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TALENT PLATFORM

Discover emerging creative talents who are active in the fields of design, architecture and digital culture, supported by Creative Industries Fund NL. The Talent Platform is showcasing what artistic and professional growth entails and serves as a fount of information for other creatives and for commissioners.

GRANT PROGRAMME FOR TALENT DEVELOPMENT

Talent development is one of Creative Industries Fund NL's spearheads. The Fund awards 12-month grants to up-and-coming creative talents every year, providing the opportunity to enrich artistic and professional aspects of their practice to optimum effect. Participants must have graduated within the last four years and must be active in one of the diverse disciplines of the creative industries, from fashion design to graphic design, from architecture to digital culture. The Fund's online Talent Platform portrays all the individual practices of designers who have received a grant since 2013.

2021

In 35 1-minute film portraits, you get to know talented designers, makers, artists and architects, who received a talent development grant in 2020/2021, in a personal and intimate way. Concept: Koehorst in 't Veld and Roel van Tour (design Koehorst in 't Veld with Sjors Rigters, video Roel van Tour, interview Maarten Westerveen, soundtrack Volodymyr Antoniv). During the Dutch Design Week 2021, the film portraits were shown in an installation designed by Koehorst in 't Veld in the Klokgebouw, Eindhoven.

Publication Talent Platform 2021

TALENT PLATFORM 2021
TALENT PLATFORM 2021
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ESSAYS

Over the past seven years, the Creative Industries Fund NL has supported over 250 young designers with the Talent Development grant. In three long reads by Jeroen Junte, we look for the shared mentality of this design generation.

2020

'Talent Tours' provides via short video portraits insight into the thinking and practice of 39 emerging design talents, each of whom is concerned with topical social themes. What are their motives, their doubts and ambitions, and what values do they put first in their work? From 18 to 25 October 2020, the Creative Industries Fund NL presented the video portraits and daily livestreams with new talent during the Dutch Design Week.

Publication Talent Platform 2020

TALENT PLATFORM 2020
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2019

Twenty-five minute-long film portraits introduce you in a personal and intimate way to the talented designers, makers, artists and architects who received a year-long stipendum over 2019/2020. The concept and production are the work of Studio Moniker. The film portraits are part of a programme together with performances by the talents in the MU artspace during Dutch Design Week 2019.

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TALENT PLATFORM 2019
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2018

Twenty-four minute-long film portraits introduce you in a personal and intimate way to the talented designers, makers, artists and architects who received a year-long stipend over 2017/2018. The concept and production are the work of Studio Moniker. The film portraits are part of an installation in the Veem Building during Dutch Design Week 2018.

TALENT PLATFORM 2018
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ESSAY: Longread Talent #3

Me and the other
In the past seven years, the Creative Industries Fund NL has supported over 250 young designers with the Talent Development grant. In three longreads, we look for the shared mentality of this design generation, which has been shaped by the great challenges of our time. They examine how they deal with themes such as technology, climate, privacy, inclusiveness and health. In this third and final longread, the focus is no longer on personal success and individual expression but on ‘the other’....

2017

The fourth edition of In No Particular Order during the Dutch Design Week 2017 presented a collective statement about the pluriformity of contemporary design practice. Nine installations addressed the themes of Position, Inspiration, Working Environment, Representation, Money, Happiness, Language, Discourse and Market. The presentation in the Van Abbe Museum was curated by Jules van den Langenberg, who was himself a participant in the Programme for Talent Development in 2017.

TALENT PLATFORM 2017
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2016

In the third edition of In No Particular Order in 2016, curator Agata Jaworska offered insight into what it means to run a design practice. How do designers create the circumstances in which they work? What can we learn from their methodologies and routines? The designers reflected on these questions in audio recordings and with sketches. Together they give a personal impression of the development of their artistic practices.

In No Particular Order 2016

TALENT PLATFORM 2016
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2015

The second edition of the In No Particular Order presentation was staged in the Veem Building during Dutch Design Week 2015. Curator Agata Jaworska focused on the processes, points of departure and visions behind the materialization of work, using a database of images from the personal archives of the designers. What is it that drives the modern-day designer? What are their sources of inspiration, motivations and ambitions?

In No Particular Order 2015

TALENT PLATFORM 2015
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2014

What makes someone a talent? How is talent shaped? These were the pivotal questions for the first In No Particular Order exhibition in the Schellens Factory during Dutch Design Week 2014. Besides presenting the work of individual talents, curator Agata Jaworska revealed trends and shared similarities as well.

In No Particular Order 2014

TALENT PLATFORM 2014
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essays
essays

Dancing with trouble

THE 2022 BATCH WAS PRESENTED DURING DUTCH DESIGN WEEK THROUGH THE PROGRAMME DANCING WITH TROUBLE, A THEME THAT IS TAILOR-MADE FOR THIS GROUP OF UP-AND-COMING DESIGNERS AND MAKERS.

In her 2016 book Staying with the Trouble: Making Kin in the Chthulucene philosopher and theorist Donna Haraway suggests that, in building the future, mankind should not get caught up in fixing systems that are known to be obsolete. Instead, she suggests to wildly imagine beyond the known. By being present and by bonding with a variety of others, in unpredictable or surprising combinations and collaborations. For her, staying with the trouble means that we as humans do not just need solutions, but most of all need each other.

What is being felt in this year’s group of up-annd-coming creatives is the search for the collective and the need to go beyond the boundaries of design disciplines. But also the messiness that trouble represents and the freedom it gives to experiment. They look at the world beyond solutionism. Beyond future scenarios, they courageously embrace the possibility of having no end point, no solution or no future at all. Yet, this does not cause paralysis or defeat. The talents dare to dance with life and trouble. Firmly grounded in the here and now, they experience, experiment, question and navigate the unknown. The approaches differ but are connected by movement. Moving forward, inward, backward or through, constantly making new connections, changing angles, perspectives and positions, without a pre-set outcome. The group distinguishes itself by this movement that could be interpreted as a continuous dance – agile, soft, fluid and daring – with the profound troubles we face today.

The emerging talents share a holistic perspective and prefer to design an imagined elsewhere or part of the process rather than an object for the sake of it. We see the designers turning to ancient or ancestral knowledge, to imagine how reconnecting with land, soil and nature could offer alternative ways of existing and belonging. Some artists seek to create connections with a more varied group of beings, including non-human and digital entities, to understand the world and mankind’s position in it. Several explore the human skill-set, and how feelings as opposed to thoughts can be a valuable and valid source of knowledge while navigating the future. Others imagine what our future surroundings – physical, digital and hybrid – could look like, and what behavior we may need to master to exist in these spaces.

While all dance to the beat of their own drum, the talents are connected by the idea that we are not alone in dealing with the challenges of our time. On the contrary: they show a deep-rooted conviction that everything is connected and that we may be hopeful, as long as we have each other. But most of all, they inspire us to see the silver lining. Instead of living a life of worry about the past or future, we can choose to be here, now. Trouble is a given, but life is a dance floor.


INTERVIEW DANCING WITH TROUBLE

DANCING WITH TROUBLE HAS BEEN COMPILED BY EVA VAN BREUGEL (AGOG AND URBAN ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME MAKER), ESTHER MUÑOZ GROOTVELD (PROGRAMME MAKER AND STRATEGIC CONSULTANT AT THE INTERSECTION OF FASHION, DESIGN, ART AND SOCIETY), AND MANIQUE HENDRICKS (CURATOR, WRITER AND RESEARCHER IN THE FIELD OF CONTEMPORARY ART, VISUAL AND DIGITAL CULTURE). MARIEKE LADRU AND SHARVIN RAMJAN, BOTH ASSOCIATED WITH THE TALENT DEVELOPMENT GRANT SCHEME OF THE FUND, SPOKE WITH THE THREE PROGRAMME MAKERS.

HOW DO YOU SEE THE IMPORTANCE OF TALENT DEVELOPMENT?

EB ‘I think talent development is essential. We are facing huge transitions in the field of housing, energy, water, greening and sustainability; in short, a changing society and culture. We need a new vanguard to effectively take on this challenge. The new generation can bring a fresh perspective and different approaches.’

MH ‘The challenges are relevant professionally, but are also issues we need to relate to as human beings. And that’s quite demanding, also for these young makers. While the first years following graduation are already quite challenging. That’s why the talent development grant is so important. Besides offering time and funding, it gives the recipients the opportunity to develop focus, to present yourself to the world, and to engage in collaborations and forge connections.’

EMG ‘One of the important values of the grant is that it enables talented makers to meet each other. That way they can move ahead together, which builds confidence. Talent is often the vanguard since they still have a certain open-mindedness. They look toward the future with hope, and move toward the future with boldness and freedom. I think that’s wonderful to see.’

WHAT TYPIFIES THESE MAKERS?

MH ‘The hope that Esther refers to is certainly striking. These makers do not envisage a dystopian future. They are aware of living and working in a complicated time, but they want to ride the waves. Being part of a collective is an important part of it. That’s why the programme was titled Dancing with Trouble. Each individual chooses their own rhythm, but they are in this together.’

EB ‘Many makers focus on personal themes such as identity, queer community and diaspora, but also engage with the current crises in the world concerning the climate, the changing landscape, available agrarian land and migration. Who has the right to claim a certain space? That’s a relevant question in a physical sense, but also philosophically and culturally. Design and research interrogate the status quo by finding new ways to look at what’s here now.’

MH ‘The lived experience often takes centre stage. How can you communicate this? This is attempted for instance by means of technology, enabling the user – or the audience – to empathise with others, to share experiences and to build communities. It involves creating and appreciating other forms of knowledge transfer.’

EMG ‘What seems to characterise this group of upcoming makers is a holistic approach and a desire to connect with the environment and the future. Designers are working on shaping and developing relationships and connections. The physical object often seems to be of secondary importance; what really matters is stimulating a dialogue or change process.’

EB ‘The emphasis is often on the process and the experiment, with less concern for an end product or goal. I also notice that these talents show a very adaptive approach to the current time of transition.’

DOES THIS IMPLY ANY PARTICULAR CHALLENGES?

EMG ‘The absence of a tangible end result can make it more difficult to present a story. Of course a picture is worth a thousand words; but projects that address complex issues are often hard to capture in language. For some designs, there simply isn’t any vocabulary yet.’

EB ‘Perhaps it’s also easier to work on a concept, and in this phase of your professional practice it might be difficult to take a certain position and then to materialise this in a product or end point. But then this might also be a particular quality of the new generation!’

HOW MIGHT THE EMERGENCE OF HYBRID PRACTICES AFFECT THE FUTURE OF THE DESIGN FIELD IN RELATION TO THE VISUAL ARTS?

EMG ‘The connection with visual arts is quite particular for the Dutch design sector. Designers are often trained at art educational institutes that are all about artistic expression. So it’s no surprise that the distinction between design and visual art isn’t always clear-cut. What I find more interesting is how makers are increasingly investigating other disciplines such as biology or geology. This leads to collaboration projects in which the designer acts as the linchpin.’

EB ‘Designers and artists are increasingly adopting interdisciplinary approaches, and are developing more rapidly than the underlying systems. This causes some complications in the work field. For example, grant schemes often presuppose that designers can be categorised in terms of discipline. And having a complex profile can also make it difficult to obtain commissions.’

EMG ‘Indeed, a hybrid practice can be difficult to pigeonhole. Certainly in the world of institutions, it can be hard for these practices to fit in. The makers face questions such as: how do I claim my position in the field? How do I demonstrate the relevance of my work? And how can I obtain funding for my work? This can be difficult for design research, which doesn’t have a clearly projected end result. Not many clients are willing to accommodate experimentation. These designers need to think carefully about the partners in industry

and other disciplines that they want to involve in their work.’

CAN YOU TELL US A BIT ABOUT THE FIVE THEMES THAT MAKE UP DANCING WITH TROUBLE?

EMG ‘We distinguished five themes that inform and connect the different presentations and performances during the Dutch Design Week 2022. The theme of Sensing Forward pertains to the increasing acknowledgement of emotions and experiences as a valuable and valid source of knowledge. A good example is the work by product designer Boey Wang, who explores how you can design on the basis of touch and feeling. Beyond Bodies is about no longer seeing the human being as central but learning to listen to nature and other entities. Thus, Dasha Tsapenko offers a glimpse of the dressed body in the future by examining how we would dress if our items of clothing were living beings. Relating to Land(scapes) focuses on future landscapes and the new skills and behaviour we need to develop to live and navigate communally. For example, Lieke Jildou de Jong examined what would be the best diet with a view to the soil. Longing to Belong addresses the sense of rootlessness that many people have in this hyper-individualist era. What does it mean to “feel at home”, and how can designers contribute to a sense of togetherness? Finally, Power to the Personal focuses on practices in which personal stories play an important role.’

MH ‘These themes reflect the mood and the movement apparent among this group of designers and makers. It is special to see so many new ideas juxtaposed. And the fact that this group also consists of makers that were not previously represented in the sector is cause for optimism.’

Longread Talent #1
Me and my practice
How design talents (have to) reinvent themselves

Over the past seven years, the Creative Industries Fund NL has supported over 250 young designers with the Talent Development grant. In three longreads, we look for the shared mentality of this design generation, which has been shaped by the great challenges of our time. In doing so, they examine how they deal with themes such as technology, climate, privacy, inclusiveness and health. In this first longread: the in-depth reflection on the field and place of their own practice in it. The entrenched principles of fashion, design and architecture are questioned and enriched with new tools, techniques, materials and platforms.

The Dirty Design Manifesto by Marjanne van Helvert is a fiery argument against the fact that the production of many design objects causes so much pollution. It also takes a stand against tempting design products, without individuality or intrinsic value, fuelling consumption. The manifesto focuses not only on manufacturers and consumers but also on designers who pay scant attention to sustainability, inequality and other pressing social issues. In short, it is a j’accuse against design’s darker aspects.

Marjanne van Helvert, The Responsible Object: A History of Design Ideology for the Future
Marjanne van Helvert, The Responsible Object: A History of Design Ideology for the Future

As well as being a critic, Van Helvert is also a textile designer and developed Dirty Clothes, a unisex collection of used clothing. In 2016, to further advance her critical vision, she received a talent development grant from the Creative Industries Fund NL. They award this €25,000 subsidy annually to about 30 young designers. Van Helvert used the support to write The Responsible Object: A History of Design Ideology for the Future, in which she thoroughly examines various design philosophies, testing them for durability and applicability now and in the near future. Unsurprisingly, the book was convincing in design alone, executed in a clean grid and a powerful black, white and orange palette. In addition, Van Helvert’s writing demonstrates she is an astute thinker and conscientious researcher.

Sabine Marcelis, a library of materials
Sabine Marcelis, a library of materials

HEALING WAR WOUNDS

Van Helvert’s approach is indicative of a design generation who no longer cast their critical eye solely on their individual practice but on the entire sector. This trend is clearly evident when we look at the various cohorts of Talent Development Scheme grant recipients over the years. Together, these design cohorts provide a current snapshot of the creative industry.

Since the Talent Development Scheme’s launch in 2014, some 250 young designers have drawn on this opportunity to professionalise. In the first few years, the participants mainly focused on an in-depth reflection of their own practice – with great success, in fact. For example, product designer Sabine Marcelis (2016 cohort) used her development year to collaborate with manufacturing professionals, resulting in a library of new, pure materials for various projects. It brought her world fame. Fashion designer Barbara Langedijk and jewellery designer Noon Passama (2015 cohort) experimented on Silver Fur, a joint project with a high-tech, fur-like textile. It resulted in an innovative collection that organically merged clothing and jewellery. Or architect Arna Mačkić (2014 cohort), who examined architecture’s role in healing war wounds in her native Bosnia. In 2019, Mačkić won the Young Maaskant Prize, the highly prestigious award for young architects. All these talented practitioners broadened their particular fascinations and strengthened their design skills to develop a unique profile. This remains the basis of the Talent Development Scheme – the name says it all.

Gradually, alongside the recipients expanding their professional boundaries, they increasingly began to explore the precise boundaries of their professional field. The youngest cohort also demonstrates that research is not just a means to arrive at a design. Research has become design, and this is as true in fashion as it is in product design, graphic design, architecture, and gaming, interactive and other digital design. Why should an architect always design a building, an urban district or landscape? This is the starting point of Carlijn Kingma’s utopian landscapes (2018 cohort). Her architecture only exists on paper and is made of nothing but jet-black ink. The meticulously detailed pen drawings are often more than a metre high and wide and consist of buildings that are part fantasy and partly historical. These maps depict abstract and complex social concepts architecture has grappled with for centuries – utopia, capitalism and even fear and hope. Kingma infuses her field with philosophical reflections and historical awareness. By eschewing the term architect and instead calling herself a ‘cartographer of worlds of thought’, she positions herself beyond architecture. Like Marjanne van Helvert, she is simultaneously a participant and observer of her profession.

Carlijn Kingma, A Histoty of the Utopian Tradition
Carlijn Kingma, A Histoty of the Utopian Tradition

TECH-FOOD AS A CONVERSATION PIECE

The textile designer who makes a book and the architect who does not want to build exemplifies a generation that is researching and redefining its profession. What are the options for a fashion designer who wants to break away from the industry’s dominance? What does it mean to be a product designer in a world collapsing under the weight of overconsumption? How do you deal with privacy issues or addictive clickbait when designing an app, website or game? Although this fundamental self-examination is based on personal dilemmas, sometimes even frustrations, it nourishes the whole professional community.

This research can be both hyper-realistic and hypothetical. Food designer Chloé Rutzerveld (2016 cohort) combines design, science, technology, gastronomy and culture to realise projects about the food of the future. Edible Growth is a design for ready-to-eat dishes using a 3D printer. They are made up of layers containing seeds and spores in an edible substrate. Once printed, they become an entirely edible mini garden within a few days using natural yeast and ripening processes. Rather than an emphatically concrete product, Rutzerveld has developed a paper concept to bring discussions on social and technological issues surrounding food to a broad audience. The resulting mediagenic images of fake dishes and intriguing project texts have resulted in Rutzerveld figuring on the international circuit for lectures and exhibitions. Her prototype has become the product.

This probing attitude has become the unifying factor among the young designers who received a talent development grant. The goal can be a specific result, such as creating a materials library or a fashion collection independent of seasons and gender. The entire design field is also being researched, including a manifesto about dirty design. Another outcome is exploring the designer’s role as a producer, as Jesse Howard (2015 cohort) does with his everyday devices that allow the user to play an active role in both the design and production process. Utilising an open-source knowledge platform, Howard explores innovative ways to use digital fabrication tools, such as 3D printers, computerised laser cutters, and milling machines. He designs simple household appliances, such as a kettle or vacuum cleaner, that consumers can fabricate using bolts, copper pipes and other standard materials from the hardware store. Specific parts, such as the protective cover, can be made with a 3D printer. They share the required techniques on the knowledge platform. If the device is defective, the producing consumer – or prosumer – can also repair it. These DIY products are made from local materials and offer a sustainable and transparent alternative to mass production.

