http://www.netherlands-embassy.org.uk Latest events from the Netherlands Embassy en-gb Copyright (C) 2011 The Netherlands Embassy From 16 February to 20 May 2012 the Courtauld Gallery in London will host an exhibition based on the remarkable story of the creative relationship between Piet Mondrian, one of the most celebrated painters of the 20th century, and Ben Nicholson, one of this country's greatest modern artists. This exhibition explores the largely untold relationship between Piet Mondrian and Ben Nicholson during the 1930's. At this time the two artists were leading forces of abstract art in Europe. Their friendship culminated with Mondrian moving to London in 1938, at Nicholson's invitation, where the two worked in neighbouring Hampstead studios at the centre of an international community of avant-garde artists. The exhibition brings together an extraordinary group of major paintings and reliefs to explore the parallel paths Mondrian and Nicholson charted during this exciting decade. It reveals how each was driven by a profound belief in the potential of abstract art to create new forms of beauty and visual power and is a unique opportunity to experience some of the greatest works ever produced by these two exceptional artists. Exhibition dates: 16 February to 20 May 2012 Sponsors: ING Abellio Friends of The Courtauld Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands Hester Diamond Location: The Courtauld Gallery, Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 0RN Tel. +44 (0)20 7848 2526, Fax. +44 (0)20 7848 2589 Courtauld Gallery website. Opening hours: Daily 10 am to 6 pm, last admission 5.30 pm Courtauld talks: There will be a full event programme to accompany the exhibition including curators' talks, late-night gallery events, lunchtime talks and a study day. Admission: Included in admission to permanent collection: Adult: £6.00, concessions: £4.50 For on-line booking please visit the Courtauld Gallery website. Free admission: Mondays 10 am to 2 pm except public holidays, at all times for under 18s, full-time UK students and unwaged.   Tweet http://www.netherlands-embassy.org.uk/n1reskin/calendar/event.php?i=4138 2011-12-19 16:58:55 +0100 In 2012 The Courtauld Institute of Art celebrates 20 years of its biennial contemporary art exhibition, the East Wing Collection. This anniversary exhibition explores the material boundaries of art created in the years since the show’s inception through an 18-month programme of events and one of the largest exhibitions in the show’s history. East Wing X offers the viewer the chance to see the work of celebrated, established and emerging artists, many exhibiting in the United Kingdom for the first time. Observing the way in which the curators overcome the challenge of presenting contemporary art on the crooked and winding walls of an 18th-century building remains one of the most intriguing novelties of the biennial collection. From the Netherlands East Wing X welcomes the contemporary artistic duo Heringa/Van Kalsbeek whose extraordinary sculptures use resin, feathers, paint and metal to create what the artists have termed ‘3D paintings’. The East Wing Collection, as one of the earliest exhibitions to champion the YBAs in this country, is delighted to welcome back to this anniversary show works by Damien Hirst as well as new works created for installation in East Wing X by Tim Noble and Sue Webster. Recalling names from the inaugural East Wing show in 1991 the curators 2 also welcome veteran British pioneers Sir Howard Hodgkin and Dame Paula Rego. Material Matters celebrates is am ever-growing access to the internationalism of contemporary art and the diversity of media being used in its creation. With artists from four continents exhibiting works ranging in material diversity from soap to stained glass, The Courtauld again demonstrates the value of the East Wing Collection in its continued expansion into new media and new audiences for cuing edge artistic developments.  Special events to be held on the last Saturday of each month, details to be announced. For more information on this exhibition please visit the Eastwing X website.   