id/agent/530000534",
    "http://vocab.getty.edu/ulan/500125093",
    "https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q1273221"
  ],
  "rdfs:label": "Memphis",
  "crm:P98i_was_born": {
    "@id": "https://data.designmuseumgent.be/v2/id/agent/DMG-A-00162/birth",
    "@type": "crm:E67_Birth",
    "crm:P4_has_time-span": {
      "@type": "crm:E52_Time-Span",
      "rdfs:label": "1981"
    },
    "crm:P7_took_place_at": {
      "@id": "http://vocab.getty.edu/tgn/7005903",
      "@type": "crm:E53_Place",
      "rdfs:label": "Milaan"
    }
  },
  "prov:generatedAtTime": {
    "@type": "xsd:dateTime",
    "@value": "2026-04-24T01:45:12.5701818"
  },
  "crm:P1_is_identified_by": [
    {
      "@id": "https://data.designmuseumgent.be/v2/id/agent/DMG-A-00162/appellation/preferred",
      "@type": "crm:E41_Appellation",
      "rdfs:label": "Memphis"
    },
    {
      "@id": "https://data.designmuseumgent.be/v2/id/agent/DMG-A-00162/identifier/intern",
      "@type": "crm:E42_Identifier",
      "rdfs:label": "DMG-A-00162",
      "crm:P2_has_type": {
        "@id": "https://data.designmuseumgent.be/v2/id/type/intern-referentienummer",
        "@type": "crm:E55_Type",
        "rdfs:label": "Intern referentienummer"
      }
    },
    {
      "@type": "crm:E41_Appellation",
      "rdfs:label": "Groupe Memphis",
      "crm:P2_has_type": {
        "@id": "http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300404670",
        "@type": "crm:E55_Type",
        "rdfs:label": "preferred title"
      },
      "crm:P72_has_language": {
        "@id": "http://publications.europa.eu/resource/authority/language/FRA"
      },
      "crm:P67_refers_to": {
        "@id": "https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groupe_Memphis"
      },
      "dcterms:license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
    },
    {
      "@type": "crm:E41_Appellation",
      "rdfs:label": "Memphisgroep",
      "crm:P2_has_type": {
        "@id": "http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300404670",
        "@type": "crm:E55_Type",
        "rdfs:label": "preferred title"
      },
      "crm:P72_has_language": {
        "@id": "http://publications.europa.eu/resource/authority/language/NLD"
      },
      "crm:P67_refers_to": {
        "@id": "https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memphisgroep"
      },
      "dcterms:license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
    },
    {
      "@type": "crm:E41_Appellation",
      "rdfs:label": "Memphis Group",
      "crm:P2_has_type": {
        "@id": "http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300404670",
        "@type": "crm:E55_Type",
        "rdfs:label": "preferred title"
      },
      "crm:P72_has_language": {
        "@id": "http://publications.europa.eu/resource/authority/language/ENG"
      },
      "crm:P67_refers_to": {
        "@id": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memphis_Group"
      },
      "dcterms:license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
    }
  ],
  "crm:P67i_is_referred_to_by": [
    {
      "@type": "crm:E33_Linguistic_Object",
      "rdfs:label": "Le groupe Memphis, créé en Italie au cours des années 1980, est un mouvement de design et d'architecture influent.",
      "crm:P2_has_type": {
        "@id": "https://data.designmuseumgent.be/v2/id/type/biography",
        "@type": "crm:E55_Type",
        "rdfs:label": "Biografie"
      },
      "crm:P72_has_language": {
        "rdfs:label": "fr"
      },
      "crm:P67_refers_to": {
        "@id": "https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groupe_Memphis"
      },
      "dcterms:license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
    },
    {
      "@type": "crm:E33_Linguistic_Object",
      "rdfs:label": "De Memphisgroep was een groep interieurontwerpers uit de jaren 1981-1987, opgericht door Ettore Sottsass. De groep verzette zich tegen de strakke functionele regels van het modernisme en hun ideeën zouden een belangrijk stempel drukken op de uitstraling van de jaren tachtig. De stijl is verbonden met het postmodernisme en haalde haar inspiratie uit de popart en de art deco.",
      "crm:P2_has_type": {
        "@id": "https://data.designmuseumgent.be/v2/id/type/biography",
        "@type": "crm:E55_Type",
        "rdfs:label": "Biografie"
      },
      "crm:P72_has_language": {
        "rdfs:label": "nl"
      },
      "crm:P67_refers_to": {
        "@id": "https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memphisgroep"
      },
      "dcterms:license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
    },
    {
      "@type": "crm:E33_Linguistic_Object",
      "rdfs:label": "The Memphis Group, also known as Memphis Milano, was an Italian design and architecture group founded by Ettore Sottsass. It was active from 1980 to 1987. The group designed postmodern furniture, lighting, fabrics, carpets, ceramics, glass and metal objects.",
      "crm:P2_has_type": {
        "@id": "https://data.designmuseumgent.be/v2/id/type/biography",
        "@type": "crm:E55_Type",
        "rdfs:label": "Biografie"
      },
      "crm:P72_has_language": {
        "rdfs:label": "en"
      },
      "crm:P67_refers_to": {
        "@id": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memphis_Group"
      },
      "dcterms:license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
    }
  ],
  "crm:P65_shows_visual_item": {
    "@type": "crm:E36_Visual_Item",
    "crm:P2_has_type": {
      "@id": "http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300264863",
      "@type": "crm:E55_Type",
      "rdfs:label": "digital image"
    },
    "crm:P138i_has_representation": {
      "@id": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/Memphis-Milano_Movement.jpg",
      "@type": "crm:E38_Image",
      "crm:P43_has_dimension": [
        {
          "@type": "crm:E54_Dimension",
          "crm:P2_has_type": {
            "@id": "http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300055647",
            "@type": "crm:E55_Type",
            "rdfs:label": "width"
          },
          "crm:P90_has_value": 2048,
          "crm:P91_has_unit": {
            "@id": "http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300266190",
            "rdfs:label": "px"
          }
        },
        {
          "@type": "crm:E54_Dimension",
          "crm:P2_has_type": {
            "@id": "http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300055644",
            "@type": "crm:E55_Type",
            "rdfs:label": "height"
          },
          "crm:P90_has_value": 1365,
          "crm:P91_has_unit": {
            "@id": "http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300266190",
            "rdfs:label": "px"
          }
        }
      ]
    },
    "dcterms:license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/",
    "crm:P67_refers_to": {
      "@id": "https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memphisgroep"
    }
  }
}