Juliette Lizotte
Juliette Lizotte

PERFORMER, DJ, CHOREOGRAPHER – AND DESIGNER

During the past seven years of the Talent Development Scheme, design’s boundaries have been interrogated and expanded through new idioms, such as social design, food design, conceptual design, and speculative design. Architects act as quartermasters and cartographers. Fashion disrupts with anthropological installations. Today it is as much an inquisitive mentality as a skillset that distinguishes design talent. Sometimes the individual’s approach is such that graphic design, architecture or fashion no longer appropriately describe their practice.

Juliette Lizotte (2020 cohort) wants to employ videos and LARP (live action role-playing, a role-playing game in which players assume a fantasy role) to stimulate the discussion about climate change. Under the name Jujulove, she DJs, collaborates with dancers and theatre makers, and, with a fashion designer, makes recycled plastic costumes for the dancers in her videos. In her self-appointed role as a witch, she promotes ecofeminism, in which women represent a creative and healing force on nature. Through a multisensory experience of image, sound and performance, she mainly aims her work at young people and target groups not traditionally considered by the cultural sector. However, her fantasy world actually runs parallel to the traditional design world. Jujulove is not a designer but creates a groundbreaking holistic design using diverse disciplines such as film and storytelling.

Designers are no longer central to their own design practice. There is an explicit pursuit of interdisciplinary collaboration and interaction. Though French-Caribbean programmer/designer Alvin Arthur (2020 cohort) trained as a designer, he has developed into a versatile performer, teacher, researcher and connector. His toolkit is his body, which he uses to visualise how the writing of computer programs works. He calls his mixture of choreography, performance and design body.coding. Through a specially developed lesson programme, full of group dance and movement, he teaches primary school children about the extent to which their living environment is digitally programmed, from their school buildings and places where they live to the design and production of their smartphones. Above all, he shows that programming and design are not necessarily sedentary activities that you do behind a desk. Designing is thinking, moving, combining and collaborating.

The latter is especially true. Sometimes two different disciplines work together to great effect, such as jewellery designer Noon Passama and fashion designer Baraba Langendijk. Increasingly, however, designers are combining their knowledge and skills in close-knit collectives. Knetterijs (2019 cohort) is a group of eight graphic designers who operate as one studio. Each member has their expertise and role, from analogue printing techniques, such as risoprint and screen printing, to digital illustration techniques or running the Knetterijs webshop. They used their development year for the joint production of three ‘magazines’ in which new techniques such as graphic audio tracks and an interactive e-zine were explored. They replace individual ego with ‘we go’.

Saïd Kinos, HIDEOUT, Uruma hotel in Okinawa, Japan. Photo Masafumi Kashi
Saïd Kinos, HIDEOUT, Uruma hotel in Okinawa, Japan. Photo Masafumi Kashi

STORYTELLING AND STREET ART

This transformation of the design disciplines is now at the heart of the Talent Development Scheme. Since 2019, scout nights have offered creative talent that has not trained on the usual courses – such as those at the Design Academy Eindhoven or TU Delft – an opportunity to pitch their work to a selection committee. Professionals in art direction, storytelling or city making are given the opportunity to consolidate their practice. Street artist Saïd Kinos (2020 cohort) already had success with his colourful, graphic murals featuring design techniques like collage and typography. Thanks to a talent development grant, he can now transcend the street art category and expand his practice into being an artist whose canvas extends beyond that of the city. He has mastered digital techniques, such as augmented reality, animation and projection mapping (projecting moving images onto buildings).

A PRACTICE OF EVOLUTION

The advancement of an individual or collective practice thus coincides with the development of the entire discipline. The fixed principles of traditional design disciplines, such as fashion, design and architecture, are explored and enriched through new tools, techniques, materials and platforms. By now, everything is mixed up: street, museum and website; cartography and aerosol; witchcraft and 3D printers. These talented designers respond to social developments and leave their mark on them, thereby shaping tomorrow's society, which is the ultimate proof of the necessity of talent development.

Text: Jeroen Junte

Longread Talent #2
Me and the world
Post-crisis design generation seeks (and finds) its place in vulnerable future

Over the past seven years, the Stimulation Creative Industries Fund NL has supported over 250 young designers with the Talent Development grant. In three longreads, we look for the shared mentality of this design generation, which has been shaped by the great challenges of our time. In doing so, they examine how they deal with themes such as technology, climate, privacy, inclusiveness and health. In this second longread: design talent is nourished by a sense of urgency. ‘If we do not turn the tide, who will?’

15 September 2008. 12 December 2015. 17 March 2018. These may seem like random dates, but these moments have left their mark on the contemporary design field. On 15 September 2008, the Lehman Brothers investment bank in New York went bankrupt. The ensuing severe financial crisis exposed the disarray of the global economic system. On 12 December 2015, 55 countries (now 197) concluded a far-reaching Climate Agreement recognising climate change as an indisputable fact. The industrial depletion of existing raw materials and energy supplies is now ‘officially’ unsustainable. And on 17 March 2018, The New York Times reported on large-scale political manipulation by the data company Cambridge Analytica. Fake news and privacy violations shattered the twentieth century’s democratic ideal.

These events – and more, for that matter – highlight the world’s continuing crisis conditions. The more than 250 designers the Talent Development Scheme of the Creative Industries Fund NL has supported since 2014 were trained during, and thus shaped by, these crises. They belong to the last design generation with a clear memory of 9/11 – a generation motivated by a sense of urgency. They understand that if we don’t turn the tide, then who will? They are also devoid of arrogance and well aware of the limitations of their expertise and the disciplines in which they work. Whether product design, fashion, digital design or architecture, they do not harbour the illusion that they have that one all-encompassing solution.

Irene Stracuzzi, The legal status of ice
Irene Stracuzzi, The legal status of ice

MAPPING THE MONEY FLOWS

However, communication is a potent weapon, as graphic designer Femke Herregraven (2015 cohort) understands. She delved into and visualised the financial constructions behind the neoliberal world economy. Herregraven focused on offshore structures and the disconnect between capital and physical locations. Through a serious game, she playfully introduced you to international tax structures in faraway places. Her Taxodus draws from an extensive database that processes various international tax treaties and data from companies and countries. Becoming rich has never been so fun and easy. She also investigated the colonial history of Mauritius and this Indian Ocean island’s new role as a tax haven. Herregraven’s meticulous research and surprising designs reveal hidden value systems and clarify their material and geographical consequences. To reform unbridled capitalism, one must first know its pitfalls.

Knowledge is also power. Thus these designers are trying to determine their place in an increasingly vulnerable world. Vulnerable in a very literal sense because climate change is perceived as the most dangerous threat. As graphic designer Irene Stracuzzi (2019 cohort) demonstrates, geopolitical forces also determine the playing field here. Her installation The Legal Status of Ice details how the five Arctic countries – Russia, Canada, Denmark, Norway and the US – are laying claim to the North Pole. After all, immense oil and gas fields may lie beneath the melting icecaps. But shouldn’t the disappearing ice, which has shrunk by half since the late 1970s, be the issue? Stracuzzi has mapped this contemporary imperialism in a giant 3D model of the North Pole, onto which she maps the overlapping claims and other data. The legal status of ice concerns not only the North Pole but also the uranium mines in Angola and the new space race in search of lunar minerals. It is about a system of exploitation and colonialism. The influential curator Paola Antonelli selected Stracuzzi’s work for the Broken Nature exhibition at the 2019 Triennale di Milano. No one can now claim we didn’t know.

Marco Federico Cagnoni
Marco Federico Cagnoni

LIVING LAMPS

The realisation that the complexity of the climate crisis is too great to confront alone is profound. Designers eagerly collaborate with other disciplines. For example, Marco Federico Cagnoni (2020 cohort) is researching latex-producing edible plants with Utrecht University. Corn and potatoes, among other plant varieties, are still grown as raw materials for bioplastics, but the production process discards the nutrients. Cagnoni is studying food crops whose residual material is also processed into fully-fledged bioplastics.

Designers seek a symbiosis with nature from an awareness that we can no longer exploit Earth with impunity. The roadmap is diverse, and nature is protected, imitated, repaired or improved. Let us not forget, we are in the Anthropocene: the era in which human activity influences all life on Earth. But if humankind can destroy nature, then humanity can also recreate it. Biodesigner Teresa van Dongen (2016 cohort) collaborated with microbiologists from TU Delft and Ghent University to develop the Ambio lamp based on luminescent bacteria. The lamp features a long, liquid-filled tube in which marine bacteria live. When the tube moves, it activates the bacteria to give off light. The better the bacteria are cared for, the more and longer they give light. As well as being a sustainable alternative, her Ambio lamp also functions as a powerful means of communication. So working together with nature is possible; we have simply forgotten how to do it.

Teresa van Dongen, Ambio
Teresa van Dongen, Ambio

This situation explains why designers are looking for ways to restore our relationship with nature. Architect Anna Fink (2020 cohort) proposed a country house consisting of rooms scattered in woods, meadows and a village. Residents must maintain their Landscape as House by felling, planting, mowing, building and repairing. The essence of this fragmented ‘house’ is a daily rhythm of movement from room to room and an awareness of the environment, time and space. Routines and rituals are rooted in the weather’s changes. Seasons become a domestic experience. Fink drew on the age-old, semi-nomadic lifestyle of her ancestors in the valley of the Bregenzerwald in the northern Alps. Here, the hyperlocal offers a solution for global issues.

Sissel Marie Tonn i.c.w. Jonathan Reus, Sensory Cartographies
Sissel Marie Tonn i.c.w. Jonathan Reus, Sensory Cartographies

RAW SATELLITE DATA

However, some designers rely on technology to experience nature. Indeed, why should we long for something that no longer exists? The Anthropocene has already begun. Sissel Marie Ton (2020 cohort) uses scientific data such as seismographic measurements. She combines this complex and abstract data with empathic conversations with Groningen residents about their earthquake experiences, which are common to this region because of gas field drilling. This layered information about both the human and geographical aspects of seismic activity was – literally – woven into a wearable vest in collaboration with two fashion designers. Together with sound artist Jonathan Reus (2018 cohort), she also realised an interactive composition of sonic vibrations to translate the intense experience of an earthquake to a broad audience. Ton’s installations connect natural processes with technology to make humankind’s impact on Earth visible and tangible. It is worth remembering that the earthquakes in Groningen were set in motion by humans.

New technologies, such as life science and biohacking, are reshaping our understanding of the natural world. It is no coincidence that these designers are about as old as Dolly the sheep, which in 1996 was the world’s first successfully cloned mammal. In his Tiger Penis Project, Taiwanese-Dutch designer Kuang-Yi Ku (2020 cohort) extended this genetic replication to healthcare. Many traditional Asian medicines regard the tiger penis as a medicine beneficial for male fertility. As a result, the tiger, already facing extinction, is under even more threat. Ku – who previously studied dentistry – proposed using stem cells to cultivate a tiger penis in the laboratory. This immediately raised all kinds of new dilemmas. Is the tiger penis that is laboratory-grown rather than from a wild tiger still suitable as a traditional Chinese medicine? In short, what are the limits of nature by design?

Kuang-Yi Ku, Tiger Penis Project
Kuang-Yi Ku, Tiger Penis Project

This fusion of biology and technology will eventually lead to a new kind of being: the posthuman. Jewellery designer Frank Verkade (2017 cohort) developed a scenario for this engineered body with his Paradise project. However, instead of technology, Verkade gives plants and animals a prominent role in adapting the human body to modern times. The origin of jewellery is, in fact, to be found in prehistoric peoples who used animal forms and natural materials to harness the mythical forces of nature. By harking back to the ancient, Verkade connects the modern human to its environment.

HACKING TECHNOLOGY

If technology becomes such a determining factor for humankind’s future, then surely we cannot entrust the future of our technology to a small group of wealthy, middle-aged white men from Silicon Valley and the European Parliament? According to speculative designer Frank Kolkman (2018 cohort), the discussion about technology’s quotidian role must therefore be part of our daily life. OpenSurgery is a study into a do-it-yourself surgical robot. These are already being built using 3D printers and laser cutters by people in the US who cannot afford a doctor. The self-proclaimed design hacker exposes technology’s social, ethical and political implications. But what do we think of this, and is this something we even want? After all, turning back technology is almost impossible.

Frank Kolkman, Opensurgery
Frank Kolkman, Opensurgery

Such ambivalent attitudes towards technology are a common thread in the new design mentality. With the tablet at hand and a laptop at school, this design generation grew up as digital natives. Technology plays a prominent role in their lives. However, they also know the risks: robotics, big data and artificial intelligence raise novel ethical dilemmas about privacy and employment. According to data designer Julia Janssen (2018 cohort), multiple times a day, we carelessly dismiss warnings that state ‘I agree with the terms’ or ‘click here to continue’. But what do we actually permit? Who collects what data, and above all, why? And what is the value of such information flows? Janssen’s project, 0.0146 Seconds (the time it takes to click on the ‘accept all’ button), informs us of the invisible economy behind the internet. She published all 835 privacy rules of the website for British tabloid the Daily Mail in a hefty tome. At events like the Dutch Design Week, the public reads this book aloud as a public indictment.

PROSECUTION AND DEFENSE

The new digital reality in which nothing is as it appears and fake news lurks everywhere pushes designers into the role of seeking the truth. To prevent complex global issues, such as globalisation or climate change, from becoming bogged down in an abstract discussion, the design duo Cream on Chrome (Martina Huynh and Jonas Althaus, 2020 cohort) used a fictitious lawsuit, without a trace of irony, to indict everyday objects. A sneaker is arrested and prosecuted for climate change, and a face mask is put on trial for not being present in time to prevent contamination. Cream on Chrome uses this debate between prosecutor and defence to question the mutual recriminations and the search for a scapegoat. In reality, are we not the ones who are actually on trial?

Cream on Chrome, Proxies on Trial
Cream on Chrome, Proxies on Trial

DESIGNING FOR URGENCY

Designers thus assume the role of the canary in the coal mine, warning us about the consequences of 15 September 2008, 12 December 2015 and 17 March 2018. The Talent Development Scheme enables them to do this without the hindrance of a lack of time and money – and perhaps even more importantly, without the pressure of quantifiable returns. Only free experimentation allows for unexpected insights. Who would have thought that Kuang-Yi Ku’s Tiger Penis Project could have prevented a global pandemic if also applied to bats and pangolins? Or that the Daily Mail is no longer recognised by Wikipedia as a reliable news source, as Julia Jansen already indicated?

Instead of conforming to the powers that be, designers take on the opportunity to transform the world; instead of imminent irreversibility, potential improvement is nurtured. The world is explained and improved with speculative and practical, but always inventive, designs. This makes the Talent Development Scheme a valuable resource for individual designers and society as a whole.

Text: Jeroen Junte

Longread Talent #3
Me and the other
Empathetic design talent focuses on people, not themselves (or things)

In the past seven years, the Creative Industries Fund NL has supported over 250 young designers with the Talent Development grant. In three longreads, we look for the shared mentality of this design generation, which has been shaped by the great challenges of our time. They examine how they deal with themes such as technology, climate, privacy, inclusiveness and health. In this third and final longread, the focus is no longer on personal success and individual expression but on ‘the other’.

The refugee crisis dominated 2015. Although people from Africa and Central Asia have been cast adrift by war, poverty and oppression for years, that summer, hundreds of refugees on often makeshift boats and dinghies drowned in the Mediterranean. The impotence, anger, frustration, despair and sadness were aptly depicted in the photo of the drowned three-year-old Syrian toddler Alan Kurdi’s body washed ashore on the Turkish coast. Where the financial crisis of 2008 was almost invisible – indeed, even the bankers were at a loss – it was no longer possible to look away, not only in the media but also on the streets. The misery of the other has become pervasive and omnipresent.

Asylum seeker centres in the Netherlands were full to overflowing. Designer Manon van Hoeckel (2018 cohort) saw the refugees in her neighbourhood during her studies at the Design Academy Eindhoven. Realising she had never spoken to an asylum seeker, Van Hoeckel visited a squatted building that housed people who had been rejected asylum. She saw these people were neither scammers nor pitiful, but rather powerful people who want to participate in and contribute to society – precisely what this group was prohibited from doing. Out of concern and determination, Van Hoeckel devised a travelling embassy for undocumented asylum seekers and migrants in limbo: unwanted in the Netherlands and their country of origin. The refugees, or ‘ambassadors’, could invite local residents, passers-by and officials here for a conversation. The In Limbo Embassy facilitated meetings between local residents and a vulnerable group of newcomers.

EMPATHIC ENGAGEMENT

In many ways, Van Hoeckel’s attitude is typical of a generation that has benefitted from the Talent Development Scheme of the Creative Industries Fund NL for the past seven years. Design is no longer about stuff but about people. This empathic enthusiasm now permeates all design disciplines. Personal success and individual expression are no longer paramount. The designer, researcher and maker are categorically focused on the other. The 2015 refugee crisis has acted as both a particle accelerator and a broadening of the profession because such humanitarian crises require unorthodox and radical proposals and ideas.

Lena Knappers
Lena Knappers

Urban planner Lena Knappers (2019 cohort) studied the spatial living conditions of asylum seekers, labour migrants and international students. As part of her research at TU Delft, Rethinking the Absorption Capacity of Urban Space, she developed strategies to integrate migrants into the host society sustainably. Too often, housing is temporary and informal, such as ad hoc container housing in the suburbs or vacant army barracks. Knappers researched alternative and more inclusive forms of reception, focusing on the interpretation of public space. Ultimately, she has an even greater goal: an inclusive city in which all forms of inequality in public space are investigated and remedied.

The extent to which immigration has become part of the creative disciplines’ everyday reality is evident in the practice of Andrius Arutiunian (2021 cohort). After completing a master’s in Composition at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, he focused on the tension between migration and new technologies. In his development year, he studied the impact of displacement and dissent on society and how this impact can manifest itself in soundscapes. What does the integration of newcomers to the Netherlands sound like? A common factor is the concept of gharib, which means ‘strange’ or ‘mysterious’ in Arabic, Persian and Armenian. Arutiunian does not want to create specific encounters between people or pursue new forms of living. The cultural influence of migration only serves to enrich his professional practice.

SINGLE FATHERS

Inclusivity and cultural diversity are now dominant societal issues. For example, the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States has fuelled intense debate about institutional racism. The other is no longer a stranger to our borders and is our neighbour or colleague. Despite this, society threatens to become polarised, marginalising demographic groups as a result. Designers actively engage in this discourse and apply design as an emancipating force for an all-inclusive society, open and accessible to everyone, regardless of background.

Giorgio Toppin, KABRA (XHOSA), Foto: Onitcha Toppin
Giorgio Toppin, KABRA (XHOSA), Foto: Onitcha Toppin

The emancipation of disadvantaged groups starts with exploring and understanding a shared identity. Only by understanding one’s origins, culture and traditions can one finally obtain a fully-fledged place in society. Giorgio Toppin (2020 cohort) is a proud Bijlmer-Amsterdammer and a Black man with a Surinamese background. His Xhosa fashion label mixes these worlds into new stories, translating them into men’s clothing that fits within the contemporary Western context. For the Surinamese diaspora narratives that inform his collections, he travelled to his native country to research and document local craftsmanship and traditional production techniques. He then manufactured sweaters using indigenous knotting techniques and interpreted a winter coat using hand-embroidered traditional prints from the Saramacca district. Conversely, he reimagined the Creole ‘kotomisi’, which is difficult to wear, with a comfortable and contemporary cut. Toppin’s bicultural fashion strengthened the cultural identity of Surinamese people and thereby increased the understanding and appreciation for their origin among other population groups. After all, Toppin insists his clothes must first and foremost be ‘cool to wear’.

