Art Production | Collection Fund Special Project 2020-21
The Hartwig Art Production | Collection Fund was initiated in 2020 to support artists in the realisation of ambitious productions. Artworks acquired through the Fund will be donated to the Dutch state. They become an integral part of the national art collection (‘Rijkscollectie’), available for institutions in the Netherlands and abroad. The inaugural year of the Fund was marked by the Covid-19 pandemic, which has heavily affected all aspects of society – including artists and cultural institutions. In these critical times we wanted to highlight the importance of institutions and programmes in the Netherlands that provide space and support to artists in the early stages of their practices by inviting them to shape the Special Project 2020/21.
The procedure
We invited the Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, De Ateliers, If I Can’t Dance, I Don’t Want To Be Part Of Your Revolution and CBK Zuidoost (all based in Amsterdam) as well as Jan van Eyck Academie (Maastricht), BAK basis voor actuele kunst (Utrecht) and TENT (Rotterdam) to nominate a longlist of 35 artists who took part in their programmes. De Appel and Framer Framed, two institutions in Amsterdam which actively promote an emerging and diverse group of curators, nominated Sharmyn Cruz Rivera, Iris Ferrer, Aude Christel Mgba, Jo-Lene Ong and Rita Ouédraogo to form the curatorial team of the Special Project 2020/21.
15 artists, 5 venues
In consultation with our five partnering institutions for presentations, the curatorial team made a final selection of 15 artists: Ana Guedes, Anna Dasović, Em’Kal Eyongakpa, Geo Wyeth, Joy Mariama Smith, Kent Chan, Kevin Osepa, Maria Pask, Mariana Castillo Deball, Mariëlle Videler, Neo Matloga, Ola Hassanain, Family Connection (Rudsel Martinus, Glenda Martinus, Gala Martinus, Quinsy Gario, Jörgen Gario, Caldron Lewis and Whitney Lewis), Saeeda Saeed, and Sara Sejin Chang (Sara van der Heide). Their works are presented across the country in the Fall 2021 – Winter 2022 season as part of the exhibition programmes of: Casco Art Institute (Utrecht), Oude Kerk (Amsterdam), Kunstinstituut Melly (Rotterdam), Vleeshal (Middelburg) and Stroom Den Haag (The Hague).
Jo-Lene Ong was in charge of the presentations by Kent Chan, Maria Pask, Ana Guedes, and Em’kal Eyongakpa.