Tweet   http://www.netherlands-embassy.org.uk/n1reskin/calendar/event.php?i=4268 2012-01-13 17:01:25 +0100 Robots and Avatars is a major and visionnary exhibition is dedicated to future world of working, playing and communicating, with virtual and robotic colleagues and will tour in Europe in 2012/2013.   This innovative project explores how young people will work and play with new representational forms of themselves and others in virtual and physical life in the next 10-15 years. It examines multi-identity evolutions of today’s younger generations within the context of a world in which virtual and physical spaces are increasingly blended. More information via this link.   16 March - 27 May 2012 Location: FACT/Liverpool   The exhibition will present a cutting edge web projects, Naked on Pluto, in which a Dutch Artist, Marloes de Valk, is involved.  In October 2011, Naked on Pluto was awarded with the VIDA 13.2. prize, which is one of the most pretigious international Awards for New Media and Digital Arts. For more information, visit the website of Robots and Avatars. Tweet http://www.netherlands-embassy.org.uk/n1reskin/calendar/event.php?i=4979 2012-03-07 18:07:46 +0100 World-renowned choir The Sixteen is delighted to present the 12th Choral Pilgrimage, The Earth Resounds. Featuring arguably the three most celebrated composers of the Franco-Flemish school of the Renaissance, the programme is centred around movements from the 12-part Missa Et ecce terraemotus by Brumel (the ‘Earthquake Mass’). After Josquin, Brumel is considered one of the greatest composers of his generation. Lassus, writing some 30 years later, was influenced by both composers and is known to have performed in the Brumel mass.    Conductor Harry Christophers says: ‘For this Choral Pilgrimage, I have decided to explore the sacred music emanating from Flanders in the 15th and 16th centuries. This extraordinary music spans 100 years of innovation and brilliance.'   Josquin, Brumel and Lassus were truly European composers, leaving their origins to work in the top establishments of Aix-en-Provence, Ferrara, Rome and Munich. Their music has a unique sonority which I believe will astound you all - from the depth of expression and fascinating texts of Josquin to the overtly decorative mass movements of Brumel’s Missa Et ecce terraemotus.   We really do have a wealth of simply glorious music for you which I have no doubt will enrich all our lives. Once again let our pilgrimage bring this great music back to the buildings for which it was written.’   JOSQUIN  Praeter rerum seriem BRUMEL   Gloria from Missa Et ecce terraemotus JOSQUIN  O Virgo prudentissima LASSUS    Magnificat secondi toni super Praeter rerum seriem  interval LASSUS    Aurora lucis rutilat JOSQUIN  Huc me sydereo  LASSUS    Timor et tremor BRUMEL   Sanctus from Missa Et ecce terraemotus LASSUS    Magnificat octavi toni super Aurora lucis rutilat   Concessions are available to registered disabled (+ one companion) and to those under 18. Students and jobseekers can obtain concession tickets at the concert subject to availability (not available in advance). Concessions are not available for senior citizens. Groups may buy 10 tickets and receive one free. All offers are subject to availability; one discount per booking.   13 April - 27 October 2012 Website: www.thesixteen.com Email: info@thesixteen.com Concert list of The Choral Pilgrimage   Tweet   http://www.netherlands-embassy.org.uk/n1reskin/calendar/event.php?i=5037 2012-03-08 15:13:18 +0100 Rotterdam/Copenhagen-based Powerhouse Company and critic and architectural historian Hans Ibelings (the Architecture Observer) present an evocative, polemical exhibition illustrating the far-reaching impacts of new economic circumstances on architecture’s present and future, through film, models, and text. 

   Exploring the fundamental changes that the culture and practice of architecture are undergoing worldwide as consequence of seismic political and financial challenges, the show plays with the formats of a traditional architectural exhibition to speculate upon how we got here, and what comes next.