Of course, creative disciplines have always been good at strengthening an identity. Fashion, functional objects, interiors and photographic images are simply excellent means for showing who you are and especially who you want to be. In recent years, however, identity no longer signifies a non-committal lifestyle but can also be a stigma that determines one’s social position. Identity is not always a choice, yet it has considerable influence on daily life – something to which Surinamese, Turkish, Moroccan and Antillean Dutch people, up to the fourth generation, can testify. Any designer that examines fixed identities must be acutely aware of cultural and emotional sensitivities. The designer who simply explains what is right and wrong lags behind the inclusive facts.

Marwan Magroun, The Life of Fathers, Adison & Ayani
Marwan Magroun, The Life of Fathers, Adison & Ayani

Consequently, designers increasingly work from a position of personal involvement or agency (ownership). Photographer and storyteller Marwan Magroun (2020 cohort) captured the world of single fathers with a migrant background in his documentary project The Life Of Fathers. Magroun, who grew up without a father figure for most of his childhood, sought answers to and stories of an often unnoticed but deeply felt fatherhood. He wanted to dispel the notion that fathers from a migrant background are not involved in parenting. His photographic report and accompanying film (now broadcast on NPO3) has given a group of devoted but underestimated fathers a voice and a face.

QUEERS AND EXTENDED FAMILIES

Diversity is embraced and propagated throughout society. Prevailing views on gender, sexuality and ethnicity are shifting. This also means plenty of playing and experimentation with identity and how it can be designed. As a result, designers are no longer a conduit for industry or government but adopt an activist stance. The guiding principle is social cohesion and no longer one’s ego. Renee Mes (2021 cohort) wanted to dismantle the stereotyping of the LGBTQ+ community and thereby increase acceptance. She focused specifically on how extended families are shaped within the various queer communities. This self-selected family is often built as an alternative to the rejection or shame from the families in which queers were raised. But this new lifestyle struggles with legal, medical, educational and other institutional disadvantages. Mes’s approach was that was make being seen the first step toward recognition.

For her research and film portraits, Mes, who is white cisgender, worked with the organisation Queer Trans People of Colour. Collaboration can also generate agency. Besides, whose identity is being addressed? Or, to use the terminology of Black Lives Matter, ‘nothing about us without us’. It is logical – and maybe even necessary – that inclusive design is realised according to these politically correct rules of agency and representation. Indeed, the countless cultural sensitivities demand great care.

SELECTION AND SCOUTING

The creative industries are not exempt from equal opportunities. The design disciplines are not free from stereotypes. The Mediated Bodies research project by Gabriel A. Maher (2016 cohort) meticulously maps the gender relationships in the international design magazine Frame. Eighty per cent of the people in the magazine were male – from the designers interviewed to the models in the advertisements. Moreover, women were mainly portrayed in role-confirming and sometimes even submissive positions, such as bending over or crouching down. Maher’s feminist practice seeks to ‘deconstruct’ the design discipline to identify the existing power structure and prejudices. Only after an active process of self-reflection and criticism can design fulfil its potential as a discipline that contributes to societal improvement.

However, attention to polyphony alone is insufficient. Representation should be proportional, especially in the creative disciplines. The Talent Development Scheme actively contributes to this balance with new forms of selection. Scout nights are available for designers, researchers and makers who have developed professionally in practice, without a formal design training. During these evenings, talented designers who work outside the established creative channels can pitch their work to a jury. Many designers who use these scout nights belong to minority groups for whom going to an art academy or technical university is less established.

Khalid Amakran, Hady
Khalid Amakran, Hady

The self-taught Rotterdam photographer Khalid Amakran (2021 cohort) has developed from hobbyist to professional portrait photographer. After selection during a scout night, he devoted a year to a project about the identity formation of young second and third-generation Moroccan Dutch people. Amakran’s 3ish project comprises a book and short documentary detailing this group’s struggles with loyalty issues, code-switching, institutional racism, jihadism, and Moroccan Dutch males’ politicisation. Representing emerging talents from bicultural or non-binary backgrounds is imperative for the creative industries. Only visible examples and recognisable role models can create a feeling of recognition and appreciation and guarantee the diversity necessary for the creative industries.

ARAB CALLIGRAPHY

The scout nights have selected nine talented practitioners for the 2020 and 2021 cohorts. This number will undoubtedly increase in the coming years. An added value is that these designers are growing the diversity of content in their field through their singular professional practices. Another self-taught recipient is ILLM, the alias of illustrator Qasim Arif (2021 cohort). He mixes the age-old craft of calligraphy with contemporary elements of hip-hop and street culture. Traditional Arabic calligraphy is, by definition, two-dimensional because, according to Islamic regulations, the sculpting of living beings is reserved for Allah. ILLM wants to convert this visual language into sculptures. He also draws inspiration from his own life. He grew up in a metropolis as a third-generation Moroccan Dutch citizen, which informs his mix of calligraphy with pop-cultural icons like the Nike Air Max 1, a recognisable status symbol representing the dreams, wishes and memories of many children from migrant backgrounds. ILLM merges street culture and age-old graphic craftsmanship into a completely new idiom.

DRIVERS OF INCLUSION

The Talent Development Scheme is a necessary social empowerment that naturally coincides with an activist attitude. A sincere and profound commitment to identity and inclusivity guides designers, researchers and makers. Through a capacity for empathy and sensitivity – either innately or through collaboration with the target group – they can catalyse transformative initiatives and constructive debate. This capacity unlocks the creative disciplines’ powerful potential: the realisation of a diverse society in which all sections of society are equal. After all, looking at the other ultimately means looking at us all.

Text: Jeroen Junte

Diamons Investment & the New Oil
by Rosa te Velde

Around 1960, Dutch television broadcast its first talent show, a concept imported from America. ‘Nieuwe Oogst’ (New Harvest) was initially made in the summer months on a small budget. It turned out that talent shows were a cheap way of making entertaining television: participants seized the opportunity to become famous by showcasing their tricks, jokes, creating entertainment and spectacle — in return for coffee and travelling expenses.1

Talent shows have been around since time immemorial, but the concept of talent development — the notion of the importance of financial support and investment to talent — is relatively new. Since the rise of the information society and knowledge economy in the 1970s, the notion of ‘lifelong learning’ has become ever more important. Knowledge has become an asset. Refresher courses, skill development and flexibility are no longer optional, and passion is essential. You are now responsible for your own happiness and success. You are expected to ‘own’ your personal growth process. In 1998, McKinsey & Company published ‘The War for Talent’. This study explored the importance of high performers for companies, and how to recruit, develop and motivate talented people and retain them as employees. In the past few decades, talent management has become an important element in companies’ efforts to maximise their competitiveness, nurture new leaders or bring about personal growth. Sometimes, talent management is aimed at the company as a whole, but it is more likely to focus on young, high-potential employees who either are already delivering good performances or have shown themselves to be promising.2

It was social geographer Richard Florida who made the connection between talent and creativity, in his book ‘The Rise of the Creative Class’ (2002). In this book, he drew the — irreversible — link between economic growth, urban development and creativity. A hint of eccentricity, a bohemian lifestyle and a degree of coolness are the determining factors for ‘creativity’ that provide space for value creation. His theory led to a surge in innovation platforms, sizzling creative knowledge regions and lively creative hubs and breeding grounds. The talent discourse became inextricably linked with the creative industry. The Global Creativity Index, for instance, set up by Florida (in which the Netherlands was ranked 10th in 2015), is based on the three ‘Ts’ of technology, talent and tolerance. The talent phenomenon really took off in the world of tech start-ups, with innovation managers fighting for the most talented individuals in Silicon Valley. ‘Talent is the new oil’.

The idea that talent can grow and develop under the right conditions is diametrically opposed to the older, romantic concept of a God-given, mysterious ‘genius’. The modern view sees talent as not innate (at least, not entirely so), which is why giving talent money and space to develop makes sense. Like the Growing Diamond (groeibriljant), the Dutch diamond purchase scheme in which diamonds can become ‘ever more valuable’.

What is the history of cultural policy and talent development in the Netherlands? Whereas before the Second World War the state had left culture to the private sector, after the war it pursued an active ‘policy of creating incentives and setting conditions’.3 The state kept to the principles of Thorbecke and did not judge the art itself.4 But literary historian Bram Ieven argues that a change took place in the 1970s. It was felt art needed to become more democratic, and to achieve that it needed to tie in more with the market: “[…] from a social interpretation of art (art as participation), to a market-driven interpretation of the social task of art (art as creative entrepreneurship).”5 The Visual Artists’ (Financial Assistance) Scheme (BKR) and later the Artists’ Work and Income Act (WWIK) gave artists and designers long-term financial support if they did not have enough money, provided they had a certificate from a recognised academy or could prove they had a professional practice.6

It was Ronald Plasterk’s policy document on culture, ‘The Art of Life’ (2007), that first stressed the importance of investing in talent, as so much talent was left ‘unexploited’.7 Plasterk called in particular for more opportunities to be given to ‘outstanding highly talented creatives’, mainly so that the Netherlands could remain an international player. Since then, ‘talent development’ has become a fixture in cultural policy. Halbe Zijlstra also acknowledged the importance of talent in ‘More than Quality’ (2012), but he gave a different reason: ‘As in science, it is important in culture to create space for new ideas and innovation that are not being produced by the market because the activities in question are not directly profitable.’8 This enabled the support for talent to be easily justified from Zijlstra’s notoriously utilitarian perspective with its focus on returns, even after the economic crisis. Jet Bussemaker also retained the emphasis on talent development, and talent is set to remain on the agenda in the years ahead.9

The Creative Industries Fund NL first gave grants to a group of talented creatives in 2013. As in the Mondrian Fund’s talent development programme, the policy plan for 2013–2016 opted for a single, joint selection round each year. While the emphasis was on individual projects, it was noted that a joint assessment would be more objective and professional and that this would facilitate the accompanying publicity.10

Who is considered a possible talented creative? To be eligible for a grant, you have to satisfy a number of specific requirements: you have to be registered with the Chamber of Commerce, have completed a design degree less than four years ago and be able to write a good application that persuades the nine committee members from the sector that you have talent. Based on the application, they decide how much potential, or promise, they see in your development, taking into account the timing of the grant for your career. While there are many nuances in the application process, these factors make sure the concept of ‘talent’ is clearly defined.

If you get through the tough selection process — on average ten to fifteen per cent of the applications result in a grant — you enjoy the huge luxury of being able to determine your own agenda for an entire year, of being able to act instead of react. It seems as if you have been given a safe haven, a short break from your precarious livelihood. But can it actually end up reinforcing the system of insecurity? What should be a time for seizing opportunities may also lead to self-exploitation, stress and paralysis. In practice, the creative process is very haphazard. Will the talented creatives be able to live up to their promise?

One of them went on a trip to China, another was able to do a residency in Austria, while yet another gave up their part-time job. Many have carried out research in a variety of forms, from field studies and experiments with materials to writing essays. Some built prototypes or were finally able to buy Ernst Haeckel’s ‘Kunstformen der Natur’. Others organised meetings, factory visits, encounters, interviews and even a ball.

Is there a common denominator among the talented creatives who were selected? As in previous years, this year the group was selected specifically to ensure balance and diversity — encompassing a sound artist, a filmmaker, a design thinker, a researcher, a cartographer, a storyteller, a former architect and a gender activist-cum-fashion designer. Given the diversity of such a group, a joint presentation may feel forced. But presenting them to the outside world as a group enhances the visibility of these talented people, and this is important, because how else can the investment be vindicated?

These are the questions that the Creative Industries Fund NL has been debating ever since the first cohort: how to present this group without the presentation turning into a vulgar, unsubtle spectacle or propagating a romantic notion of talent, and at the same time, how to show the outside world what is being done with public money. And what would benefit the talented individuals themselves? In the past few years, various approaches have been tested as ways of reflecting on the previous year, from various curated exhibitions with publications and presentations to podcasts, texts, websites, workshops and debates.

The Creative Industries Fund NL operates as a buffer between neoliberal policy and the reality of creativity. The fund provides a haven for not-yet-knowing, exploration, making, experimentation and failure, without setting too many requirements. It is a balancing exercise: how do you tone down the harsh language of policy and keep at bay those who focus only on returns on investment, while still measuring and showing the need for this funding, and thereby safeguarding it?

Following input from the talented creatives themselves, a different approach has been chosen this year: there will be no exhibition. Most do not see the Dutch Design Week as the right place for them; only one or two are interested in presenting a ‘finished’ design or project at all, and they do not necessarily wish to do so during the Dutch Design Week. What is more, many of the talented individuals have used the grant for research and creating opportunities. Therefore, instead of a joint exhibition, the decision has been made to organise a gathering and to publish profile texts and video portraits on ‘Platform Talent’, an online database. This will put less emphasis on the work of the previous year and more on the visibility of the maker and the process they are going through, marking a shift away from concrete or applied results and towards their personal working methods. Will this form of publicity satisfy the general public’s appetite and curiosity and will it meet politicians’ desire for results? Has it perhaps become more important to announce that there is talent and not what that talent is? Or is this a way of avoiding quantification and relieving the pressure?

Perhaps what unites the talented creatives most is the fact that, although they have been recognised as ‘high performers’, they are all still searching for sustainable ways of working creatively within a precarious, competitive ecosystem that is all about seizing opportunities, remaining optimistic and being permanently available. So far, there is little room for failure or vulnerability, or to discuss the capriciousness of the creative process. The quest for talent is still a show, a hunt, a competition or battle.

1 https://anderetijden.nl/aflevering/171/Talentenjacht
2 Elizabeth G. Chambers et al. ‘The War for Talent’ in: The McKinsey Quarterly 3, 1998 pp. 44–57. This study was published in book form in 2001.
3 Roel Pots, ‘De tijdloze Thorbecke: over niet-oordelen en voorwaarden scheppen in het Nederlandse cultuurbeleid’ in: Boekmancahier 13:50, 2001, pp. 462-473, p. 466.
4 Thorbecke was a mid-nineteenth-century Dutch statesman.
5 Bram Ieven, ‘Destructive Construction: Democratization as a
Vanishing Mediator in Current Dutch Art Policy’ in: Kunstlicht, 2016 37:1, p. 11.
6 The Visual Artists’ (Financial Assistance) Scheme was in force from 1956 to 1986 and the Artists’ Work and Income Act from 2005 to 2012.
7 Ronald Plasterk, ‘Hoofdlijnen Cultuurbeleid Kunst van Leven’, 2007, p. 5. The Dutch politician Ronald Plasterk was Minister of Education, Culture and Science from 2007 to 2010.
8 Halbe Zijlstra, ‘Meer dan Kwaliteit: Een Nieuwe visie op cultuurbeleid’, 2012, p. 9. The Dutch politician Halbe Zijlstra was State Secretary of Education, Culture and Science from 2010 to 2012.
9 Jet Bussemaker is a Dutch politician who was Minister of Education, Culture and Science from 2012 to 2017.
10 Creative Industries Fund NL, policy plan for 2013/2016.


Text: Rosa te Velde

Alessandra Scalora

Alessandra Scalora

Illustrator and urban beekeeper Alessandra Scalora of House of Honey was selected during the Scout Night in Eindhoven. Scalora creates work on bees with materials she finds and conserves during beekeeping. Inspired by the bee, returning themes are the environment, women's emancipation and feminism, collaboration and her own history. During the talent development year, Scalora wants to develop a clear, personal style, research the Sicilian beekeeping culture and set up a community of female beekeepers. In particular, she wants to gain knowledge so that she can make pigments from flowers and experiment with different painting and material techniques. Through literature research and taking workshops, Scalora wants to learn from other artists. Scalora intends to start collaborations with Paddy Johnson, Nan Groot Antik, Ellen Gallagher, Cleo Goossens, Margarita Osipova, Yolande van der Heide, Marieke Pijler, and Masharu. At the end of the year, House of Honey will present ten new works in an exhibition at TAC. Scalora will also make her first photo book.
Alyson Sillon

Alyson Sillon

Designer Alyson Sillon graduated from the Gerrit Rietveld Academie with a bachelor's degree in graphic design in 2022. In the development plan, Sillon describes the ambition of looking analytically at established and hidden visual codes through graphic design. She builds on the work Before/After, experiments with world-building and links three communication methods to them: narrative writing, visual creation and embodied manifestations. For the first communication method, Sillon wish to involves the expertise of a Black writer and critic to obtain a decolonial perspective, to work on writing stories. With 'visual creation', Sillon wants to get a better understanding of visual creatorship. To do this, Sillon will visit Tianzhuo Chen in Berlin and will make digital collages that will reflect on The Book of Drexciya by Abdul Qadim Haqq. Through the third communication method, Sillon wants to remodel her graphic design into embodied manifestations and performances. The designer will seek the expertise of choreographer Connor Schumacher and Michele Rizzo. In order to steer the project in the right direction, according to the maker it is crucial to possess production management skills. By attending Dweller festival in New York, Sillon will observe how you can reach an audience in the right way, and how you let this grow. The project will result in a showcase in a nightlife venue of Amsterdam. Lastly, Sillon will create a publication in which black heritage, techno and spirituality are linked to each other. The publication will be presented by Pamela, San Serriffe, After 8 Books, Presence Africaine and Do you read me?
Amos Peled

Amos Peled

Amos Peled designs experiences in the audiovisual domain of art and performance. His work explores the definition of 'doubt' in relation to medical technology. Peled uses defamiliarization, alienation and doubt as methods to stimulate research into the human perception, the perception of oneself and the construction of intersubjectivity. This interest follows on from his own experience of growing up in a hospital environment. Here, he experienced and observed the work processes of the medical system, which are designed in such a way that there is hardly any room for doubt. In the coming year, he wants to introduce creativity into the medical environment, by working with the University of Twente Technical Medical Centre and the Leiden University Medical Centre and introduce medical technology into an artistic context. He will be mentored by artists Aya Ben Ron, Karel van Laere and iii.
Ange Neveu

Ange Neveu

Ange Neveu, who graduated from the Royal Academy of Arts The Hague, researches the rapid changes in the relationships between 'nature', technology and people and the blurring that arises between them. According to Neveu, these changes emphasize existing power structures, but they also offer new possibilities for co-existence and connection. As an observer, a storyteller and a designer, they want to tell these multifaceted stories from different perspectives, no matter how contradictory. In the talent development year, Neveu wants to further develop their voice as a researcher at the interface between eco-surveillance, production and reproduction technologies and non-normative desires, develop a polyphonic narrative style that speculatively, poetically and accurately combines words and images. Also, Neveu wants to develop new research and speculation methods for phenomena across the physical and digital world. Neveu will work on two projects: May your eyes never look away, may your genitals always be lubricated and Invasion Diaries. In addition, they will develop research methods in a smaller collaboration project and will learn practical skills, like scriptwriting, video editing and planning. Neveu will work with, amongst others, June Yu, Waag, Ine Gevers and Mari Bastachevski. The findings will be presented in a publication and during Waag's Open Evening Programme. Other locations where Neveu will present are FIBER, IMPAKT, International Film Festival Rotterdam, International Documentary Festival Amsterdam and Brussels Short Film Festival.
Anna Torres

