Artikel over een wetenschappelijk onderzoek Gemaakt door Vicky Peers.
israel21c-artikel over conservatorenreizen (29maart2016)
Transcript of israel21c-artikel over conservatorenreizen (29maart2016)
20/06/16 18:56Dutch initiative raises the curtain on Israeli artists | ISRAEL21c
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MONDAY, JUNE 20, 2016
UNCOVERING ISRAEL
Don’t be surprised if you visit a museum, concert hall, music festival or dance venue in the
Netherlands and find Israeli artists on the bill. Holland’s events calendars are brimming with
Israeli culture.
And it’s not by chance.
#BeautyOfArt
Dutch initiative raises thecurtain on Israeli artists
‘Israeli art is world class and not enough people know about it,’says Ken Gould, director of KUNSTENISRAËL (Art and Israel).
By Viva Sarah Press | MARCH 29, 2016, 9:03 AM
Participants in a KUNSTENISRAËL trip from Holland admiring Israeli art. Photo by Bernadette van Woerkom
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KUNSTENISRAËL (Dutch for “Art and Israel”) is an independent foundation that encourages Dutch
culture venues to show the work of Israeli artists “so that the Dutch public can experience and
appreciate the full diversity of Israeli art.”
“Israeli art is world class and not enough people know about it,” Ken Gould, director of
KUNSTENISRAËL, tells ISRAEL21c. “Israel has very strong connotations — religion, conflict. Like
any country it’s pretty much only in the news when there’s bad news. And there’s so much bad
news coming out of Israel. The artists are much too good to be victim to Israel’s PR problems.”
Thanks to the foundation, musicians Tiltan, Avishai Cohen and Maureen Nehedar recently
performed in Amsterdam, Utrecht and Delft. Choreographer Itamar Serussi recently took the
stage in The Hague, Nijmegen, Tilburg and Utrecht. And Israeli visual artists Sigalit Landau, Yael
Bartana and Eyal Assulin recently exhibited at Museum Beelden aan Zeeand the Jewish Historical
Museum.
KUNSTENISRAËL’s goal is to create a broader basis for understanding Israel and its population
through cultural projects. To do this, the five-year-old organization brings leading arts
professionals – museum directors, curators, presenters and journalists – to Israel to get a first
hand taste of the cultural scene here.
Over the past five years, representatives of Cinema Zuid; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Cobra
Museum, Amstelveen; Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam; Museum Meermanno, The Hague;
Centraal Museum, Utrecht; Amsterdam Museum and others have taken part in the arts trips.
“Personally and professionally the journey was unforgettable. It has offered me the opportunity to
view the world from another perspective and to approach the complexity of Israel aspars pro toto
[representative] for our universe,” said Jacqueline Grandjean of Oude Kerk, Amsterdam, after
taking part in a KUNSTENISRAËL arts trip.
“I discovered Israeli art,” said Yvonne Ploum from Armando Museum, Utrecht. “It has also taught
me a lot about the urgent need for art, the important role it can play in the dialogue between
nations as well as between people. It also has a role in the expression of positive social
developments. This inspires me even more now, in my daily work: expressing clearly the urgent
need for art, again and again.’”
Centraal Museum director Edwin Jacobs said he came back with two very strong lessons from
Israel. “That in Israel it’s about something totally different from the clichés we get here on TV: it’s
about people” and that arts and culture are important elements in Israeli society. “Even if some of
the places we visited didn’t have a cent to spend on art, there was still art. I almost felt it was a
lesson in life.”
Grants to over 70 cultural events
Seven Dutch curators are now in Israel meeting with local artists, musicians and dancers to
discuss future collaborations.
This is the largest group of curators to take part in the initiative, and some had to be turned away.
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Dutch curators exploring the arts scene in Israel. Photo by Femke Lutgerink
“In the Dutch museum curator community, whereas we were viewed with skepticism when we
started this program, we’re now getting a much higher response rate,” Gould says.
Since KUNSTENISRAËL’s first arts trip to Israel in 2012, the perception of Israeli art among the
arts community has changed.
“Five years ago, we ran into a preconception of ‘How is this Israeli art?’ It was a tunnel vision of
what people expected art from Israel to contain,” says Gould, over a Skype call from his home in
Amsterdam. “Now, the level of consciousness is incredibly raised and the expectation is raised.
They expect art from Israel will be at the same level as art from Holland, England, Germany or
elsewhere in Europe.”
KUNSTENISRAËL also offers grants to projects by artists and art institutions — including dance,
photography, visual arts, music, literature and film — to promote the diversity of Israeli art to the
Dutch audience.
To date, the foundation has handed out more than 70 grants (totaling more than €300,000) for
presentations of Israeli arts in the Netherlands.
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“The Netherlands is very small, about the same size as Israel, so when you give out 70 grants and
spread it out around the country, it’s really noticeable,” says Gould, who wears two hats as both a
cantor and culture director. “The Netherlands also has the highest concentration of world-class
museums and venues and many of them serve as launching pads for international careers.”
Promoting Israel’s culture scene is a personal mission for Gould. After a successful international
career as a baroque singer, the American-raised Dutch citizen directed Amsterdam’s International
Jewish Music Festival from 2007 to 2012. In 2011, he was appointed director of KUNSTENISRAËL.
“I like to see art as a form of inoculation,” he says. “A lot of people still don’t have an opinion about
Israel. By having their first pre-exposure to Israel through the arts, they become vaccinated
against a tunnel vision. They immediately see Israel with a wider vision. And that is what art can
do. By reaching a wide audience we’re catching a lot of people before they form a ‘for’ or ‘against’
opinion. Israel is a land of art. If people have that association then we’re making progress.”
But for Gould the best progress will actually be when KUNSTENISRAËL replicates itself around
the world.
“I hope that this continues not only here but elsewhere,” he says. “It’s a great way to get to know
Israel.”