26/03/2021
Last week, we had dialogue #2: What can the museum do for me? And what can I do for the museum?
Talking business with museum directors (Frans Hals Museum ) and ( Stedelijk )
Moderated by Rosa Zangenberg & Beatriz Luz
Sketches by Maria Yzaga
During the dialogue, Puck Kroon made a reflection about this second conversation - enabling us to reminisce about the discussion and delve into her thoughts.
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Our second talk of the public programme starts different than expected: Ann Demeester didn’t show up and also Rieke couldn’t reach her. So, Rein Wolfs will have the complete attention of everybody in the virtual Zoom room. Rosa Zangenberg en Beatriz Luz are moderating this talk, keeping an eye on the questions participants sent in and guiding the conversation.
The goal to reach a museum and end up in a big solo exhibition will probably take many years; it seems quite incomprehensible and impossible. How to choose the ‘right’ artists for exhibitions in the Stedelijk Museum? How do we, as young artists, come into a museum? What could be the role of a museum in society and in the future? As the average age of the participating artists of ALL INN lies around 25, it is interesting to know what Rein did when he was that age. “In the 80s, I was still studying while it was possible to do it slower than nowadays. I finished two years later. During my study, I went often to the library of the Stedelijk Museum. I knew it was a place I wanted to come back after some time, so the ambition was already there.”
This ambition to become museum director grew over the years and was nourished by collaborating with young artists as soon as Rein had the possibility, even during his study Modern and Contemporary Art History in Amsterdam. “Modern art really differs from contemporary art. How can we be critical on the modern with the contemporary eye?”
Throughout the conversation, Rein emphasises the necessity of a museum to engage with society and the city. There is a lot of work to do, for example in collecting artworks from artists with non- European or non-North American backgrounds to help reduce the gap for minorities and underrepresented groups, although it is impossible to fix a gap of 125 years of collecting art. The Stedelijk Museum is actively trying to buy more works from female artists and artists of colour. “I would like to see that the museum becomes more relevant. Not only for peers, but also for people who are not yet represented within the context of the museum. We need to expand the scope, we need a strong humus to build upon. We will always stay an international museum, but we need to think about locals and the local routing. There is no aesthetic question on the outside and an ethical question on the inside. We can’t be only l’art pour l’art anymore, we want to be different because of concurrence that comes out of everywhere. I want the Stedelijk Museum to become a museum that it is build on local community and has an international output.”
Rein is expecting the Stedelijk Museum to be still existing in the future because of the amount of the heritage within the collection. Collection based institutions are more future resistant than institutions without a collection, but nobody knows what is going to happen tomorrow. “I have the feeling that content will change within the change of society: there will be different topics addressed. As a museum, we need to reflect on these topics. I still think that the actually artwork - the original - will be something people want to see and therefore we need to be very flexible. Museums come from a history to take care of unique artworks, but the museum is still too slow I must say. I hope museums can get faster.”
“Don’t hesitate to be your own curator sometimes.” This sentences pops up now and then during the conversation. As museums are very layered, complex organisations, young artists need to be aware of trying to understand this institutions step by step. The art world is like a huge chain and when becoming part of that chain, you can make a difference. There is no recipe of approaching museums or galleries, for example both institutions send representatives to visit graduation shows to scout artists and their works. “Why do our curators or me choose a particular artist for an exhibition? It is a difficult question to answer; it is about gut feeling, about using your senses and finding intelligence within an art work. And of course: could the work fit in the exhibition?”
“Art is not easy, but that complexity is beautiful in the end. Being an art historian, you put a lot of effort into your study for seeing the enigma. The arts are a tough field, because you have to find your own position as artist or as curator. As young artist you have to be active in finding a way and a place to show your work: hard work becomes successful work. Try to think as an artist- curator. Being a curator is not that difficult - take it in your own hands!”
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ALL INN will take place from March 31 to April 4, 2021 at Het Hem. The exhibition aims to provide a befitting answer to a graduation season scattered by . For the first time in history, recent graduates from all fine arts departments in the present their work in one exhibition.