Anna Torres

Anna Torres is an artist, architect, a visual storyteller and a general spatial poet. Her work uncovers the various power structures that play a part in the so-called public space, in which gender, sexuality and homosexuality are central. In the coming year, Anna will research the spatial display of power at the Wallen (the Red Light District in Amsterdam). Anna intends to deepen her artistic sensibility and spatial knowledge, expand her network and investigate her own definition of what an architect is. She will take a spatial storytelling workshop and a multimedia course. She will be mentored by René Boer. The year will find form in a series of spatial drawings, architecture collages and critical texts that will be bundled in a publication.
Anna Zan

Anna Zan

Anna Zan's architecture practice focuses on the cultural and artistic value of raw materials. Zan's work is an exploration of new, regenerative building materials. Up until recently, efforts in the field of sustainability specifically focused on energy consumption when using buildings, whilst interest in the carbon included in the construction was marginal. Replacing carbon-intensive building materials with regenerative resources from the biosphere is an important approach for making our built environment carbon-free. Using the Talent Development grant, Anna will work on two parallel studies (Material Cultures Limburg and Material Cultures NL) in order to deliver a contribution to the new, sustainable, local, material culture of the Netherlands. By means of this research, she will explore solutions for low-carbon construction in the Netherlands with a special focus on raw materials (plants and minerals). She will be supported and mentored by, amongst others, Coen Eggen, Oskam, NAP Ingenieurs, Werkstatt and Lucie Havel. Zan intends to go on study trips to Atelier Luma+Gernoble National School of Architecture and to Bolthauser Architekten+ETH Zürich material lab. The work will be presented during the We are warming up festival and in the gallery of ceramicist Marjoke de Heer in Amsterdam.
Aurélia Noudelmann & Laëtitia Delauney

Aurélia Noudelmann & Laëtitia Delauney

Curatorial and social design duo Aurélia Noudelmann and Laëtitia Delauney graduated from the Gerrit Rietveld Academie. Their practice focuses on hybrid spaces where new creation-based dialogues can be facilitated. Noudelmann and Delauney are driven to re-appropriate crafts dominated by men, in particular shipbuilding, by researching sustainable design methods, like upcycling and through inclusive structures offering scope to practices that focus on communities and specifically feminist and queer initiatives. Core themes and topics are intersectional feminism, upcycling, open source and shipbuilding. Using the Talent Development grant, they want to develop De Walvis project, a hybrid and modularly designed boat which can be used in all seasons as a residence and as a presentation space. To realize this, Noudelmann and Delauney will study shipbuilding techniques, build and test prototypes, and carry out upcycling experiments and learn about participative design. They will also develop an open, participative shipyard. Noudelmann and Delauney will work, amongst others, with Buurtwerkplaats Noorderhof, Fiona De Bell, Recycle Valley, and Bureau Double. Presentations will take place at Fanfare, Buurtwerkplaats Noorderhof, SAIL Amsterdam, and will be published on social media.
Chen-Yu Wang

Chen-Yu Wang

Designer, artist, researcher, maker and factory girl, Chen-Yu Wang graduated from the Design Academy Eindhoven. In these different roles, Wang translates Eastern and Western ways of thinking, written information in Mandarin and English, the implicit between material and immaterial and the dialogue between us and the other. Wang wants to break through the silence of the important but invisible voices of capitalism. Core themes are decolonization, decentralization of euro-centrism, hybridization and anti-racism. Wang is looking for ways to integrate sociology and anthropology into her artistic practice. Using the Talent Development grant, Wang wants to set up The Rest Factory: a self-sustaining social organization that offers immediate inclusivity, fair wages and dignified work to factory girls. To realize this, Wang will take courses in social business development, anthropology and sociology, she will study existing social enterprises that are active in a creative or artistic context, do a foreign residency, go on a study trip to Prague to learn about weaving and interview factory girls. Wang will work with Ben Platts-Mills, Lukas Völp, Sabeena Ibrahim, WNOOZOW, Eleri and Ana de Fontecha. The presentations will take place at the GLUE Festival and Dutch Design Week.
Chenda

Chenda

Chenda (Chisenga) is a self-taught fashion designer with a background in woodworking. She focusses on leather mask, with the aim of empowering different types of bodies, promoting sexual freedom and at the same undermining the male gaze. According to Chenda, it is the fashion industry that, to a significant extent, determines the ideal of beauty. Chenda hopes to offer a healthier alternative to this ideal. Her brand Chisenga explicitly links up with the characteristics of black queer feminism. In the coming year, the designer will focus on leather crafting. Chenda will visit various tanneries in Naples in search of a high-quality preferred supplier. She will also research the possibilities of fruit leather in Rotterdam. She will work on positioning her brand and will be mentored by art director Maxime van Namen. A graphic layer for Chisenga will be designed in collaboration with Fital de Frel. The work will be presented during a performance art club night at Studio Papa in Amsterdam-Noord (The Gang is Beautiful (TGIB)). The event will be promoted through a poster campaign in collaboration with Jim Mooijekind.
Cote

Cote

Creative maker from Chile, Cote of Cotecreate Studio lives in Leeuwarden and was selected at the Scout Night in Zwolle. Cotecreate Studio combines social design and graphic design in her practice. She sees art and creativity as impactful means for bringing people together and solving social issues. She is passionate about protecting, building, understanding, sharing, educating about and fighting for equality. Using the Talent Development grant, Cotecreate Studio wants to further develop a specific artistic signature, by integrating Latin-American visual codes in her existing style, taking a course on mural painting, participating in a residency and doing community work in Chile for a large social organization. In addition, she wants to gain knowledge about social, demographic, economic and political aspects of social issues in the Netherlands and learn commercial skills like time management in large community projects as well as marketing skills. Cotecreate Studio will work with, amongst others, Payo, Eva Koopmans, Katie Creekay, Annerieke Otten, Carolien Tiedema, Jeroen Dijkstra and Jessie Jansen. At the end of the talent development year, she wants to have a new website.
Daeuk Kim

Daeuk Kim

Daeuk Kim of Studio Deaukkim, who graduated from the Design Academy Eindhoven, creates objects that serve as alter egos to fulfil, explain and express his desires and dreams. Growing up in the conservative culture of Korea, he had to suppress and hide his desires, identity, gender expression and freedom of choice, because of the social expectations surrounding his gender. By creating mutated objects - or characters - that represent his previously hidden desires, Kim changes this shame into pride. Themes in Kim's work are diversity and the acceptance of differences. Studio Deaukkim wants to create work that evokes emotions and an stimulates understanding of social issues. Using the Talent Development grant, he wants to further develop storytelling and things other than verbal narrative techniques around previously created characters, for example based on fashion, a photo series and a video series. Kim will be coached for this and will take part in storytelling, photography, videography and 3D-graphics courses. Studio Deaukkim will work with MAISON the FAUX, Alexandre Humbert, Koen de Bruyn and Cusson Cheng. Presentations will be shown both online and offline by sharing his process on social media, by publishing the final work on platforms like Dazed, NOWNESS or Numéro and physically, among other things, in a group exhibition in the Hyundai Motor Studio in Korea.
Denzel Veerkamp

Denzel Veerkamp

Fashion designer Denzel Veerkamp was born in Amsterdam-Zuid, as the child of a Dutch mother and a Surinamese father. Questioning social systems and translating his personal experiences around his modern black identity are central in his practice. Veerkamp is, generally speaking, critical of the systems that are applied within the Western, capitalist society and specifically those within the fashion industry. In the coming year, Veerkamp will focus on The Perpetual Reverse Assimilation Project (PRAP). PRAP is about discomfort, openness, interaction, perception without judgment and innovation. It is research into the multi-layered facets of Dutch-Surinamese history. For this, he will seek the guidance of Janice Deul, Chiquita Nahar, Marian Duff, Esmeralda Zijp, Richard Kufi, Edson Sabajo / Guillaume Schmidt and Jefferson Osei. In addition, he will go on a research trip to Surinam. His findings will be presented in an online visual archive and in a short documentary.
Driever

Driever

Spatial design, art and science converge in the sculptures of self-taught multidisciplinary maker Driever. Driever, who was selected during the Scout Night in Zwolle, mainly works with recycled and recovered materials, like broken up devices, toys and found wood and metal. With his designs, the maker wants to challenge the audience to reflect on choices and possibilities or to look at our planet from another perspective. Using the Talent Development grant, Driever will let his work respond to the movements of viewers. It will appeal to several senses. He wants to present his work in a wider and suitable network, focusing on Enschede and Rotterdam. He also wants to take a Python and a robotics course, go on a study trip to Lisbon, be coached in cultural entrepreneurship and build a new website. Driever will work with Edwin Dertien, Michel Beek, Mare Kiers, Anne Wenzel, Nicky Assman and Kees de Groot. At the end of the year, he wants to present work in Enschede, Rotterdam and during Dutch Design Week.
Dunya Zita

Dunya Zita

Dunya Zita has an interdisciplinary practice, combining lens-based media (photography and film) with audio and poetry. Drawing from her Moroccan-Dutch background, she explores the themes of human interaction and perception and examines how these themes are entangled with nature and nurture influences. In the coming year, Zita plans to further develop her practice through artistic experimentation (in the area of image making) and content exploration (anthropological research, poetry and interactive exhibition elements). To do so, she plans to enlist the help of humanist researcher and diversity and inclusion consultant Winnie Roseval, oral historian and researcher Yvette Kopijn and photographer, journalist and podcast maker Cigdem Yuksel, among others. Zita wants to improve her poetic writing skills with personal mentoring and is working on her technical knowledge with film development workshops and a grading theory course, among other things. She will also spend ten weeks in Morocco working with Yassine Sellame, photographer and founder of Moroccan Darkroom. The work will be presented through an exhibition at a publicly accessible location.
eeden ATELIER

eeden ATELIER

Fashion designer Tessa van den Eeden (eeden ATELIER) was selected during the Scout Night in Eindhoven. Inspired by our inner world, eeden ATELIER sheds a light on difficult to discuss issues around mental health, like depression, burn-out and suicide, using haute couture. Using the Talent Development grant, eeden ATELIER wants to realize a five-part design series, Les Finns, based on her own mental health struggles and realize a series of couture pieces, named US, realiseren, that tell the experiences others have with addiction. Van den Eeden will enhance her technical knowledge of and skills in materials and different body shapes by taking various courses. eeden ATELIER will work with, amongst others, film maker Noël Oosterhof and music designer BLKTYLR, psychiatrists and addiction workers and marketing professional Eline Levering. At the end of the development year, eeden ATELIER will have realized a digital portfolio and developed a presentation strategy.
Emmie Massias

Emmie Massias

Emmie Massias designs workshops, installations, and objects, with water as a recurring theme. Emmie's goal is to shed light on the disappearing cultural, territorial, and post-colonial identities shaped by geopolitical forces today. In the coming year Emmie aims to conduct research on the Dutch Imperial Oyster, which offers insights into the politics of water management and the exportation of Dutch water expertise to Southeast Asia. Through material exploration, Emmie reflects on cultural influence, neo-imperialism, and the consequences of a European perspective rooted in colonialism. Emmie has a personal connection to the subject matter as she grew up in Vietnam. Throughout the year she will expand her skills in ceramics through a course on river clay (Stichting Fabrikaat) and conduct a series of performances during a month-long residency (the Fondation Martell). She will be mentored by i.a. Henriette Waal (Luma), Lada Hrsak (Shollow Waters Institute) and Louise Carver (political ecologist, TBA-21). Emmie will spend three months in Vietnam to establish collaborations with artisans and organizations as to expand her work and reach communities in Ho Chi Minh City and a wider international audience. The work will be presented on storytelling platform Nextblue and the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe.
Enzo Aït Kaci

Enzo Aït Kaci

Enzo Aït Kaci (Enzo De Tandt) is a digital designer with a background in fashion. Their practice investigates the value of fashion images through the digital prism of the internet. During the talent development year, Enzo intends to research the value of online fashion images and how they relate to the distribution networks. During the first research phase, Enzo will challenge the local Dutch community of makers that work with images, mentored by Paula Canovas Del Vas (fashion designer) and Jacque Percomte (media artist). In the second research phase, Enzo will carry out experiments on materials at the Lottozero residence in Prato, Italy. In the last design phase, Enzo will create a hybrid fashion collection in collaboration with Clara Pasteau. The collection will be produced in collaboration with curator Isobel Whalley and will be presented in an offline exhibition that will function as a physical materialisation of the website.
Hand of Fatima

Hand of Fatima

Hand of Fatima is a socially engaged henna artist. With her work, she questions the prevailing Western image of the North African woman. During her development year, the maker will focus on the project Restore the Narrative (through Hennafication). For this, she will dive into the archives in search of images of North African women from the last century, to uncover the European fantasy image of the 'Arabic world'. During the talent development year, Hand of Fatima will be coached by, amongst others, Nina Hama, Fatima Essahsah and Nathalie Alblas. In addition, she will take a photography masterclass and a Procreate course by Gouden Lijntjes. The presentation will consist of a new website and a promo video. Hand of Fatima will also investigate the possibilities of presenting her work in the Wereldmuseum Rotterdam or Tropenmuseum Amsterdam.
Ikael Echteld

Ikael Echteld

Self-taught fashion designer Ikael Echteld is co-founder of The Gang is Beautiful (TGIB). TGIB is a creative and cultural collective that engages with fashion, art and lifestyle in the form of products and events. What TGIB exudes is that there are no boundaries between different 'boxes' in society. Afro futurism, spirituality and challenging norms around gender and cultural minorities are central in Ikael's practice. As a self-taught maker, Ikael lacks knowledge of the technical side of fashion design. In the coming year, he will therefore further develop his pattern drawing skills (a course at Vogue Academy), denim and leather-work (coaching by denim expert Alljan Moehamad and leather specialist Frankie Boateng) and applying digital drawing techniques (Adobe illustrator course at MK24). In addition, he will start researching a production method at the New Order of Fashion Lab to make his practice resilient for the future. Ultimately, a collection will ensue from this, which will be presented in an exhibition, a short film and a photo collection.
James Noya

James Noya

Designer James Noya works in wood engraving. As a result of colonialism, much of the knowledge of and about Moluccan wood engraving and Moluccan symbols and motifs has been lost. In his practice, James focuses on reintroducing this craft, injecting new life into it. In the coming year, Noya wants to further develop his wood engraving technique by taking a sculpting course at Creapoelka and wants to do in-depth research on heritage, based on museum collections. In addition, he wants to investigate the right stage or platform for presenting his work. He will be mentored in this regard by Amanda Pinatih (design curator at the Stedelijk Museum). Noya intends to present his work in a short documentary, which he will make in collaboration with video producer Geraldo Solisa and film maker Tahnee Elloreen Leupen.
Jazmon Voss

Jazmon Voss

Originally trained as a ballet dancer, Jazmon Voss is inspired by dance, music and movement. Vos was selected during the Scout Night in Eindhoven. Deconstructing gender norms and his personal African-native background are recurring topics and sources of inspiration in his practice. He processes vintage clothing in his designs. With the grant, Voss wants to take various courses in design software, pattern drawing and jewellery making and to do literary research into deep-see fish. During the year, Voss will work with, amongst others, Telma Patricia Fonseca, Samir Bakir and Henna Astra. His objective is to design and produce five upcycled garments, as well as six ready-to-wear looks that will be produced externally. The collection will be presented at a non-traditional, immersive runway event.
Jenny Konrad

Jenny Konrad

Jenny Konrad graduated from the Royal Academy of Art. They translate information in a visual way, implementing different methods, media, tools and applications to render raw content into experiences. Konrad works with topics like disability rights, (self/community) care and body politics. They research, in particular, the body's role in an increasingly digital and physically estranged capitalistic culture. Works take shape in installations, performative interventions and experimental websites, presenting information with which the audience can interact. As a designer, Konrad wants to make information more accessible in order to contribute to the agency of individuals and to initiate connections for community care. Using the Talent Development grant, they will concentrate on building a sustainable practice. During the development year, they will participate in the Crip the Curriculum events of the Sandberg Institute and the Gerrit Rietveld Academy, as well as in the Disability Justice Reading Group, they will take workshops in quilt-making and they will develop new workshop concepts. To achieve this, Konrad will work with Ludmila Rodriguez, Lotte van Laatum, Renée Kooijman, Lotte de Rooij and Brittany Thorpe. Konrad wants to present at Mediametic and during Dutch Design Week.
Jeroen Alexander Meijer

Jeroen Alexander Meijer

Interdisciplinary mindscape artist Jeroen Alexander Meijer graduated from the Royal Academy of Art. With his practice, he focuses on the mental landscape of the digital society. His work is given shape in different hybrid media, varying from installation art, performance and writing to spatial design and wearables. Inspired by his own experiences with ADD, Meijer works with themes like attention, technology, ritualism, simplicity, clarity and embodiment. During the talent development year, Meijer wants to research how you can captivate your senses whilst deliberately ignoring visual stimuli. More specifically, Meijer will attend the Dutch TouchDesigner conference and workshops to improve his software skills and learn about new media, redesign his website and social media, do residencies at Crossing Paralells/TU Delft and Uncloud and visit cultural institutions and organizations that are relevant to his practice. Meijer will work with Stefan van der Stigchel, Joris Strijbos and Edwin van der Heide. His experiments and research results will be shared, amongst other things, through his website in text, image and interactions and at Uncloud Festival.
Jesse van den Berg

Jesse van den Berg

Queer maker Jesse van den Berg graduated from the St. Joost School of Art & Design. In their practice, they focus on intimacy through photography, video, audio, installation and on the representation of queer people. In the creation process, collectivity, love and vulnerability play an important role. Together with their models, Van den Berg tells stories that they find interesting on the representation of queer people, like body-shaming, racism, sexism, queer phobia, dick-shaming and transphobia. Using the Talent Development grant, Van den Berg wants to take sound-design and zine making workshops, develop a website and go on study trips to Berlin, Madrid and Extremadura. They will work with, amongst others, Guinevere Ras, Yin Aiwen and Lana Prins. At the end of the year, Van den Berg will present work in an exhibition at Dutch Design Week.
Katharina Nejdl

Katharina Nejdl

Graphic designer, developer and educator Katharina Nejdl graduated from the Sandberg Institute and uses digital technologies like web (open source), AR and AI as graphic devices. By experimentally approaching web design and creative coding, Nejdl's practice reflects on our relationship with technology and the impact it has on the design field. In the coming year, Nejdl wants to research the potential of creative coding as a design tool and to reflect critically on the impact technology has on the creative field. In order to understand the potential of coding from different perspectives, Nejdl will develop a poster generator, a type tool and a publication creator. Through mentoring sessions, coding assessments and online courses, but also business coaching and financial advice, Nejdl wants to professionalize her practice both artistically and organisationally. Nejdl will work with The Rodina, Vera van de Seyp, Varia and Same Same Studio. Besides sharing her findings in a printed publication, a workshop will be her most important presentation form.
LAMEIAE

