03 april 2017 | Nieuws
We’ve recently said goodbye to not only our chairman of the jury, but to some of the expert jurors themselves as well. Have a look at what they thought of their experiences with the Piket Art Prizes.
Sprong, artistic director the Dutch Don’t Dance Division in The Hague, remembers the lively discussions the judges had amongst each other. “Everyone was so interested in each other’s art form. Someone from the world of dance may look very differently towards painting and drama, as opposed to someone who’s from that world themselves. The judges really learn from one another.” He believes art should always be about the artists themselves and what they think is important. “You don’t do it for the money and it takes a lot of hard work.”
The widening of his cultural horizon was by far the most rewarding part of his stint as chairman of the Piket Art Prizes in 2016, remembers Sander Uitdenbogaard, now director of the Mauritshuis in The Hague, the museum best known for Vermeer’s ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’. “The other judges helped me to sharpen my view and to learn how to distinguish the good and the bad in a certain discipline of art you normally don’t surround yourself with.” He would like to advise future judges to get themselves acquainted with all nominees of the Piket Art Prizes. “This will help put the other judges’ commentary and considerations into perspective.”
Edwin Buijsen, head of collections at the Mauritshuis, has noticed young artists nowadays don’t limit themselves to a brush and paint, but utilize many other materials to construct their art. As is the case for Debbie Young, winner of the Piket Art Prize for painting in 2016. Buijsen: “They are free in using different resources and techniques to express themselves with. There are some artists who just paint, but usually they experiment with a lot of things. They cannot be pinned down anymore.”
Dutch actress Monique van der Werff was honored to have been chosen as a judge for the Piket Art Prizes in 2014. “I thought the vision of the foundation of the prizes, a focus on young, entrepreneurial jury members, was really cool.” She thoroughly enjoyed the meetings between the prize winners and the judges afterwards. “You get to experience how much of a boost a prize like this can give an artist’s career or confidence, and that it can really support someone. Then you know you didn’t just judge them, you truly have helped them.”
Cora Bos-Kroese, former dancer of the renowned Dutch dance company Nederlands Dans Theater, has fond memories of her time as judge for the category dance for the Piket Art Prizes. She remembers one moment specifically; when NDT-pianist Jan Schouten was awarded the Piket Jury Prize for his enduring musical support of the company and the Dutch conservatory, where he played during dance classes. “I also know him from my time at the conservatory. If you had a bad day he would always joke around and make it ‘gezellig’. During the award show of the Piket Art Prizes he was asked to play, and totally did not expect to get this prize.”
