Stroom Invest Lectures 2009

Susanne Altmann (GER), Hilde de Bruijn (NL), Nazli Gurlek (TR), Kit Hammonds (UK), Stefan Rusu (RO), Hans Theys (BE)

Tuesday 9 June 2009, 8 pm
Location: Hogewal 1-9, The Hague
Language: English


For the third time Stroom brings together a group of young, unsuspect and investigative curators for the so-called Invest Conference. On June 9 they will give short lectures about their ideas, ideals, practice, motivation and choices. Topics include the Turkish Pavilion at the Venice Biennial, the emerging young art scene in Moldavia, independent artist publications, and the mega artist breeding ground in Amsterdam.    

The following curators will be in The Hague for a couple of days and will each give a short presentation.

Susanne Altmann (1964) is the author of various publications and the curator of a number of international exhibitions, not only for the Center for Contemporary Art in Dresden, but also for institutes in e.g. London, Glasgow and Bratislava. In 2006 Altmann was the co-founder of art magazine hub. zur Kunst, which is published in Leipzig twice a year.

Hilde de Bruijn (1971) has been the curator of the exhibitions at SMART Project Space in Amsterdam since 2007. She worked for the symposium Forward! On the revitalization of modern architecture and curated exhibitions like Swallowing Black Maria, a solo show by Lindsay Seers. She is also a commission member of the Dutch Film Fund (since 2008) and the Mondriaan Foundation (since 2009).

Nazli Gurlek (1981) is the assistant curator of the Turkish Pavilion at this year's Venice Biennial. She is the co-founder of IM projects (an international collective of independent curators, and guest editor of contemporary art magazine Circa. Current and recent projects by Gurlek include the Unfair Project (Service Garage, Amsterdam) and Multiple Intimacy (for the 10th International Biennial of Istanbul).

Kit Hammonds (1975) is and independent curator and author. In 2004 he and Emily Pethick co-founded Publish and be Damned, the ever-growing fair and archive for artist publications, fanzines and magazines. From 2005 to 2008 he worked as a curator for the South London Gallery. As a mentor he also works for the Curating Contemporary Art program of the Royal College of Art. As an author Hammonds regularly contributes to art magazines like Art Monthly, Untitled Magazine and Tema Celeste.

Stefan Rusu (1964) is an artist and curator. He is primarily interested in the process of change in post-socialist societies. As an artist Ruso creates experimental films and documentaries. His recent activities as a curator include the project Cultural Campaign (2006-2009), about the recent changes in the cultural climate of Moldavia; Exhibition of Political Art, NOD Gallery, Prague and Museum of Art Zilina/Slovakia.

Hans Theys (1963) is the author of a large number of monographs, essays and interviews on the work of contemporary artists. He teaches at the Royal Academy of Art in Antwerp and at the KASK in Ghent, and is a frequent contributor to the magazine ART. He wrote about artists like Panamarenko, Luc Deleu / TOP Office, Michel Francois, Ann Veronica Janssens. As a curator he organized various shows in Belgium and The Netherlands. At the moment he is the temporary artistic coordinator of the artist initiative Artis in Den Bosch (NL).

Stroom Invest
This evening is part of a conference for artists and curators from The Netherlands and abroad, organized by Stroom Den Haag in concurrence with the Invest subsidies awarded by Stroom each year. This conference also comprises a program of studio visits, presentations, and informal meetings.

In addition to the organisation of exhibitions, lectures, projects and various events, Stroom is responsible for the development and execution of a subsidy program aimed at art and artists from The Hague. One of the recently introduced new subsidies is called Stroom Invest. This is a grant for young, recently graduated artists helping them in the further development of their career and stimulating their active participation in the art scene in The Hague.

studio visit as part of the Invest conferentie
photo: Mieke Meesen