LAMEIAE

Visual storyteller LAMEIAE (Lamiae El Hajjaji) uses various media, e.g. illustration, graphic design and animation, to contribute positively to the narrative of the BIPOC/MENA community within the art world. El Hajjaji does not focus on the painful story but offers representation to different generations and groups and scope for an open dialogue. In the coming year, El Hajjaji will work on a deconstructed comic under the name Hia (Arabic for she/her). During the development year, the designer will participate in a residency at LFMC, where she will be mentored by Brian Elstak and Giuseppe Du Crocq, amongst others. In order to improve her narrative skills, she will receive guidance from copywriter Zindzi Zevenbergen. The work will be given shape in a number of objects and a printed comic. El Hajjaji will be mentored by screen-print studio KAPITAAL in Utrecht in experimenting with the structure and format of the comic. She will take a ceramics course at Juultje Meerdinks and will exhibit her work at LFMC and Atay Atelier.
Lashaaawn

Lashaaawn

Lashaaawn is an on- and offline drag performance artist who is passionate about the greater good. With their artistic practice as a drag performance artist and an epic fantasy writer, Lashaaawn wants to gain a more prominent presence in the digital domain. During this development year, Lashaaawn wants to improve the quality of their work through the artistic guidance of writer and cultural programmer Simone Zeefuik, amongst others. In addition, Lashaaawn will work on both their technical and performance skills in workshops by dancers, including Foxxy Roxyyy. Lashaaawn will start a collaboration with similar, but more advanced artists, including Richard Kofi and Meliibees. They also plan to learn more about how to navigate the social media landscape and how to better realize their own fictional epic fantasy world, both online and offline. All this will converge in a web series of about seven episodes, performance videos, a physical exhibition and presentations through livestreams on Instagram and Twitch.
Lena Winterink

Lena Winterink

In her work, textile designer Lena Winterink focuses on patterns. In the work, there is a strong connection between both textile patterns and social systems. Winterink's biggest driver is to translate 'social' patterns into textile designs. In doing so, Winterink makes themes that are difficult to grasp more tangible, both literally and figuratively. Winterink has four development themes, namely textile skills (weaving with technical weaver Thera Berkhout), industry and innovation (increasing knowledge and network in collaboration with Enschede Textielstad for local production with transparency about the origin of raw materials), positioning (mentoring and methods with, amongst others, Buro Belèn) and lastly reporting and securing (recording the vision and the practice). Winterink's research will be presented in the form of a publication. In addition, she will come out with a new website for her work and during the year she will explain her work in various lectures on location, including at the Material District and Contactgroep Textiel.
Lukas Engelhardt

Lukas Engelhardt

Lukas Engelhardt is a graphic designer and artist. His work revolves around the struggle for space, in the digital as well as the physical domain. Lukas researches ways to hack or crack systems and uses self-organization to create temporary autonomous zones. Alternatives, like cracking and self-hosting, may seem to be inaccessible. According to Engelhardt, demystifying these processes is crucial, both in and outside the creative sector. In the ongoing process of decolonization of institutions and practices, a wide-ranging discussion on infrastructure is essential. To deepen his understanding and refine his practice, Lukas will do research on self-organization and the aesthetics of autonomy by means of lectures and interviews with, amongst others, artist collective the Hundred Rabbits and the Brussels Open Source Publishing collective. He will also build several servers from old hardware and software and develop sys-admin in collaboration with Ada Reinthal and Fablag Waag. Engelhardt will reflect on this during the development year by working on the Self-Hosting Manual, receiving guidance from Silvio Lorusso and Roel Roscam Abbing. He will present four servers/prototypes at Dutch Design Week and he will publish his Self-Hosting Manual in collaboration with Paul Bille.
Maciej Wieczorkowski

Maciej Wieczorkowski

Architect Maciej Wieczorkowski studied at the Technical University Delft and leads the Dividual spatial design practice together with Andrea Bit. Wieczorkowski is fascinated by the power of architecture to evoke feelings and stimulate solidarity. Central themes in his practice are the commons, productivity and unproductivity in the built environment, and more specifically the reuse of infrastructure, the unlocking of underutilized sources and an exploration of the notion of metabolism. With the grant, Wieczorkowski wants to further develop as a designer by bringing order to his understanding of the commons, to translate this into a personalized design approach and research its potential applications. He will do this through a literary study and by visiting locations that embody the commons, a series of design exercises and experimenting with different ways of presenting his findings. Furthermore, Wieczorkowski will delve into project management, financial administration and marketing. Wieczorkowski will work with Thijs Lijster, Scott Lloyd, Wojciech Mazan and others. Possible presentation places are Waag, Nieuwe Instituut, Architectuur Instituut Rotterdam, the Board of Government Advisers and the Rotterdamse Academie van Bouwkunst.
Maria Fraaije

Maria Fraaije

Self-taught social illustrator Maria Fraaije was selected at the Scout Night in Rotterdam. In addition to her creative work, Fraaije is a researcher at the Dutch Research Institute for Transitions (DRIFT), where she does research on, among other things, power, justice and social innovation in large social transitions. Using the Talent Development grant, Fraaije wants to intertwine these two practices. At the end of the development year, Fraaije wants to have developed her artistic practice into a practice with a clear-cut artistic signature informed by her scientific expertise, with fantasy and imagination playing a bigger role, and with her drawings stirring reflection and debate. Fraaije chooses the relationship between man, nature and agriculture as a theme. Fraaije researches the relationship between these three elements based on network meetings with similar makers and thinkers, field visits, courses and three drawing phases - on reality and fantasy and narratives about the future. In the coming year, Fraaije will work with Marieke Meesters, Nick Verouden, Eva Hilhorst, Afdeling Buitengewone Zaken, Stichting Wij.land, Emily Haworth-Booth and Lily Higgins. Fraaije will present the eventual results in, for instance, an audiovisual exhibition and on the Drawing the Times platform.
md-2 architects

md-2 architects

Michal Dlugajczyk and Mauhaut Dael of md-2 architects graduated from the Rotterdamse Academie van Bouwkunst Academy of Architecture and work in Rotterdam on small-scale and medium-sized renovation projects. md-2 architects delve into the stories, history, significance and identity of a place, with them seeing themselves as defenders of the existing context. They protest against the continuous demolition and the brushing aside of the valuable and complex city. Using surrealism as a methodology, Description by Design, they want to create new realities based on enriching, supplementing and revealing what already exists. Returning themes are identity, sustainability and flexibility. Using the Talent Development grant, md-2 architects want to combine research, practice and exhibitions. They will go on a study trip to Prague, visit construction material factories in the Rotterdam region and analyze the current waste flows of demolition materials. They will also take courses on project management and curation. md-2 architects will work with ENCI, Jan Skrivanek, Heidelberg Materials and the Rotterdamse Academie voor Bouwkunst. Presentations will be given shape in Diffuse Architecture Gallery (d.a.g.), a series of public events in empty spaces, with interactive sessions being organized in the Nieuwe Instituut and/or The Independent School for the City. An exhibition will take place at OMI or Gallery 3 By You.
Michelangelo Winklaar

Michelangelo Winklaar

Multidisciplinary designer Michelangelo Winklaar was selected at the Scout Night in Rotterdam. Using his designs, Michelangelo wants to produce feelings and an experience and expose social issues. Recurring themes are, for example, imprisonment or slavery, female shapes and inclusivity. Using the Talent Development grant, Winklaar wants to develop a tactile couture exhibition that is accessible to the visually impaired. For this, he will carry out material research, take a workshop on couture embroidery and investigate how he can enhance the experience of an exhibition for people who are visually impaired, for example, by adding touch and sound. Winklaar will start collaborations with Madelief Hohe (Kunstmuseum Den Haag), Carlo Wijnands, Visio (Institute for the Blind), Marcel Westerdiep (Escher in het Palais), and Beeld & Geluid, amongst others. At the end of the development year, Winklaar will have a roadmap with different possible presentation forms, the results of his research and meetings, and workshops to present to various museums.
Michèle Boulogne

Michèle Boulogne

Textile designer, visual artist and multimedia archivist Michèle Boulogne graduated from the Design Academy Eindhoven. Her areas of expertise comprise artisanal and industrial textiles, archive research and research into what it means for humanity to navigate in space through ecosystems, observe and use them. Boulogne places this in parallel with earthly issues, like the use and regulation of community resources and decolonial ecology. Boulogne divides the development year into four parts. She will apply techniques she learned during an internship in Kalingo, basket weaving techniques in Martinique and Dominica, Watikubuli in her studio and she will also learn industrial weaving by experimenting with the Digital Jacquard loom. In addition, Boulogne will seek contact with the academic world by means of interviews, visits and discussions about textiles and world construction, at Waag, for example. She will also explore the long-term How do environments come to [[matter]]; translating radar signals into textiles project. Lastly, she will commence the Caribbean Arc and Outer Space, an academic and visual reflection on exploration project. Michèle Boulogne will work with the Kalinago community, Marie Line Mouriesse, Miha Tursic at Waag and Jens Hauser. Boulogne will present her work by means of printing, textile samples and lectures at, for example, Leonardo/OALTS 2024.
Michiel Terpelle

Michiel Terpelle

Graphic designer Michiel Terpelle graduated from ArtEZ University of the Arts with a master's degree in typography in 2020. The designer is interested in exploring queer dating apps, sexual inclination, drag, gender, eroticism, technology and the use of tools like fonts, templates, grid systems, instructions, card systems and workshops. In the development year, Terpelle is going to experiment with the different tools to document community-driven productions, publications and archiving from a queer perspective. With the character Jizz Taco, Terpelle is going to strengthen their presence within the heteronormative design world. Terpelle regards the character as a medium for interventions within spaces where a normative audience could be confronted with a queer perspective. With the project C.A.R.E. (Community, Archiving, Restoring, Expressing) Terpelle will visit different queer initiatives, collectives and events that save their work in archives and publications. The goal of these visits is to increase accessibility to the knowledge within the initiatives and to question the effects of categorization. The initiatives include The Queer Feminist collective nietnormaal*, Bebe Books, Los Angeles Collectief, The Apoqalypse Party, The Pink Cube, The Utrecht Ballroom Scene, The Queer Arcana and MIAUW. Terpelle will also take voguing classes to feel more comfortable in their body, both as a queer person and as Jizz Taco. To gain more insight into maintaining and managing archives, Terpelle will visit The Black Archives and Queer.Archive.Work. During the year, Terpelle will contact various mentors, including artist Nat Pyper, drag queen Sasha Velour and other queer graphic designers like Rosen Everleigh, Tabea Nixdorf and Bart de Baets. Terpelle will present the knowledge acquired and their research during the Paris Ass Book Fair or at Bebe Books in Ghent.
Milenco Dol

Milenco Dol

Creator Milenco Dol was selected during the Scout Night in Zwolle. With photography as the most important medium, Dol focuses on telling stories from an authentic and personal perspective. Topics vary from following the Groningen band The Vices, to a series about starters on the job market. Using the Talent Development grant, Dol wants to further develop himself artistically and commercially. In addition to coaching, Dol wants to delve into analogue photography, different materials and printing techniques, exhibition design and develop a website. He also wants to participate in open calls and expand his network of prospective clients. In the coming year, Dol will work with Wouter le Duc and Denise Woerdman. At the end of the year, he will present his development in an exhibition of new work.
Niels de Bakker

Niels de Bakker

Niels de Bakker makes installations, in which materials are manipulated, displaying intangible phenomena. His projects often start with a search for forgotten, failed or obscure inventions and machines. He controls these machines like an instrument in his performative installations. His practice touches on the areas of mechanology, media archaeology and sonology. In the coming year, De Bakker will develop new scientific instruments. To enhance his knowledge about this, he will carry out theoretical research in mechanology (study of machines), being supported by the TU Delft Optics Research Group. In addition, De Bakker will be mentored by Kees Reedijk, technical adviser at the Rijksakademie in the field of electronics and mechanics. The research will be expressed in a final presentation, the location for which will be determined at a later stage.
Peter Peels

Peter Peels

Self-taught interdisciplinary maker Peter Peels of 4DMagnetics was selected during the Scout Night in Eindhoven. His work can take on various forms, from analogue to digital illustrations, 3D design, animations and music. Using the Talent Development grant, 4DMagnetics wants to develop a video game about a Moluccan warrior on a fictitious, precolonial Moluccan island. In light of this project, Peels wants to pool his creativity with technical skills, immerse himself in his Moluccan background and record the stories of his ancestors. He wants to achieve this by taking game development courses as well as an Indonesian language course. 4DMagnetics will work with the Moluccan community and Het Moluks Museum.
Quiana Cronie

Quiana Cronie

Quiana Cronie graduated from the Design Academy Eindhoven. Studio Quiana Cronie creates sustainable fashion and visual narratives that tell a cultural story as well as the forgotten and undocumented stories of Cronie's country of birth, Aruba. Cronie combines traditional Aruban workwear with new ways of pattern assembly and production. Central themes in Studio Quiana Cronie's work are Aruban heritage, upcycling, sustainability in fashion and visual storytelling. Cronie will use the development year to further develop her Aruban workwear project by refining her research, visual storytelling and practical skills. Specifically, this consists of experiments with new media like 3D fashion and Cinema 4D, and taking a course on making workwear and organizing an exhibition. During the year, Cronie will work with Rancho Aruba, Aruban locals and historians, Bibliotheca National Aruba, Plataforma Aruba, Krosshart Project, Botter Paris and Yvonne van Zijl. The research results will be displayed in a runway exhibition, a short film and a hybrid magazine. In addition to presenting her work on Aruba, Cronie wants to give a presentation in the Fashion For Good Museum, organize a screening and a pop-up event in a shop like The Bonne Suit Flagship and put online publications on her website and through Rancho Aruba.
Ro Buur

Ro Buur

Ro Buur looks for ways to step outside the traditional disciplines and frameworks. They take on different roles within their multidisciplinary practice, such as storyteller, visual researcher, activist, feminist, film maker, photographer and typographer. Buur's practice act as a tool for expressing themselves on certain themes. This is their way of contributing to our reality, based on intersubjectivity instead of normativity. In the coming year, Buur wants to further develop themselves within the themes they have recently been interested in and have worked on but in which they have not yet been able to get a thorough grounding. Buur will receive guidance in this regard from researcher, writer and feminist Mikke Stelders, artist Jan Hoek and documentary maker Nirit Peled. Buur also wants to delve further into developing concepts by enrolling in the IDFAcademy and taking a course at MK24. Buur's work will be presented in an installation at NEVERNEVERLAND.
Rosalie Apituley

Rosalie Apituley

In her work, product designer Rosalie Apituley focuses on the world around energy, the energy transition and communication problems related to this. In the coming year, Apituley wants to make new work for her Chasing Polar Bears project. She is challenging herself to take a more decisive and activist stance. Apituley will be mentored by Tega Brain, Sam Lavigne and Arne Hendriks in developing the speculative side of her work. Furthermore, she intends to take a course in Arduino and a residence on Spitsbergen. In 2024, she will present the results at The Solar Biennale and Springtij.
Samuel Rynearson

Samuel Rynearson

Graphic designer Samuel Rynearson is interested in the symbiotic relationship between the digital and the physical world. A question he asks in this respect is: how do objects influence our habitat and vice versa? A core theme in his work is 'the unusual' as a quality of an object, a space between genres and classification and a place for out of place stories that don't belong anywhere else. During the talent development year, he will lay the foundations for shifting from exclusively digital art to making physical objects that are rooted in the digital world. This will be given shape in the design of a group of physical objects that will occupy gardens in The Hague. Ryearson will be an apprentice to ceramist Pierluigi Pompei in the Europees Keramisch Werkcentrum in Den Bosch. He will meet up with studio Aléa to discuss alternative production methods and wants to learn more about photogrammetry from Lennart van den Doel. In addition, Ryearson will take live drawing and AutoCAD courses and will interview other practitioners, including Elvia Wilk, Kevin Bray and Bart de Baets on the concept of weirdness. The research will converge in an open-source digital archive. To develop this, Ryearson will work with Paul Bille.
Sandipan Nath

Sandipan Nath

Sandipan Nath graduated in 2020 with a master's degree in Industrial Design from the Royal Academy of the Arts. In the talent development year, Nath will focus on the interaction between language, listening and the freedom of choice in relation to non-human ecological processes and animals. In addition, Nath will research political data and technologies behind machine-listening systems like automatic voice recognition (AVR) and language processing (NLP). Nath has set himself a number of objectives, including experimenting with alternative presentation forms, practising with and using AI tools, professionalizing sound and video skills, cultural business skills and business strategies. The development plan consists of three phases. In phase 1, Nath will work with sociologist Darko Lagunas and artist Theun Karelse to develop his research and storytelling skills. He will be mentored in this regard by Lucas van der Velden and Marijke Cobbenhagen. In phase 2, Nath will be experimenting, and he will be mentored by researcher Dr Ramon Amaro. Furthermore, Nath will take an AI coding workshop in Berlin. In phase 3, Nath will reflect on the activities he has done. The different phases will be presented in subpresentations and workshops, including at the Rijksmuseum Twenthe and V2_Lab.
Sébastien Robert

Sébastien Robert

Sébastien Robert is an interdisciplinary artist and researcher. With his projects, he researches disappearing native sonic rituals and cosmologies. Sébastien tries to archive them by developing alternative recording techniques using sustainable materials that reflect the traditions and geo-specific characteristics of the communities. In the coming year, he will start IN-FOR-OUT-TOWARDS, a new artistic project that focuses on a trans-Mediterranean instrument: the bagpipes. This armamentarium reflects on the mutual solidarity of cultures around the Mediterranean Sea and takes a critical look at the definition of traditions. In creating the work, he will be mentored by instrument makers (Leo Maurel, Simon Lanz and Jaap Hoogerdijk) and he will work with creative programmers (Mark IJzerman, Zois Loumakis and Lucien Nicou). To refine his own technical skills, he will take a Rhino workshop, do a residency at GMEM in France and a performance residency at CAMP: Alternative tunings in France. The work will be presented at Grey Space in the Middle, at the Rewire festival in The Hague and at the Scopitone Festival in Nantes.
Shanella Bleecke

Shanella Bleecke

Shanella Bleecke is a multidisciplinary maker. As a film maker, programme maker, journalist, curator and politician, she spreads untold stories of the new generation and gives them a stage. The priority in the talent development year lies in developing a plan for a documentary about Surinamese women, called MATA'S. Going through the entire process is an effective method to further develop her talents as a digital storyteller. She will be mentored in this by documentary maker and director Sacha Vermeulen. During this development process, Bleecke also wants to keep on networking with both established documentary makes and starting makers. For this, she wants to work with The Black Archives, the Surinaams Nationaal Archief and Eye Filmmuseum. Bleecke's work specifically focuses on the Dutch-Surinamese community - for her presentation she wants to produce an exhibition in collaboration with Kunst is Leuk.
Sjoerd Willem Bosch

