Hartwig x Melly
The Hartwig Art Production | Collection Fund (2020/2021) is the first edition of a special project bringing together artists, post academic programmes, residency organizations, and presentation institutions in the Netherlands. The collaborative project was conceived in response to the critical moment artists and institutions are currently facing during the Covid pandemic, underlining their importance in advancing and articulating an understanding of our present. The first edition sees a culturally lively and diverse range of institutions engaged in collaboration, collectively defining the parameters of the project.
The curatorial team of this edition of The Hartwig Art Production | Collection Fund consists of Sharmyn Cruz Rivera, Iris Ferrer, Aude Christel Mgba, Jo-Lene Ong and Rita Ouédraogo, was selected by De Appel and Framer Framed – both Amsterdam institutions, which actively promote an emerging and diverse group of curators.
The shortlist of the participating artists was drawn from a longlist of 35 artists proposed by the post academic programmes and residency organisations, with whom they have previously worked: De Ateliers, Amsterdam; BAK, basis voor actuele kunst, Utrecht; CBK Zuidoost, Bijlmer; If I Can’t Dance I Don’t Want To Be A Part Of Your Revolution, Amsterdam; Jan Van Eyck Akademie, Maastricht; Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, Amsterdam; Tent, Rotterdam.
The newly produced works by the 15 artists will be exhibited from September 2021 onwards across five participating institutions. The works exhibited will be donated to the Dutch national art collection (the “Rijkscollectie”).
At Kunstinstituut Melly, included in our 2020-2021 exhibition program are works by artists Joy Mariama Smith, Maria Pask, and Kent Chan. These artists were selected by the institution's director, Sofía Hernández Chong Cuy, and its curator of exhibitions and art commissions, Rosa de Graaf, in conversation with the collaborating institutions. Jo-Lene Ong was appointed co-curator of this presentation, and Pilar Mata Dupont as its producer.
The artist selection at our institution was motivated by these artists' practices, which movingly interweave issues of a political nature in their works. Whether informed by social histories or social practices, their works creatively use the medium of exhibitions to perform, stage and expand connections with the general public as much as public affairs.
Presented concurrently at the four other participating institutions are, Ana Guedes and Em’Kal Eyongakpa who will develop and present work at Oude Kerk in Amsterdam. Vleeshal in Middelburg will present works by Mariana Castillo Deball, Saeeda Saeed, and Geo Wyeth. Stroom Den Haag will exhibit Neo Matloga, Anna Dasović and Kevin Osepa, and the Casco Art Institute: Working for the Commons (Utrecht) will exhibit Family Connection, Ola Hassanain, Sara Sejin Chang (Sara van der Heide) and Marielle Videler.
The Hartwig Art Production | Collection Fund was established in 2020 and is part of the Hartwig Art Foundation.
The Hartwig Art Production | Collection Fund stimulates experimentation and creativity at the highest level. Every year the fund supports a group of artists in the creation of new and ambitious work. The artworks are eventually bought by the Hartwig Art Foundation and donated to the Dutch State (Collectie Nederland). In this way, the fund makes a lasting social contribution.
For the Special Project 2020-2021 collaborations have been established with presentation institutions in the Netherlands. Besides Kunstinstituut Melly (Rotterdam) presentations by a total of 15 artists can be seen at Stroom Den Haag (Den Haag), Oude Kerk (Amsterdam) , Vleeshal (Middelburg) and Casco Art Institute (Utrecht).