   A series of events will punctuate and expand the exhibition, including a publication launch mid-way through the show, chronicling the project's research.    Venue: The Architecture Foundation, 136-148 Tooley St, London SE1 2TU Date: 9 May - 9 June Opening Times: 12pm - 6pm Tickets: Admission free   More information on the website of the Architecture Foundation.   On Tuesday 13 March 2012, ahead of the 5th IABR's April opening in Rotterdam, the AF hosted an evening with Joachim Declerck (Co-Curator of the 5th IABR: Making City; Program Director of Architecture Workroom Brussels; Coordinator of Atelier Istanbul),  and Dirk Sijmons (Partner o H+N+S Landscape Architects, Design Office in Atelier Istanbul; former Governmental Advisor on Landscape). Click here to watch a video of the event.    Tweet   http://www.netherlands-embassy.org.uk/n1reskin/calendar/event.php?i=5345 2012-04-13 14:53:22 +0100 On the 19th of April Boetzelaer|Nispen will open a group show called: Dark Matter. The show will feature the work of Jan van der Ploeg, Oliver Guy Watkins and Edward Collinson.    To explain gravity and the expansion of the universe physicists have come up with the theory of Dark Matter. Supposedly it makes up 83% of our universe although not even the finest of instruments can see, touch, smell, taste or hear it. Dark Matter in the arts refers roughly to the same principle. It is the part of the artwork that’s suggested but which is not there for the viewer to see. The three artists in Dark Matter all have their own methods of ‘suggesting’.    Jan van der Ploeg’s work is best described in three words: colour, repetition and scale. His large scale murals appear to solve problems that the architecture of the exterior of a building or the space within poses. His murals also confront the flatness of the wall, sometimes by suggesting a relief, sometimes solely by changing the architecture with geometric fields of colour. In Dark Matter Van der Ploeg will apply a large mural on a large stretch of wall. He will also show several small scale works on canvas.    Edward Collinson confronts the architecture of the space as well.His large sculptures are born from a desire to change the space and to let the viewer experience this. As well as the altered experience of architecture inthe sculptural works, Collinson uses material in a very overt manner, cramming it in to the works. The excess of mass and material in Collinsons work might be an attempt to reveal a completeness/incompleteness in our material world.   Oliver Guy Watkins chooses to treat the space like a stage, where his works function as the coulisses that suggest a surrounding. In his graduate exhibition at Central Saint Martins in 2011 he transformed a room by staging it to look like a cavernous space with ice on every surface. In Dark Matter Guy-Watkins will install a similar work that stages the effect of a frozen burst water pipe. By doing so he suggest and event that did not happen, preserved by circumstances that are not present in the gallery. Guy-Watkins will also produce an edition for Dark Matter.    Dark Matter is Boetzelaer|Nispen’s sixth show since its opening in October 2011. The gallery operates from a large, somewhat hidden industrial space in Shoreditch.    BN Gallery, 16 Hewett Street, London EC2A 3NN 20 April - 26 May 2012 Tuesday to Saturday from 11:00 to 18:00 or by appointment More information   Tweet   http://www.netherlands-embassy.org.uk/n1reskin/calendar/event.php?i=5418 2012-04-20 18:21:20 +0100 The Institute of Historical Research (IHR) of the University of London is hosting several seminars on the Netherlands and various subjects on Dutch culture and history. Seminars are free and open to all - advance booking is not required, though we advise you to check their website each week for room or programme changes and the full seminar programme.   Upcoming lectures on the Netherlands - Spring Term 2012 - 27 January 2012, Oscar Gelderblom (Utrecht): The tortured emergence of the world's first joint-stock company: the Dutch East India Company (1595-1623) This is a joint event with Low Countries History and The Economic and Social History of the Pre-Modern World, 1500-1800 seminar Venue: Torrington Room 104, Senate House, South block, 1st floor - 24 February 2012, Gillian Fleming (LSE): A "disordered house": The marriage of Philip of Burgundy and Juana of Castile (1496-1506) Venue: Torrington Room 104, Senate House, South block, 1st floor - 9 March 2012, Judith Pollmann (Leiden): On Furies. The Logistics of Sacking in the Dutch Revolt Venue: ST274, 2nd floor Stewart House   Upcoming lectures on the Netherlands - Summer Term 2012 - 11 May 2012, Alastair Duke (Southampton): A protean phenomenon: the patriots in the late sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century Low Countries Venue: Torrington Room 104, Senate House, South block, 1st floor - 25 May 2012, Philo Bregstein (Paris/Amsterdam): Jacques Presser between history and literature Venue: Torrington Room 104, Senate House, South block, 1st floor   For more information visit the IHR website.   Tweet   http://www.netherlands-embassy.org.uk/n1reskin/calendar/event.php?i=3924 2011-10-25 12:31:36 +0100 The leading international event for fashion graduates is coming this summer - Sunday 10th - Wednesday 13th June 2012.

 Celebrating the work of more than 1,000 of the finest BA degree Fashion students from 40 Universities across the UK and overseas, Graduate Fashion Week is the ultimate event representing the future of fashion. 