Sjoerd Willem Bosch

Designer Sjoerd Willem Bosch studied at the Technical University Delft and wants to create contemporary architecture in the Ommelanden, the countryside around Groningen. He regards his role as an architect as a mediator between the landscape, inhabitants and future scenarios. Topics Bosch works on include the loss of biodiversity and social and economic inequality which are manifested in the Groningen landscape as subsidence, salination and earthquakes. Using the grant, Bosch wants to broaden and strengthen his position as an architect in the non-urban landscape and obtain his architect's degree. His plan includes taking weekly walks in Ommeland as a 'listening architect' and meeting up with inhabitants from Groningen, officials and landscape experts, amongst others. Some of those Bosch will work with include Rien Korteknie, Sijas de Groot, Lieke de Jong, Zef Hemel, Christian Ernsten and Rubén Dario Kleimeer. The information gathered will be documented in models, sensory maps and drawings. Presentations will be given shape in articles on Platform GRAS, a Tumblr page, an exhibition and an essay.
Studio-Method

Studio-Method

Architects Pedro Pantaleone and Riel Bessai (Studio-Method) are researching new recycling applications in construction. They are acting on this because of the urgency of radical scarcity and they keep asking themselves which forms of architecture and community are possible within a context of material depletion. In the coming year, Studio-Method will experiment with upscaling their 'contingent designs'. These are designs that make sustained development possible. In this regard, they want to research whether their methodology can exist in a more systematic application. Studio-Method will implement this in the form of a Living Lab where they will build an architectural section. The Living Lab is an experiment in which alternative ways of making with waste will be researched by making connective and structured prototypes at the lab. The goal is to produce accessible knowledge and research around the recycling theme. Studio-Method will be coached by Studio Ossidiana (art), Popma Ter Steege Architecten (construction) and Aric Chen (curation). They will take courses on point cloud, 3D mapping and welding. During the testing stage, Studio-Method will collaborate with material supplier A&M Recycling, constructor Zattere collective, photographer Ruben Dario Kleimeer and a financial adviser. The project will be exhibited at the lab. The research will also be shown during the 2024 Dutch Design Week and the Model Festival for Experimental Architecture in Barcelona.
Sun Lee

Sun Lee

Sun Lee is a fashion designer and social designer. Lee graduated from the Design Academy Eindhoven with a master's degree in design. During the development year, Lee will further delve into the historical and cultural crafts of paper art and paper cutting. To do so, the maker will make a connection between Korea, the country of origin, and the Netherlands, where the maker resides now. Following on from the graduation project Consumption of Heritage, Lee will address modern issues, including industrialization and mass production, by means of paper crafts. The development plan has two objectives including recontextualizing the craft and integrating and getting a deeper knowledge of paper art and cutting techniques in her practice. Lee will carry out research, experiments and will work with experts and makers, including the Vereniging voor Papierknipkunst, the author Jan Peter Verhavem, Sjamaan Buwon Joe, artist Jae Pil Eun and researcher Lim Seung-Bum. Lee will work on the presentation of the development year with June Yoon, an American visual artist who currently works for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. A final location will be selected in collaboration based on the reason behind the project.
Tofe Al-Obaidi

Tofe Al-Obaidi

Graphic designer Tofe Al-Obaidi (Studio Tofe) graduated from ArtEZ. In his practice, he explores the 'digital realm' with coding software like Processing and P5.js and animation software like Blender, Unreal Engine and Cinema4D. Through animation or VR, but also through physical objects, he processes his Iraqi background, the Arabic language and culture and his experiences as a refugee in his work. Al-Obaidi wants to use his work as a means or experience to help people to save or process memories. Recurring themes are fleeing, integration, traumas and loss. Using the Talent Development grant, Al-Obaidi wants to further develop his Removing Dust Covers graduation project, from telling his own story to telling the stories of others. To do so, he wants to become more competent with various software techniques, data analysis and interpretation, design skills, psychological insight and interdisciplinary collaboration. Studio Tofe will work with Wineke Salemink, Remco van Baren, José Huibers and Janine Zielman. The work will partly be presented digitally and, in part, physically in the form of an exhibition and presentation at Dutch Design Week.
Tycho

Tycho

Tycho creates interventions in the public space. Their work mainly deals with urban change, which they use to address and visualize themes like the housing shortage and gentrification. During the development year, Tycho will focus on three goals. Developing their research and design methods, specifically aimed at the gentrification theme. Tycho will be mentored in this regard by Massih Hutak. Utilizing new contexts with the help of Bureau Ruimtekoers and Bouke Bruins. And developing technical skills by taking a course at MK24 and masterclasses by Michel Alders. The development year will lead to three interventions: one in the outdoor space, one in the public indoor space and one on the instructions of an organization.
Zobayda

Zobayda

Audiovisual maker Zobayda was selected at the Scout Night in Rotterdam. With their work, Zobayda captures the queer and BIPOC community around her to enhance connections between people, knowledge and actions based on care. Zobayda is inspired by family beyond the nuclear and heteronormative structures, consisting of chosen family, close friends and loved ones. Zobayda's practice is non-individual, driven by the community and holds up a mirror to euro-centric views. The work can be expressed in film, photography, assembly and production. During the development year, Zobayda will work with theme rest. He will research this concept via literature studies, interviews and brainstorming with her community. Zobayda will also develop a sustainable business model and will learn about branding and building a brand identity. Zobayda will, amongst others, work with Yasmin Najiba, Setareh Noorani, Yasser Abubeker, Leyla Benouniche, Reda Senhaji, Ada M. Patterson and Rami Abadir. The findings will be presented via an archive website, a short film and an exhibition with panel discussions. Nieuwe Instituut and Bar Bario are possible presentation locations.
Zuzanna Zgierska

Zuzanna Zgierska

Zuzanna Zgierska is an interdisciplinary artist and researcher. She draws inspiration from indigenous relations with nature and is motivated to sketch climate conditions that escape the Western concept of 'classifying the world'. Zgierska is inspired by the capacity of minerals to store information and researches the possibility of rewriting colonial histories by means of geo-hacking. In the coming year, she will carry out a case study on the giant potbelly sculptures created by the ancient peoples of Monte Alto. To do this, she will do a residency on her own initiative in the Guatemalan Highlands. Here, she will work with Manuela Girón Recinos, an experienced film director and producer who specializes in this region. During the year, she will be mentored by Paulien Dresscher (art) and Annique van der Boon (science). In addition, Zgierska will take courses in hacking, scriptwriting and creative film editing to refine her artistic skills. The research will be published in an online reader and presented in spaces that go beyond white gallery environments. The actual space still needs to be defined, but local community centres and initiatives, education and workshop institutes, geological and scientific institutes and anthropological conferences are among the ideas.
Afsaneh Ghafarian Rabe’I

Afsaneh Ghafarian Rabe’I

Afsaneh Ghafarian Rabe'I is a self-taught audiovisual maker and was selected during the Scout Night in Amsterdam. In the development plan, the maker describes the ambition to tell the story of the second generation of Iranian-Dutch people from a personal perspective. To this end, she is going to make a series of portraits of Iranian-Dutch people and their peers in Iran. The images from the series will be compiled into a book. In addition to the book, the maker will develop a podcast and organize a theme evening in Pakhuis de Zwijger. In the three-part project, themes like current affairs, emancipation, representation, migration and the Iranian diaspora will play an important role. During the year, Ghafarian Rabe'I will experiment with mixed-media art and photography. She will do this under the guidance of Aàdesokan, a Nigerian photographer and artist specializing in mixed-media work. Furthermore, Ghafarian Rabe'I will investigate distribution strategies with the help of Romaisa Baddar, author of the book 'Middle East Archive'. Marketer and PR-strategist Yev Kravt will help the maker with marketing support. For her substantive understanding, Ghafarian Rabe'I will visit the Center for Iranian Diaspora Studies in San Francisco. To realize the podcast and theme evening, Ghafarian Rabe'I will work with journalist and podcast maker Mina Etemad. Khazar Lotfi will help with editing and writing the texts for the publication. Lastly, Ghafarian Rabe'I has the ambition to launch the book internationally and to make a PR tour of large cities where the Iranian community is most represented.
Alex Walker

Alex Walker

Graphic designer Alex Walker graduated from the Sandberg Institute in 2019. With a focus on experimental and DIY modes of production, he works collaboratively with other artists and cultural institutions on publishing projects. During the development year, Walker will formalize a three-part project titled 'Mumbling Matter', comprised of an online resource, a series of publications and an exhibition programme. The online resource focuses on the materiality and pro­cesses behind print-production, ­structured as an open-source library of tools, and a journal to document experiments and works-in-process. The publication series will be designed and produced through collaborations with fellow artists who share a common interest in DIY culture, collectivity and skill-sharing. Towards the end of the development year, Walker will organise an exhibition to showcase the works produced as well as the tools and processes used.
Anna Wonders

Anna Wonders

Anna Wonders is trained as a goldsmith and was selected during the Scout Night in Zwolle. She finds inspiration in nature and likes to combine rough details with fine shapes. Wonders wants to make her own company sustainable and to contribute to a healthy working culture within the gold mining industry, where currently many people are subject to poor working conditions. That is why she is a licensee of Fairmined, an insurance label that certifies gold and silver from artisanal and small-scale mining organizations that develop ethical practices. During the development year, Wonders wants to film in a Fairmined mine in Colombia, so that she can show the story of these workers in the Netherlands. She also plans to purchase casting equipment so she can experiment with vacuum and sling casting. Wonders will also make a trip to Iceland, where she will receive guidance from jewellery retailer PRAKT in Reykjavík. The result will be a jewellery collection of fair-mined gold and silver, inspired by nature. The creation process will be recorded, with the aim of inspiring other goldsmiths to work with this material as well. For the presentation of the collection she is looking at SIERAAD International Jewellery Art Fair in Amsterdam and an exhibition together with other Fairmined goldsmiths in Zwolle.
Anni Nöps

Anni Nöps

Sound artist and electronic musician Anni Nöps (Wetware) completed her bachelor ArtScience at the KABK in 2021. The core of her work is aimed at sensing, perception and creating subtle, sensitive experiences that work on a subliminal, introspective level. She works across various mediums revolving around sound: sound installations, video, virtual reality, fixed media sound works, experimental and conceptual compositions. For the upcoming year, Nöps plans to develop her practice as a sound artist in four ways: 1. by producing several sound installations exploring the concept of materiality of the sound; 2. by creating new compositions alongside a release and live set for performing; 3. by collaborating with contemporary ballet choreographer-dancer Louis Stiens; and 4. by curating music events at the intersection of academic composition and new electronic listening music. In addition, Nöps aims to develop her sound related skills, by participating in residencies and seeking guidance from several electronic and spatial sound composers as her mentors. Possible locations to present her sound works and performances are festivals such as FIBER, Klankvorm and Sonic Acts.
Benjamin Earl

Benjamin Earl

Benjamin Earl graduated from the Royal Academy of Art with a master's degree in Non-Linear Narrative in 2019. As a designer, Earl is interested in how digital technology connects physical space with social relationships. In the development plan, the designer asks himself the question: How can digital technology promote intimacy with our social and material environment? In the coming year, Earl will work on developing skills in coding, writing, graphic design and sound design. The development plan consists of three phases. Phase 1 focusses on technical and theoretical research. During this phase, Earl will design a home-made server, participate in various courses and enrol at the School for Poetic Computation in New York. In addition, Earl will apply for supervision from Professor Matthew Fuller. In phase 2, Earl will examine various methodologies. The designer will experiment with interactive, audiovisual interfaces and explore the ideas of decentralization through conversations with fellow designers working on similar themes. Lastly, in phase 3, Earl will work on various forms of presentation, including education, a public presentation and a digital presentation. For this, he will reach out to V2 and MU Hybrid Art House.
Colin Wegman

Colin Wegman

Music producer and sound designer Colin Wegman was selected during the Scout Night in Utrecht. The Curaçao-born maker grew up in Leusden and, under the name audt98, makes music with sound design as its starting point. In the development plan, the maker asks himself to what extent he is connected to his island of origin. Wegman works with analogue drum computers, synthesizers and sequencers, and is primarily guided by intuition. In the development year, Wegman will investigate his geographical, cultural and musical roots on Curaçao through sound design. For this purpose, Wegman will travel to Curaçao to record samples of local sounds and traditional Curaçao instruments. With the samples, Wegman will make an ode to Curaçao, a piece of music in which the island is represented both conceptually and musically. The sound designer will collaborate with Dutch-Curaçao DJ Suze Ijó, who will support him on his journey. Furthermore, Wegman will improve his technical skills in music and sound design by apprenticing with Dave Mech. The live sets will be presented in different clubs during the development year. Lastly, Wegman will work together with a lighting designer.
Constanza Castagnet

Constanza Castagnet

Constanza Castagnet is a sound designer who researches our relationship to new technologies such as AI, the presence of constantly-recording devices, and voice data. The research translates into immersive installations in which experimentation with voice functions as a bridge to alternative forms of listening. With the development grant, Castagnet aims to develop its practice in the field of machine-learning voice models, both as a creative tool for alternative collaborations between humans and machines, and as an issue on the challenges posed by this technology. In the first phase of the plan, Castagnet will receive mentoring in extended vocal technique from Stine Janvin Motland. In parallel, she will research the content in collaboration with Arif Kornweitz and Eleni Ikonadiou. In the second phase, in which a neural network will be worked on. In this phase, Castagnet will receive support from Hackers & Designers and Studio LOOS on the technical aspects of the project and from Marijn Cinjee on the spatial installation, and will receive feedback on her work from Debit and Upsammy. In the third phase, the presentation will be shaped by three formats: a multi-channel immersive sound installation 'Artificial Hockets', a workshop and an online platform. The installation will be presented at Qo2 in Brussels, platform Aux)) in Amsterdam and Centro de Arte Sonoro in Buenos Aires. The online platform will be created in collaboration with creative coder Toni Brell.
Deborah Mora

Deborah Mora

Deborah Mora (Orah) holds a bachelor's degree in Design Art and Technology from ArtEZ. In her practice, she focuses on performative and interactive spaces. For the upcoming year, she wishes to employ her visual-making practice to contribute to the creation of more immersive, communicative and performative spaces, and thereby engage and connect the audience more. Mora will focus on the research, design and production of one main project: the Bond II, which investigates meditation practices entangled with multimedia spaces. In addition, she aims to lay the groundwork for an efficient methodology that will achieve both the advancement of her technical skillset and theoretical and applied research, and the tightening of her collaborative engagement. Mora will seek guidance from several artists to help professionalize her practice, including Alice Bucknell, Kevin Bray and the artist collective Keiken. She also plans to attend workshops in video art direction and screenwriting, and to make study trips to learn new ways of producing and researching. Mora will present her work in the form of an exhibition and performance at FIBER Festival.
Dérive

Dérive

Under the name Dérive, Hedwig van der Linden and Kevin Westerveld work on a research-driven design practice, operating between architecture, public space and urban strategies. In the development year, they want to develop Dérive into a full-time practice that can engage a wide range of actors in the (re)development of an area. They will do this through three main tracks: a transversal track, a thematic track and a strengthening track. In the transversal track, the practice's method will be developed. In the thematic track, this method will be applied via three projects: 'Garden Room - encounters in the garden city', 'RTM x BXL' and 'From Allotment Complex to City Garden Park'. The strengthening track consists of a number of activities that will run in parallel with the development year. Dérive will be supported during this year by various collaborations and coaches, including Jan Rothuizen, with whom they will work on visualization techniques to capture the atmosphere of an environment, and Michelle Provoost, who will explore with them how Dérive's working method can be translated into the 21st century. In addition to more conventional forms of architectural presentation, Dérive also wants to reach a wider audience by means of a performance in collaboration with Verhalenhuis Belvédère and the Rotterdams Wijktheater.
Elif Satanaya Özbay

Elif Satanaya Özbay

Elif Satanaya Özbay, with her visual and video-based research and design practice, engages with social groups and focusses in the project 'How to Trace a Forgotten Diasporic Identity?' on the question: what to do when you don't find yourself reflected in the archives and the content you want to investigate is too hard to find? How do you build on something that was once destroyed and how can we collectively restore it? During the development year, Ozbay wants to develop in the areas of collecting, recording and connecting the oral history of a diasporic identity before it is lost; and then connect this to the present through experimental ideation methods. In creative development, the emphasis will be on working with audio expressions, where her previous work was predominantly visual. In the research phase, Ozbay will mainly make recordings with different Circassian communities. In the development phase, the maker will investigate how to present her work in different contexts for diverse audiences. During the year Ozbay will make studio visits to various artists and creators. As a final presentation, Ozbay will develop an interactive online storytelling platform.
Elizaveta Federmesser

Elizaveta Federmesser

Elizaveta Federmesser, works at the intersection of digital culture and (fashion) material research. Her development plan focusses on mastering AI and machine learning technologies, using material archives as databases for AI and showing how these databases can be used for future designs. During the research phase, Koroleva will take courses in Data Analytics and Python on Coursera and a course in Modern Curatorial Practices at Zurich University of Arts. The research process will be expressed in a digital publication, for which she will take courses in storytelling and creative writing. In the second phase, the project 'The Prototype' will be worked on, making use of the archives of the Depot Boijmans van Beuningen or the Design Museum Den Bosch. For the digital models produced, Federmess wants to present them at EBB Global and Dissrup. Three of the models will also be physically produced at Pi Modelling.
Estelle Barriol

Estelle Barriol

Estelle Barriol is an architect who, under the name Studio ACTE, rethinks the relationship between architect, material, drawing, model, construction and building to achieve low-tech, resilient, and sustainable architecture. Barriol's goal within the development year is to use an experimental research method to develop 1:1 prototypes that are natural alternatives to the CO2-intensive standard practices of the Dutch construction industry. The year will be divided into two projects: Learning and Building. In Learning, engineers, suppliers and craftsmen will be involved as experts and excursions will be made to Limburg and Japan. During Building, the acquired knowledge will be applied in practice and a catalogue of circular building details will be developed. The results will be presented in an exhibition to both the architectural profession and a wider relevant audience.
Florian Regtien

Florian Regtien

Multidisciplinary maker Florian Regtien was selected during the Scout Night in Amsterdam. Regtien is a self-taught maker and will use the coming year to master various disciplines and crafts. The maker is concerned about the state of the earth and wants to use his practice to create more awareness of craftmanship, as a counter-reaction to mass production. During the development year, Regtien will follow programmes in shoemaking, leather working, metal working, furniture upholstery, furniture and wood restoration, jewellery making, object photography and a course in painting techniques. The maker will engage two mentors, namely Jos van den Hoogen and Phil Merry. Guidance will be provided to Regtien by creative strategist Manon Schaap. For the final presentation, Regtien intends to organize a multidisciplinary exhibition in which works from the various programmes will be presented.
Florian van Zandwijk

