Last year, Marieke Peeters won the Piket Art Prize in the Painting category. The jury was impressed with her immersive installations and the way in which she enters a still uncharted territory between visual art and theatre. “People react to my work in a very extreme way,” Marieke says. “I find that fascinating.”
Dancer and choreographer Isabelle Chaffaud (MEYER-CHAFFAUD, CLOUD/Danslab) joined the Piket Art Prizes jury in 2017, succeeding Cora Bos-Kroese. She has completed the set term and retired from the jury at the end of 2022. “It’s important for a jury member to be able to change cap,” Isabelle says.
The names of the winners of the Piket Art Prizes have been announced. The lucky ones are Marieke Peeters (Painting), Isla Clarke (Dance), and Joep Hendrikx (Dramatic Arts). All three receive an 8,000 Euros cash prize, as well as a unique sculpture designed and created by The Hague artist Kim David Bots. The Piket Jury Prize goes to 1646 Experimental Art Space, a project space for contemporary art located in the Boekhorststraat in The Hague. The Piket Art Prizes are an annual prize for three promising young professional artists in the fields of painting, dance, and dramatic arts.
Marieke Peeters, one of this year’s nominees in the Painting category, is an artist who combines installations and performances. Her work is surprising and exciting, but also has a dark edge to it…
Isla Clarke, one of this year’s nominees in the Dance category, is a trans woman who is still in the middle of her transition. Isla received praise from the jury for her courage in doing her transition through her career “without stepping aside and apologizing for it.” She has used the summer months to move further on this path and is now taking it easy to recover from surgery.
Janne Schipper, one of the 2022 nominees in the Painting category, commutes between the Netherlands and Denmark. “My partner lives in Odense and I have a studio there, too,” says Janne, who is currently busy preparing for Prospects, a Mondriaan Fund exhibition which will take place in 2023 during Art Rotterdam.
Joep Hendrikx, one of the 2022 nominees in the Dramatic Arts category, is doing not one but two performances at this year’s travelling theatre festival De Parade. In addition, he has directed his first performance for children and, together with Jos Nargy (who won the Piket Art Prize in the Dramatic Arts category in 2018), continues to immerse himself in De Poezieboys. On top of all this, Coproducers, the Netherlands platform for studio theatres, have awarded De Poezieboys support for three seasons. “This feels like an enormous incentive”, Joep says.
Daniele Formica, one of this year’s nominees in the Painting category, is on the move. He is not only leaving studio complex De Besturing in redevelopment area the Binckhorst, but will, mid September, also go back to his native Italy to attend a four-month special educational programme at CASTRO Residency, an international study centre located in Rome’s Trastevere area. “But I’ll definitely come back to The Hague for the Piket award ceremony in October.”
Nick Renzo Garcia feels greatly honoured to be nominated for the Piket Art Prizes in the Dramatic Arts category. He only discovered his passion for acting at the age of twenty-one after a chance visit to the theatre. “I was a late starter, and that may be the reason I have an enormous urge to prove myself. I seize every opportunity with both hands,” Nick says. He is currently working on his own performance Zwartkijker as well as preparing himself for his part in De kersentuin (The Cherry Orchard) with Toneelgroep Maastricht next year. This Saturday he is also playing Willem III during the commemoration of the murder of Johan en Cornelis De Witt in The Hague.
India Sardjoe is in top form. In May of this year the B-girl became women’s national breakdance champion and she recently received a wildcard enabling her to take part in the Red Bull BC World Final scheduled to be held in New York in November.