 Providing a showcase of the year's best new graduating fashion talent under one roof for potential employers, national and international media and industry, GFW is the largest graduate fashion event in the world. 

 Graduates in Design, Marketing, New Media , Communications, PR, Buying, Pattern Cutting, Styling, Journalism, Illustration and Visual Merchandising are all on show at Graduate Fashion Week. 

From Stella McCartney to Christopher Bailey (who won the very first GFW Designer of the Year Award) and the unsung heroes who populate design studios, buying offices, publishing houses and creative agencies all over the world, GFW has introduced some of the industry's brightest stars. 

 Industry Registration and the new Graduate Fashion Week website are launching soon

. Further details or to find out how to get involved please email enquiries@gfw.org.uk or go to www.gfw.org.uk.     Tweet   http://www.netherlands-embassy.org.uk/n1reskin/calendar/event.php?i=5205 2012-03-15 10:28:14 +0100 Pyramids of Makkum - Royal Tichelaar Makkum Gallery Libby Sellers is pleased to present Pyramids of Makkum, a collection of sculptural tulip pyramids designed by Hella Jongerius, Jurgen Bey, Studio Job and Alexander van Slobbe and produced by the venerable ceramics company Royal Tichelaar Makkum.   Having undertaken a demanding restoration project on original 17th century flower pyramids at Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum, Royal Tichelaar Makkum engaged a handful of leading contemporary Dutch designers to embark on a challenging project of its own. Using a replica of the restored flower pyramid as their starting point, each of the designers was invited to create their own modern reinterpretation of the grandiose tower. The results display the remarkable virtuosity of the designers involved, while hinting at the surrealism and changing perception of the object’s purpose.   Inspired by the porcelain imported from China by The Dutch East India Company, original 17th century flower pyramids were considered the finest example of Delftware for the period. These highly aristocratic vases reached the height of their popularity in 1690’s and became synonymous with design patronage and technical expertise. Only a few of such vases have survived, some made for Mary Stuart, spouse to Dutch Stadtholder Prince William III, who in 1689 ascended the British throne. Royal Tichelaar Makkum’s contemporary interpretations are an impressive presentation of five sublime artifacts (the traditional replica and the four interpretations) all made in the original Faience technique.   The presentation at Gallery Libby Sellers is timed to coincide with both Collect Contemporary Craft Fair and the Royal Horticultural Society’s annual flower show in Chelsea. For Sellers, a long-time supporter and collaborator with Makkum, not only is the exhibition a chance to revisit the beauty of these unique and remarkable works, but also it is an opportunity to present the entire series in London for the first time.   Gallery Libby Sellers 10 May – 16 June 2012   Opening hours: Tuesday – Friday, 11am – 6pm Saturday, 11am – 4pm   Tweet   http://www.netherlands-embassy.org.uk/n1reskin/calendar/event.php?i=5306 2012-04-12 14:55:44 +0100 On the 1st of March 2012 Dutch artist Tord Boontje will open his first shop and studio in London. The shop is located at 23 Charlotte Road, Shoreditch, London and will be a unique place where many of his designs and products will be presented together. These products range from crystal chandeliers to mass-produced tableware, textiles and lighting; from the extravagant and experimental to everyday affordable products.   The design studio will be located in the same space and it is also where one-off pieces of furniture and lighting will be made on location, thus creating special items that will be exclusive to the Tord Boontje shop. The shopʼs unique interior will be an installation of furniture, lights, textiles, objects, jewellery, and projection, creating a rich environment and a complete experience; a fulfilling place to come and visit. In addition to the existing website, Tord Boontje will also launch an online store in mid March: shop.tordboontje.com   Tord Boontje was born in Enschede, Netherlands in 1968. He first studied industrial design at the Design Academy in Eindhoven (1986 - 1991), and followed this with a Masters from the Royal College of Art (1992 - 1994). Studio Tord Boontje was founded in 1996 in London.   