Florian van Zandwijk

Florian van Zandwijk, a graduate of ArtEZ, focusses in his practice on the functioning and medium-specific characteristics that define our media technology. During the development year, Van Zandwijk will be working on two projects: 'The Arena' and 'The Camcorder', from Television to Internet. With 'The Arena', he researches the football stadium as a metaphor for society. For this purpose, he will visit archives and conduct field research at Argus Productions, Feyenoord football stadium De Kuip and CORNER Football + Society, among others. Van Zandwijk wants to present the results as a performative lecture and a livestream. The second project will research the camcorder as a democratizing transitional medium. For this research, Marga van Mechelen, Susan Aasman, the Sound and Vision archive will be contacted and a study trip to Japan will be made to visit the factory of the Sony VX1000. In addition to livestreams and video essays, he will also examine whether a physical installation can be built as a form of presentation. For various technical aspects such as software, sound design, hardware, and installations, Van Zandwijk will collaborate with partners such as: Luuk Schipperheyn, Ibo Ibelings, Marianne Noordzij, Oscar van Leest, Jelle Reith, Sjoerd Mole, Eva van Boxtel and Thomas van de Bliek. Salim Bayri and Johan Grimonprez will be approached for practical support throughout the entire process.
Gijs Schalkx

Gijs Schalkx

Designer Gijs Schalkx graduated in 2021 from ArtEZ with a bachelor's degree in Product Design. In his practice, the power of doing things yourself is central. With his method 'Provisational Design', in which he uses only what is locally available, he wants to challenge the system of consumption. During the development year, Schalkx will be conducting experiments around generating, storing, transporting and using energy. The aim is to provide sufficient energy for himself and various aspects of his practice. He will seek guidance from artist Joost Conijn and tech journalist Kris de Decker, among others. He also plans to immerse himself in the relationship between man and technology by taking a philosophy course. He is considering the Dutch Design Week for the presentation of his work, in the form of a physical installation, a book and a website.
Hattie Wade

Hattie Wade

Hattie Wade graduated from the master Non Linear Narrative at the KABK in 2021. She is a researcher, designer and visual journalist who is interested in how past institutional violences are reproduced through legal frameworks, heritage protection and the form the dissemination of this information takes. She critically researches, dismantles, and rebuilds to make tangible that which is not, taking the form of digital, video, and spatial work. In the upcoming year, Wade will work towards developing a methodology that can replace how Europe currently relates to its sites of heritage; exposing the frameworks of toxic nationalism, and offering a counter narrative - a counter heritage - in its place. She will use the grant to hone this methodological practice and improve her skills in research, video-editing, scriptwriting, 3D fabrication and information design. The site of heritage she has in mind as a case study is The Rooswijk, a shipwreck belonging to the VOC (Dutch East India Company). Wade will first conduct theoretical, historical and community research, which includes guidance from Dr. Grietje Baars and a series of conversations with researchers and activists. During the development phase, she will create iterative outputs stemming from the research as a form of reflection, experimenting with different tools such as 3D rendering and fabrication. Wade will present the resulting spatial information design and videos in the form of an exhibition. In addition, she will create a guided tour, organize a discussion, and share a research film through online platforms.
Igrien Yin Liu

Igrien Yin Liu

Igrien Yin Liu (刘寅) is a self-taught multidisciplinary maker and was selected during the Scout Night in Amsterdam. Liu grew up with both Chinese and Dutch cultures. In the coming development year, the maker will examine her Chinese-Dutch identity by conducting various studies to create three visual portrait series of up to eight images. This will be combined with a written story in the form of a poem. The maker divides the development year into three overarching themes: 'Silent Metamorphosis', 'Surreal Dreams' and 'Chinese Aesthetics'. The three series, entitled 'The space in between', 'The world within' and 'A realm beyond', bring together subjects such as social status, hopeful dreams, beauty and mythology. In the first series, Liu will elaborate on the sense of otherness as a non-Western diaspora. For the development of this series, the maker will experiment with digital painting and will further develop her current skills in Adobe programmes. In the second series, Liu will delve into the world of stereotypes and beauty ideals. To gain inspiration, the maker will be taking courses in Chinese Painting at the Sunny Art Centre in London and in modern photography at the SOAS University of London. For the last series, Liu will immerse herself in Chinese mythology and philosophy. During the development year, Liu will engage with various Chinese individuals, including writer Pete Wu, media maker Chee-han Kartosen Wong, photographer Zhang Jing Na, artist Oscar Yi Hou, photographer Leslie Zhag and artist Liu Zheng. With them she will discuss the Chinese identity and perspectives.
Iris Lam

Iris Lam

Iris Lam graduated from the KABK with a bachelor's degree in Design in 2018. She tells stories using written text, illustrations, animations, audio and video. The coming year, Lam wants to further develop as a writer of children's books and as an illustrator. To this end, she is setting up two projects: a children's book about fear, entitled 'De Bond voor Bangeriken' (The League of Big Babies), and a pilot for an animated documentary about climate anxiety. With these projects, she wants to make fear and climate anxiety more understandable and to invite an open conversation among children and adults, with the intended side effect of them overcoming their fears and taking action. Lam will be working together with book designer Eva van Bemmelen and publisher Volt children's books. For the documentary, VPRO Jeugd is being considered. Furthermore, Lam plans to participate in several courses that will allow her to learn interview techniques as well as animation and stop-motion techniques.
Ivo Brouwer

Ivo Brouwer

Ivo Brouwer holds a master's degree in Type and Media from the KABK. He positions himself as a graphic designer specialized in experimental type design. In his practice, he explores and does research to broaden and further push boundaries of current type design. For the upcoming year, he wishes to dive deeper into the experimental part of type design and explore the possibilities that more recent type technology enables to collectively come to new solutions. His research project 'Type & Technology Laboratory' will be focused on alternative possibilities of visual expressing language with type. His activities will include creating an online environment, taking courses in interactive design and modeling for 3D printing, updating several typefaces, and organizing multiple workshops. In order to discover possibilities and gain new perspectives, Brouwer will be guided by David Jonathan Ross as coach and collaborate with sound-artist Sefano Murgia, 3D designer Rutger Paulusse and typographer Indra Kupferschmid, amongst others. The research will be presented online, through workshops and in the form of an interactive installation at events such as TypeLab and Dutch Design Week.
Javier Rodriguez

Javier Rodriguez

Illustrator and designer Javier Rodriguez obtained his master's degree at the Sandberg Institute in 2019. The designer is inspired by two sub-genres within science fiction, Cyberpunk and Solarpunk. In the development plan, Rodriguez describes the ambition to build a sustainable practice through five components. These include engaging in research, writing, storytelling, creating functional objects, analyzing previous work, developing new methodologies, exploring audiences and working on online and offline visibility. Rodriguez will participate in a monthly online sci-fi reading club and will experiment with different printing techniques. Under the guidance of writer Max Urai, researcher Angela YT Chan, Arif Kornweitz and critic Julie Philips, the designer aims to take his research and writing skills to the next level. To develop new products, Rodriguez will immerse himself in 3D scanning, CNC engraving machines and laser cutters with the help of designer Kevin Bray, ceramist Octave Rimbert-Riviere and the Fablab Amsterdam. The material products such as text, images and objects will come together on Rodriguez's website. The designer will create an experimental graphic novel and will present it at Sans Serriffe. Lastly, Rodriguez will organize an exhibition in iso Amsterdam.
Kalkidan Hoex

Kalkidan Hoex

Jewellery designer and artist Kalkidan Hoex graduated from Maastricht Institute of Arts. Under the name theNewtribe, Hoex questions the form, context and representation of contemporary jewellery. She does this from her perspective as someone who lives between different cultures, adopted from Ethiopia and raised in the Netherlands. In the coming year, the designer will focus on her design research IAM MOTHERLAND, a multidisciplinary project that combines jewellery, video and photography. The research is representative of a heterotopic world, in which the audience is challenged to think about concepts such as identity, creolization, hybridity and representation. The maker wants to explore these terms that are related to 'wokism'. Hoex poses the questions: when is there a movement of awakening that brings about recognition, and when does this movement lead to the categorizing, the stereotyping or the enforcement of a symbolic order that keeps 'us' separate from 'them'. Her goal is to create a 'Third World', a surrealistic place where worlds fade away and where Hoex's jewellery can exist in a (still) unknown cultural language. To deepen her practice, the designer will speak with a mix of mentors, including filmmaker Giel van Geloven, director Anthony Nana Kofi Nti, jewellery designer Castro James Smith and designer Ted Noten. She will present her work at various venues, including NYC Jewelery Week. In addition to a new jewellery collection, Hoex will be developing three short trailers: interviewing several people with mixed identities in which her jewellery serves as the starting point of the conversation; doing research on material and technique, such as embossing; and exploring braiding techniques from the heavy culture by collaborating with local afro shops.
Lindsey van de Wetering

Lindsey van de Wetering

Lindsey van de Wetering completed her master's degree at Amsterdam's Academy of Architecture with the project Poku Oso, which sought to bring new life to the dilapidated Cultuurtuin (Culture Garden) in Paramaribo. This park was once used to test exotic plants and trees for use on plantations; today, is very existence is under threat due to neglect and reallocation of the land. Poku Oso's nature-inclusively designed bandstands were inspired by the techniques and aesthetics of instruments, and are intended to bring music to the park – not just as an accommodation for the conservatoire, but also as life-sized sound boxes played by nature itself. The project won Van de Wetering an Archiprix award, and she dreamed of realising at least one such bandstand in Paramaribo.

The Creative Industries Fund NL's talent development grant afforded her the opportunity to explore that dream. Travelling to Suriname, she encountered the Green Growth Suriname foundation, who asked her not only for input on the preservation of the Culture Garden, but also to help reflect on the importance of nature-inclusive building in a city plagued by the rising sea level. “In addition to upscaling one of the models, I have made contact with the people of Paramaribo in all kinds of ways, in order to identify their needs and build the future together,” says Van de Wetering.

One thing that stood out in that process was how hesitant many people in Suriname are to dream about the future: 'People are more focused on surviving in the here and now.' A workshop session at the Kinderuniversiteit (Children's University) opened the way for a visual research approach: making collages using photos and drawings makes it easier to dream. Van de Wetering wrote an essay on the subject, titled Dromen over Suriname 2043 (Dreaming About Suriname 2043), in which she not only explains, but also demonstrates the importance of imagination. 'By visualising thoughts, we can create a vision of the future, and such visions are necessary to be able to realise a transition. As far as that is concerned, there is a great need for design capacity in Suriname.'

Van de Wetering became an ambassador for the ecological organisation Forest93, gave lectures and workshops, and encouraged urban residents to create collages of the city of the future. Based on those sessions, she started making collages of her own as well, two of which will soon be on display at Podieum in Amsterdam West. 'This grant has also given me more room to rediscover art. I was always torn between choosing art school or architecture, but now I can bring the two together. I would like to continue telling stories using art, photography and film.'
Line Arngaard

Line Arngaard

Designer Line Arngaard graduated from the Gerrit Rietveld Academie with a bachelor's degree in Graphic Design in 2018. In the project 'Clothes in Crises', Arngaard investigates how different forms of patchwork can represent times of crisis from a graphic perspective. The development plan consists of three chapters: in the first chapter, Arngaard will research the 'Feestrok' (Skirt of Celebration). The designer will explore patchwork as a means of expression through both contemporary and historical examples from craft, fashion and graphic design. By taking a course on 'Decolonizing Fashion History' at Central Saint Martins in London, the maker aims to gain skills that will help her reflect critically. In the second chapter, Arngaard will experiment with developing various exercises to use the meaning and form of patchwork as a medium within fashion and graphic design.
Maarten Brijker

Maarten Brijker

Maarten Brijker is going to develop a VST audio plug-in, under the name Yonder, in the development year and thereby combine his skills and knowledge in the field of programming and music. The goal is to eventually set-up a long-term research project on the sensuality and tangibility of sound. In the first phase, Brijker will start making Max/MSP patches, and in the second phase he will translate these into C++. Yonder will follow a series of workshops at IRCAM in Paris and receive guidance from Gideon Kiers. He will also make a study trip to various plug-in studios in Berlin, including: Peter Kirn, Sugar Bytes, Meeblip, Bitwig u-he and Renoise. Thomas Arn is brought in for technical support in C++. In the area of graphic design, Yonder will work together with Rik Laging. Everything will come together in a plug-in music album, for which he will collaborate with sound artists, composers and vocalists. Brijker is in contact with Sonic Acts to arrange for the presentation of the plug-in and the album in a lecture and workshop.
Malik Saïb-Mezghiche

Malik Saïb-Mezghiche

Designer Malik Saïb-Mezghiche (dojo) graduated from the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague. His multidisciplinary practice includes illustration, animation, graphic design, video production and event organization. In his work, Saïb-Mezghiche focusses on radical anti-colonial theory around visual narratives and indigenous storytelling. The coming year, the maker wants to lay the foundation for a long-term animation project, exploring the impact of (racial) violence on the mental health of minority groups and colonialism. During the development year, Saïb-Mezghiche will take several workshops to improve his technical and storytelling skills, such as drawing style, sound composition and scriptwriting. The maker plans to work with a creative team that understands the diversity, layering and intersectionality of the mental struggles that minorities face. Possible collaboration partners and advisors in this are writer and director Andra Gunter, animator Andy Cung, writer Laura Nsafou and Orisun Studio founders Nike Ayinla and Nas Hosen. Saïb-Mezghiche will also seek interaction with his audience and community through conversations, screenings, workshops and YouTube. To this end, he intends to set up collaborations with organizations such as Salwa, Metro 54, the HipHopHuis, (A)wake or The Niteshop.
Manal Aziz

Manal Aziz

Audiovisual maker Manal Aziz was selected during the Scout Night in Amsterdam. The maker is mainly guided by intuition in their work. Aziz has a background as a psychologist, writer and interviewer, and their interest in identity issues is the link between all of these roles. In the coming year, Aziz will work on structuring their practice while focussing on their method. Aziz's work relates to key themes, including gender and cultural identity, otherness, autonomy, intimacy and mental health. The maker intends to improve their mastery of digital audiovisual programs. Furthermore, the maker will work on written pieces, photography and audiovisual media, and bring them together in a hybrid mixed media magazine with the aim of sharing stories in an inclusive way. The maker will also experiment with physical formats of photography. During the year, Aziz will explore which form of presentation is most suitable. To this end, the maker will work together with organizations and communities from both Morocco and the Netherlands.
Maren Bang

Maren Bang

Maren Bang graduated with a master's degree from the Design Academy Eindhoven in 2021. Bang is interested in concepts such as controllability, calculation and anticipation. The coming year, the designer will focus on further developing her practice through research, skills development, producing a lecture and conducting a fake open call. Bang will do this by 'splitting' herself into three categories: Mono-Maren, Multi-Maren and Meta-Maren. For her research, Bang will visit exhibitions and lectures, read literature and talk to various professionals, including Dr Adeola Enigbokan. She will also participate in the De Structura research programme. Bang expresses the ambition to increase various skills, including making 3D models with Leo Maher and taking wood classes at Hjerleid crafts school, Dovre (Norway). In addition, she will explore textile techniques at The New Order of Fashion. Bang will develop her performance and increase her knowledge in film with Alexandre Humbert. Bang will seek guidance in writing skills from Oli Stratford. A fake open call forms the framework in which Bang will work. She will carry this out in collaboration with curator Amanda Pinatih and artist Lucas Maassen. The results of the open call will be presented in an exhibition. Lastly, Bang plans to organize a workshop in collaboration with Huidenclub Rotterdam to share the knowledge and experiences she has gained.
Margherita Soldati

Margherita Soldati

Designer Margherita Soldati holds a bachelor's degree in Art and Design from the Gerrit Rietveld Academie. She has a strong curiosity for tactile perception at the intersection of art and sensory wellbeing. Stemming from a personal experience, Soldati wants to focus her attention on the similarities between burnout and material degradation, creating emphasis on the act of reparation. Her idea is to create textile portraits of people who suffered from burnout that narrate their healing process. The development plan consists of four phases: 1. preparatory research, which will include consultations with designer Kornelia Dimitrova and the TextielMuseum in Tilburg; 2. on site material research, conducted at textile factories in Prato, Italy and through a residency at Lottozero Laboraties; 3. conversations with participants about experiences with burnout, for which she will receive training by a psychiatrist; and 4. creating textile portraits by using new techniques learned in Prato. The process and work will be presented through a short video documentary and as an exhibition in Italy and at Waag and Dutch Design Week.
Mario Gonsalves

Mario Gonsalves

Photographer and filmmaker Mario Gonsalves graduated from the Utrecht School of the Arts in 2019 with a bachelor's degree in Design. In his practice, he relates to themes such as poverty, migration, masculinity and identity. As a maker from the Caribbean diaspora, Gonsalves faces many external influences that make him think a lot about his identity. Gonsalves states that this is partly due to Dutch colonialism and post-colonialism, of which Aruba is still experiencing negative consequences. The coming year, Gonsalves will focus on the question 'How can I tell stories that inspire and bring hope from design as opposed to just documentation?' and will build a new perspective in relation to Caribbean themes. To develop himself, the maker will participate in an online course in 3D design rendering and a three-week programme in DLAB (UK). Furthermore, Gonsalves will brainstorm with Antoine Bowers (FIER Architecten) and Wouter Pocornie (26H & The Black Archives) about architecture, gentrification and presentation. In collaboration with curator Inez van der Scheer, Gonsalves intends to present his work during the Dutch Design Week in a combined installation of screens, VR and 3D models.
Martijn Holtslag

Martijn Holtslag

Self-taught maker Martijn Holtslag was selected during the Scout Night in Zwolle. Under the name Ongewoon Onbegrensd (Unconventionally Unlimited), he works on miniature dioramas to tell stories. In the development year, he wants to study his artistic vision more closely. For this purpose, he will talk to Mieke Conijn of Kunstenlab Deventer. Furthermore, he will develop his craftsmanship in the field of mechanics as an apprentice to Rob Hillenbrink and Electric Circus. To incorporate videography in his work, he will involve 3D visualizer Lars van Dorenvanck. Lastly, Holtslag plans to increase his knowledge of video presentations in collaboration with videographer Niek Koot and editor Terry Kerbusch. In addition to online, his work will also be presented in his own studio and at the Kunstenlab during the IJssel Biennale.
Matilde Patuelli

Matilde Patuelli

Matilde Patuelli, a graduate of the Design Academy Eindhoven, uses storytelling to explore the perception of reality, social constructs and human relationships. In the coming year, Patuelli will be diving into psychology and psychiatry through the methodology of LARP (Live Action Role Play), on the basis of three processes: 1. acquiring knowledge; 2. applying the knowledge in practice by design; and 3. discussions with participants. First, Patuelli will participate in two conferences on LARP as a working methodology. Then, she will make a study trip to Slovenia, where she will participate in trainings and take courses at Uppsala University on Transformative Play. She will also set up a collaboration with MinD in Italy, attend a workshop by Mala Kline and talk to The Beautiful Distress, a foundation that organizes a residency in New York in which Patuelli will be participating. To guide her in her development year, Patuelli will approach Elektra Diakolambrianou, David Bassuk and Nina Essendrop. The designer will apply the knowledge she has gained in a psychiatric and educational context. Her work will be presented as a lecture and a LARP workshop at Knuktpunk 2023.
Moreno Schweikle

