Awards Program honoring Karen Zeedijk and Sander van Wettum

In this program, we introduce the laureates of the third edition of our awards program focused on the cultural ecosystem:

The Maker behind the Maker Award

It is with great pleasure that we announce Karen Zeedijk, an expert in tufting, as the winner of this year's Maker behind the Maker Award. Commissioned by artists, Zeedijk makes tapestries, rugs and textile artworks in her atelier Fabrikaat in Tilburg and as part of her decades-long profession at TextielLab, part of the TextielMuseum. The textile works are exhibited all over the world. “It's slowly beginning to dawn on me that I am allowed to receive such an honorable award. Zeedijk was nominated for this award by the Dutch visual artist Catharina van de Ven, for whom she made several rugs. Van de Ven states that Zeedijk is very dedicated to her profession as well as to the artists with whom she works, creating special working relationships in which both Zeedijk and the artist open themselves up to learning and developing by working together. Read the full press release here.

The Berry Koedam Award

We are pleased to announce that photographer Sander van Wettum is the recipient of the Berry Koedam Award. Van Wettum is a photographer and visual artist, based in Rotterdam. “Winning the Berry Koedam Award gives me the opportunity to reflect on my work as a documentation photographer,” Van Wettum shares. “
Although this might sound obvious in hindsight, I always struggled with the different ‘roles’ I take on as a photographer.Van Wettum was nominated by Maziar Afrassiabi, founder of artspace Rib in Rotterdam. Afrassiabi shares “Sander has a strong photographic vision. His ability to bring that vision into the context of a commission without either compromising his artistic voice nor the purpose of the commission is unique. Read the full press release here.

Each awardee receives a cash gift of €5,000 and will be honored in this private awards ceremony followed by a public reception held at Kunstinstituut Melly. Reserve a ticket for the reception at the link above.

In 2020, Kunstinstituut Melly celebrated its 30th anniversary by launching these awards, which recognize people whose image-making, craft, and advocacy has been central to the creation, presentation, and appreciation of contemporary art. These awards are supported by the Mondriaan Fund and ramfoundation.