1 March 2012 Store open for trade 15 March 2012 Online store goes live 29 March 2012 Opening party   Address: 23 Charlotte Road, Shoreditch, London, EC2A 3PB Telephone: +44 (0)20 7717 5398 – From 1st March Email: shop@tordboontje.com Twitter: http://twitter.com/tordboontje Web: http://shop.tordboontje.com   For more information or to book an appointment, please contact Karen Cheung, email: karen@tordboontje.com.   Tweet   http://www.netherlands-embassy.org.uk/n1reskin/calendar/event.php?i=4527 2012-01-30 13:24:48 +0100 Part of City of London Festival 2012: Wishful Singing a cappella vocal group   Music from many countries and many centuries, showing the range and versatility of this remarkable group of singers in close harmony: from Lassus and Morley to Paul Patterson’s "Time Piece" and Arnie’s "Tulips from Amsterdam."   Wishful Singing City of London Festival 2012 5 July 2012 Dutch Church   Tickets: £15 unreserved seating. Priority booking for Festival Friends opens on 4th April.   More information on Wishful Singing More information on the City of London Festival 2012   Tweet   http://www.netherlands-embassy.org.uk/n1reskin/calendar/event.php?i=5575 2012-04-24 18:23:29 +0100 Master Paintings Week London brings together the most distinguished names in Old Master galleries along with auction houses. It offers an extraordinarily wide selection of European paintings dating from the 15th to the 20th centuries.    New to Master Paintings Week in 2012 are Haldane Fine Art, Noortman Master Paintings and Theo Johns Fine Art Ltd. Each of the twenty-three participating galleries, all of which are in the heart of London's Mayfair and St James's, will stage a special exhibition or event or unveil new discoveries, emphasizing the unrivaled expertise to be found in London.   This years' Master Paintings Week will be held from 29 June - 6 July 2012.   More information on the website of the Master Paintings Week London.   Tweet   http://www.netherlands-embassy.org.uk/n1reskin/calendar/event.php?i=5265 2012-03-30 17:19:06 +0100 On 03 May 2012 Art Sensus will introduce Dutch artist Jan Maarten Voskuil to London in an exhibition titled Non-Alphabetical Order. On display will be his latest series of paintings, 4 Squeezed Squares, Dynamic Monochromes and The Alphabet of Silly Colours. These bodies of work all deconstruct painting itself, in both a consistent and elaborate way. They rationally emphasise the formal aspects of colour, size and deformation, whilst embodying dynamism and sensuality.    Voskuil’s work transcends the boundaries between the processes of design, sculpture, painting and installation art. Constructing his own stretcher frames, he manipulates the wood into organic curves and geometric shapes, then stretches linen over the forms, creating a spatially three-dimensional artwork. These minimalist canvases, painted solid white or with large monochrome shapes, create a dynamic surface without the need for further ornamentation or narrative.    Voskuil gave up figurative painting over 15 years ago when the urge to explore artistically how things were made, rather than why, took over. Unsatisfied with the two dimensional surface, Voskuil began experimenting with the physical composition of the painted surface. Over time, as his skills in bending the wooden stretchers became more refined, this led to the discovery of countless possibilities of manipulating the canvas.    Voskuil’s oeuvre follows in the footsteps of minimalist artists of the 1960s such as Enrico Castellani, Agostino Bonalumi and Lucio Fontana, who all experimented with altering the traditional canvas. While his predecessors saw their work as a break with or rejection of painting itself, Voskuil differs in that he still thinks of his work as painting, always using linen and acrylic paint as his primary materials.    The first of Voskuil’s series to be unveiled, 4 Squeezed Squares, is comprised of large-scale square modular pieces with the canvas of each individual module ‘squeezed’ differently, then fitted together to create the final work. The modules Voskuil creates, which he refers to as ‘spare parts’, exemplify the simple geometric skeleton that sets up the spatial frame of the painting. The colour white is used exclusively for these works to emphasize the play of light and shadow on the canvas surface as well as his ambivalence towards the narrative nature of colour. Conversely, Dynamic Monochromes consists of broken circles, consisting of uneven parts which are reconstructed into lozenge-like modules placed together to form ‘splashy monochromes’.    A similar contrast can be seen in The Alphabet of Silly Colours. For this edition of smaller works, Voskuil creates a circular canvas, and subdivides it into 4 equal sections. As an origami painting he explores the possibilities, folding each section into a new highly graphical shape. The series of 17 shapes anesthetises all the possibilities within Voskuil’s own rules. The title of the work underlines his ambivalence towards colour, as something which he wishes to distance himself from.    Aside of these three new series, Voskuil will also show recent ‘Pointless’ works. These works, which he started in 2007, are from a previous exhibition titled The Point Is, There is No Point.    Born in 1964 in Arnhem, The Netherlands, Jan Maarten Voskuil received his Master of Arts from University of Groningen and pursued his post-graduate studies at the Ateliers Arnhem, Art Academy Arnhem in The Netherlands. Voskuil has exhibited widely in Europe, the United States and Australia, and his work is held in the collections of the Frans Halsmuseum Haarlem, the Stedelijk Museum Schiedam, as well as numerous others.    Art Sensus 7 Howick Place  London SW1P 1BP  +44 (0)20 7630 9585  www.artsensus.com    04 May – 13 July 2012 Tuesday to Friday, 10am – 6pm  Saturday, 11am – 5pm   Tweet   http://www.netherlands-embassy.org.uk/n1reskin/calendar/event.php?i=5574 2012-04-24 16:59:39 +0100 Anneke van Giersbergen’s long-awaited album “Everything Is Changing” is slated for a January 2012 release on PIAS Recordings. The first single “Feel Alive” preceded the full-length disc in September 2011, and the accompanying video became an Internet sensation.   “Everything Is Changing” was recorded mainly at her home studio in the Netherlands and at Ultrasound Studios, Braga (PT) with production done by Daniel Cardoso. This album is the first one to be released under her own name and promises to reveal an entirely new side of this multi-talented singer.   Anneke describes the creative process surrounding the album as ‘finding my own identity as a solo artist’. It reflects the changes she’s been going through in recent years, resulting in a unique blend of upbeat rock, electronic sounds and of course Van Giersbergen’s trademark heartfelt singing style.   When Anneke van Giersbergen started her solo career back in 2007, she had already been the frontwoman of Dutch metal pioneers The Gathering for 13 years. Together with her band Agua de Annique she released several outstanding albums to both critical and popular acclaim in a short period of time which immediately put her in the picture as a solo artist.   She was also involved in several interesting co-operations with the likes of Within Temptation (“Black Symphony” 2008), eccentric multi-talent Devin Townsend (“Addicted” 2009) and long-time friends Anathema (“Falling Deeper” 2011).   Over the last few years, Anneke van Giersbergen has been exploring her musical boundaries to the fullest. In 2008, together with Dutch A-list bands Racoon and Bløf, she recorded a song in her native language: “Als je ooit nog eens terug kan”, which shot straight to #1 on the Dutch charts. Recently she captured the eyes and hearts of a huge audience through her version of U2's "All I want is You" at the popular daily Dutch prime-time television show “De Wereld Draait Door”. People were talking about it for days afterwards.   For four years, Anneke van Giersbergen has been touring successfully as a solo artist, both in her home country and across the globe. She has performed from Chile to Lebanon & from Mexico to Finland, as well as support for The Smashing Pumpkins and a special presentation in front of H.H. the Dalai Lama.    Her new album, “Everything Is Changing”, not only reveals new strengths in her recognizable style, but really kicks it up a notch when it comes to taking Anneke’s talents to a higher level, both lyrically and vocally. Have a listen, and everything might change.   Anneke van Giersbergen will be touring the UK this coming September.   September 19 2012 UK - LONDON @ Borderline Tickets September 20 2012 UK - MANCHESTER @ Roadhouse Tickets September 21 2012 UK - YORK @ Fibbers Tickets September 22 2012 UK - GLASGOW @ ABC2 Tickets September 23 2012 UK - BIRMINGHAM @ Academy 3 Tickets   Website Anneke van Giersbergen More information on the UK tour   Tweet   http://www.netherlands-embassy.org.uk/n1reskin/calendar/event.php?i=5503 2012-04-23 15:47:29 +0100