Moreno Schweikle

Studio Moreno Schweikle's work is situated at the intersection of sculpture, furniture and installation with one central aim: the portrayal of the field of tension between nature, culture and technology. Schweikle proposes three phases in the development year: 1. a research period to gain a deeper understanding of historical and material knowledge; 2. a residency in Brazil and cross-disciplinary mentorship to better position his research skills; and 3. an immersive exhibition to convey his artistic vision. To broaden his knowledge in the field of additive and circular production methods, Schweikle will be going on a study trip to the FormNext fair in Frankfurt. For his new work 'Sometimes the water is the bridge', the designer seeks collaborations with anthropologist and ethnobotanist Wolf Dieter Storl and philosopher Clemens Driessen. For the development of his practice, he gets advice from curator Mercedes Gómez Gonzáles. As presentation locations, he is looking at locations such as P/////AKT in Amsterdam, PS101 in Cologne and Triphase in Brussels.
Myrthe Krepel

Myrthe Krepel

Myrthe Krepel graduated from TU Delft with a master's degree in Design for Interaction in 2018. As a social designer, she creates experiences and interventions around social challenges. With her work, she creates in-between spaces that enable people to reflect on their own actions and thinking. In the coming year, she wants to further develop the performative character of her work and approach and elaborate social issues in a physical way. In doing so, she focusses on the theme of the balance of power between government and citizen. Her development plan consists of three phases. In the first phase, Krepel will gain (embodied) knowledge about the body and will learn to work with the body as a research tool and material. In addition, Krepel plans to take a course in which she will learn to use the body in production processes and will attend a workshop in the field of performance in the public space. In the second phase, she will apply what she has learned in the context of the theme of power relations by making performative interventions in the public space. With the help of a videographer, Krepel will make a short film of this research and these interventions. In the third phase, Krepel will focus on presenting her research and interventions to the public, the field of social design and the government. She seeks guidance from actor, theatre maker and teacher Thomas Spijkerman, and artist and social designer Tabo Goudswaard, among others.
Noëlle Ingeveldt

Noëlle Ingeveldt

From a fascination for the neatly raked Dutch cultural landscape, Noëlle Ingeveldt (Berkveldt) conducted research into artificial nature during the master in Interior Architecture: Research + Design at the Piet Zwart Institute. With her background in spatial design, she approaches the Dutch landscape as an interior and focusses on the friction between man, animal and landscape design. Her digital works allow visitors to experience a subject from a different, non-human perspective. In her development plan, Ingeveldt focusses on a study of the possible future presence of large carnivores in the Netherlands. What would the Netherlands look like if bears, lynxes or golden jackals were to roam our cultural landscape? With a speculative design, Ingeveldt wants to create support for the arrival of these animals and prepare the Netherlands for them. In the coming year, she will conduct intensive desk and field research in Romania, Serbia and Spain, through interviews with biologists, ecologists and environmental philosophers. The results of the research will be presented as a non-linear story in the form of a multimedia, immersive installation and publication. During the development process, Ingeveldt will involve interaction and media designer Olivier Otten as a coach, and she is planning to deepen her technical knowledge in the field of non-linear storytelling, Artificial Intelligence and Virtual Reality.
Nohaila Gamah

Nohaila Gamah

Self-taught director and screenwriter Nohaila Gamah characterizes her practice as shaping human
experiences through audiovisual techniques. She believes in making recognizable and authentic films that originate in safe spaces and in which equal representation is central. Themes Gamah addresses are biculturalism and gender identity, spirituality and intergenerational transmission. In the coming year, the creator will develop her own voice and style, with the goal of offering a new representation, so that normative images we know about being a woman/man/human being are
broken. To this end, Gamah will research Afro-surrealism. Alongside this, she is delving further into her own cultural history and what it means to be Moroccan Amazigh to be. These investigations form the basis for two Film projects.
Nóra Békés

Nóra Békés

Designer Nóra Békés graduated from the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague (KABK) in Graphic Design. In the coming year, she will be working on a typographical study of cultural-historical narratives within the project 'Library of Narrative Types'. The research is threefold: 1. a morphological study of Roman majuscule lettering; 2. a modernist modular lettering experiment; and 3. the illustration of organic growth in a typeface. For this, Békés will visit archives and receive mentoring and technical support from David Bennewith, Ramiro Espinoza, Françoise Berserik and Vera van de Seyp, among others. She will also attend the ATypl Tech Talks and the ATypl conference. Her work will be shared via a website in combination with an exhibition and launch event at San Seriffe, Page Not Found or W139.
Paul Coenen

Paul Coenen

Paul Coenen graduated from the Design Academy Eindhoven with a bachelor's degree in Design in 2019. As a designer, Coenen considers it his job to design products that have a long lifespan, are not susceptible to trends and are ultimately easy to recycle. In his practice, he focusses on the 'limitations' of the industry and searches for new possibilities by experimenting with materials. The coming year, Coenen plans to study hydroforming, a technique for shaping sheet metal and profiles using liquid and pressure. In collaboration with Expansor specialists, he will investigate the possibilities of applying this technique to the furniture industry and thereby pushing the boundaries of product design. Coenen also wants to concentrate on the business side of his design practice. For this, he is looking for help from a business coach and several experienced designers who can advise him on branding, business operations and strategic marketing.
Paul Kuijpers

Paul Kuijpers

Drag queen and trend-watcher Paul Kuijpers was selected during the Scout Night in Utrecht. Kuijpers grew up in a small village and experienced a lot of homophobia, which made him ask himself how you can be both safe and true to your own identity. Creating drag persona Cindy van der Loan, Kuijpers makes more room for himself and his development. In the development plan, Kuijpers describes the many facets of drag and is inspired by Hollywood glamour. In the coming year, Kuijpers will further develop himself as a drag queen with an eye for sustainability. The maker wants to make outfits himself and wishes to further develop his sewing techniques for this purpose. He will also further develop his design skills by designing both physically and digitally. This will be achieved by means of feedback sessions and online courses in digital fashion design under the guidance of designer Isabell Schulz. With a ten-day wig course at the Haarwerk Vakschool, Kuijpers aims to make better-quality wigs. To improve his performances, Kuijpers will take lessons from choreographer Shahin Damka. Furthermore, Kuijpers will participate in a residency at New Order of Fashion and will follow the 'Design, Science and Value in a Sustainable Clothing Industry' course at Wageningen University and Research. Kuijpers will present the development and results of the project at the New Order of Fashion exhibition during the Dutch Design Week.
Pernilla Philip

Pernilla Philip

Social designer and Crip designer Pernilla Manjula Philip graduated from the Sandberg Institute in Design in 2021. Her design practice stems from the experiences of living with a chronic illness. With her designs, Philip wants to facilitate and promote the conversation around chronic illness and justice for people with disabilities. In the coming year, Philip will focus on the gap that arises when healthcare institutions fail to meet, or only partially meet, the needs of people who are dependent on medical treatment. Her project plan has three phases. In the first phase, Philip will develop two workshops, experimenting with different hacking and DIY techniques in relation to medical tools and techniques. At the same time, discussions will take place around the legal and historical aspects of these open-source hacking experiments. Also broader issues around speculative care, security and agency in relation to treatment methods will be addressed in the workshops. Within this phase, Philip will work together with experts such as medical technician Kate Cameron (AMC Amsterdam) and Open Insulin (USA). In the second phase, the designer will explore ways in which she can reinforce and shape the knowledge and questions that emerge during the workshops. For this she will talk to mentor and artist Jesse Darling and will visit the Wellcome Collection (London). In phase 3, Philip will work on a web publication that will be widely accessible through the additions of audio descriptors, image descriptions and closed captioning. Again, Philip will involve various experts, including Casper de Jong. With this approach, Philip aims to shift the focus of her practice from creating end products to a practice that relies on co-learning, co-creation and knowledge sharing.
Pim Boreel

Pim Boreel

Audiovisual designer Pim Boreel graduated from the Utrecht School of the Arts in 2019 with a bachelor's degree in Creative Media and Game Technologies. With a fascination for sonic storytelling and audio curation, Boreel will spend the coming year developing his research- and music-driven practice. Boreel argues that designers play a crucial role in depicting sensory hidden worlds and refers to sound as an indispensable element in making the viewer more aware of his surroundings. The designer is surprised at the ignorance surrounding deep-sea mining and the extraction of minerals for commercial purposes without consideration for the ecological consequences. From these perspectives, Boreel will work on the research project 'AquaPocalyps' about underwater sounds. With Robertina Šebjanič as a mentor, Boreel aims to get a better idea of the sonic nature of aquatic ecosystems. AquaPocalypse will generate three results. The first result will be a live performance on the impact of deep-sea mining on marine life and the ocean floor in collaboration with Post Neon. The second result will be a hybrid fiction 'Who is going to Hell for the Metals of Hades?' in collaboration with Annemiek Höcker. For this, Boreel will also seek coaching from DJ and producer Joeri Woudstra. The third result will be an exhibition at murmur, a media art and sound space in Amsterdam, curated by curator and producer Femke Dekker.
Siddharth Pathak

Siddharth Pathak

Self-taught maker Siddharth Pathak focusses his work on the study of behaviour and perception. This is expressed in an interdisciplinary practice that combines paint, moving images, found materials/objects, sculpture, performance, new media technology and sound in installations. Since 2021, the maker has focussed on designing audiovisual environments that draw his audience into introspective encounters with 'the self'. Questions that are central in his search: In a world overloaded with sensory stimuli and information, what is the nature of our relationship with sound? And: What is the role of sound in our engagement and exchange with material environments? In the coming year, Pathak wants to experiment with fragile materials such as glass and ceramics and investigate their sonic qualities.
Sophia Holst

Sophia Holst

Architect Sophia Holst obtained her master's degree at KU Leuven in Brussels in 2018. In the coming year, she will focus on developing a critical practice in which she can work both on commission and of her own accord. She will do this through the project 'Housing Pain, Healing Strategies', a proposal for alternative renovation strategies, without displacing local communities, but with sensitivity for the existing social and architectural context. The research will lead to a manual comprising three parts: a journalistic article on Amsterdam Nieuw-West and the Tweebosbuurt neighbourhood in Rotterdam, a series of references based on study trips and several design proposals. In addition, Holst will be working on her communication skills, improving her website and seeking advice from Veerle Alkemade and others to further professionalize her practice.
Steef Offerhaus

Steef Offerhaus

Illustrator and maker Steef Offerhaus was selected during the Scout Night in Rotterdam. In the development plan, Offerhaus describes the ambition to design a clothing collection as an ode to ravers, skaters and everyone who falls outside the norm. Under the name Paradice, which freely translates to 'a paradise for everyone', Offerhaus combines fashion, graphic design and events. The maker states that Paradice should stand for individual responsibility, creativity, autonomy and living up to your own ideals. In the coming year Offerhaus will research rave culture, under the supervision of Marieke Holtes. He will do this by conducting interviews, following theoretical research and documenting information. For the collection, Offerhaus will experiment with various textile techniques and designs under the supervision of Anna van Jaarsveld. Offerhaus will also visit the Groningen production company Kleerlijk and will learn more about digital programmes for sketches, mood boards and sewing patterns under the supervision of Jesse Nikolaj. The research and the collection will come together in a rave, to be organized by Offerhaus in collaboration with Steven Morais. The looks will be captured by photographer Lois Cohen and styled with the help of Marleen Ettema. Offerhaus aims to reach a large audience and therefore seeks advice from digital marketing consultant Melle Wehman.
Stephanie Idongesit Ete

Stephanie Idongesit Ete

Architect and researcher Stephanie Idongesit Ete graduated in 2021 from the Academy of Architecture in Amsterdam. During her development year, Ete plans to explore four West African coastal cities (Lagos, Accra, Dakar and Abidjan) with the aim of learning about the cultural character of these places and mapping, observing and recording different architectural typologies. Ete wants to use these city trips to strengthen her network of contemporary African architects and craftsmen. She will collaborate with several mentors, including landscape architect and urban planner Remco Rolvink, architect Joseph Conteh (Sierra Leone) and architect Kabage Karanja (Kenya). She will also take workshops with makers such as Mobolaji Ogunrosoye (MOE+ Art and Architecture, Lagos) and Namata Serumaga-Musisi (The Griot Introspect, Accra) and seek contact with the team of African Architecture Matters (Amsterdam). The whole will come together in the production of an 'Anthology of Collages', a compilation of artistically-translated observations that can be used for future research or building projects in the cities visited. The progress of her research can be followed on the online platform 'The Architectects Project' by Juliet Sakyi-Ansah.
Sunjoo Lee

Sunjoo Lee

Sunjoo Lee designs tools and media in which the biosphere and the techno sphere come together. The hybrid world thus created, in which human tools are used by more-than-human entities, is a condition she calls 'Inviting Invasions'. In the development year, Lee has the desire to develop a deeper understanding of the tools she uses in relation to the aesthetics that result from them. She also wants to break away from the Dutch context and gain insights abroad about how other cultures view the relationships between the biosphere, technology and industry. During the year, three research questions will be worked on: computation, creative production and fieldwork. In doing so, Lee will be supported in practice development by Jip and Ko de Beer, Jap Smits, Dr W. Bouten, Dr R. Fuller, and will take courses in web automation, JavaScript, AI and bird-watching. The 'Terra Invasion' project tracks shorebirds in the Wadden Sea in the Netherlands and the Yellow Sea in East Asia. For this project, coaching will be sought from Arne Hendriks, Mark IJzerman and Sema Bekirovic. The findings and 'acts' will be collected and published online. The 'Tree-001' project follows a tree through a live stream in collaboration with Seokyung Kim and Timm Donke. The project will be presented in a launch event for the website.
Taya Reshetnik

Taya Reshetnik

Taya Reshetnik is a graphic designer, researcher and visual storyteller. As studio2992, she tells stories about human experiences in the urban environment, focussing particularly on public space. The projects materialize as digital assemblages of found and self-produced text, audio, and (video) images. During the development year, Reshetnik's project '87 Days' will aim to bring a new perspective to the question of how public space could function. In the first phase, research will be done into the story of Yvonne Paul, who spent no less than 87 days at Schiphol in 1967. This research will be documented in a publication, which will subsequently be developed into a video installation. Reshetnik's wish is to present her work in the public space in addition to the gallery context. Studio2992 will also organize a pop-up exhibition, for which an open call will be issued.
The Nightmare Disorder

The Nightmare Disorder

Benji Nijenhuis and Nemo Cheminée together form the duo The Nightmare Disorder (TND) and graduated from ArtEZ with a bachelor's degree in Fashion Design in 2020. The duo is inspired by themes such as nostalgia, fantasy and exclusion. The otherness and queer perspective of the fashion designers play an important role. In the development year, TND will professionalize in both the artistic and the business sense, and explore opportunities in the film industry as costume designers. The development plan consists of an exploratory trip to London, one-on-one guidance from costume designer Angela Mombers, and conceptual deepening under the guidance of cultural analyst Joy Bomer. During the exploratory trip, TND aims to gain more insight into leading costumiers and their working methods. Possible options are Jenny Beavan, Michele Clapton and Jany Temime. Angela Mombers will guide the duo in putting together the costumes that require a lot of technical and artisanal skills, given TND's focus on using 16th and 17th century references, techniques and customs. With Joy Bomer's guidance, TND will search for new artistic leads. Lastly, the different parts of the development plan will culminate in a live event in which film and design will come together.
Tim van Hooft

Tim van Hooft

Tim van Hooft, who graduated from the Willem de Kooning Academy, works with game engine software and CGI on speculative storytelling and worldbuilding around the theme of the Anthropocene. During the development year, he wants to better position himself as a researcher in the field of worldbuilding under the name of Timaeus as a potential place for depicting alternative ecological and technological transformations. In order to incorporate multiple perspectives into his practice, Timaeus will seek guidance from FIBER and Modem. The research period will result in a research paper, the conclusions of which will be put into practice in the form of two installations. To develop his technical skills, Van Hooft wants to take courses on Unreal Engine and Narrative & Storytelling. During the development year, he will also make several study visits, including to Jakob Kudsk Steensen's studio Erratic Animism.
Timothy Scholte

Timothy Scholte

Fashion designer Timothy Scholte graduated in 2018 with a bachelor's degree in Textile and Fashion Design from the Royal Academy of Arts. The fashion designer has a strong interest in how society views sex. In the development plan, Scholte describes the ambition to critically examine how subjects such as sex, the body, unrealistic ideals of beauty, the effects of digital filters and pornography are experienced by society. During the development year, the designer will work on a research project and will create a collection of eight outfits and three wearable sculptures. For his research, Scholte will visit the fetish festival Folsom Fair in Berlin and will dive into the ballroom scene under the guidance of Amber Vineyard to gain a better understanding of the sexualised categories. Furthermore, Scholte will professionalize himself in leather processing techniques, will take courses in 3D printing and will seek out collaborations with grime artists. Scholte plans to publish the research in a book and present the pieces during Dutch Design Week 2023, FASHIONCLASH and during the fifth Utopia Ball in the Kunsthal.
Tymon Hogenelst

Tymon Hogenelst

Tymon Hogenelst is part of Studio Wild, a design practice that focusses on architecture and landscape projects in the Italian countryside. His interest lies in how site-specific narratives, following a non-nostalgic and critical attitude, can enrich the architectural landscape. With his plan 'Situated Architecture', Hogenelst wants to delve into the material culture of Liguria and translate this into an architectural intervention. He will further investigate the research questions from his graduation project 'The Situated House' at TU Delft in order to better understand the subject of tacit knowledge. This knowledge will then be put into practice in the project 'The Gate'. In support of this, Hogenelst plans to take a number of courses, including: a language course in Italian, a writing course and courses in bronze casting, welding and charcoal making. He also plans to complete the Professional Traineeship, with Enzo Valerio as his mentor, to obtain his architect's degree. The culmination of this development year will take the form of a presentation of architectural models, drawings, photographs and a small publication.
Adam Centko

Adam Centko

While still an Interactive/Media/Design (IMD) student at the Royal Academy of Art, Adam Centko started organising an annual guerrilla film festival, Sand Nudes, in the dunes of The Hague. Centko feels that the established film festivals take themselves a little bit too seriously: their selection policies only accept productions made with a wellknown producer, and themes shouldn't be too light-hearted. His 'bad cinema appreciation society' takes a completely opposite approach: anyone can participate, and it's all about the fun factor. How else are you supposed to encourage people to get involved in cinema?

This initiative was born from Centko's fascination with the moving image and the countless parallel realities it allows us to create. The installation that formed his graduation project at KABK, Silicon Sights, explores the interface between physical landscapes and their digital replicas, and how people behave in these worlds. This project was an early demonstration of the dependence of the digital world on the energy sources and technologies that we assign to it. Engrossed by the infrastructure behind the screen, Centko decided to go deeper with his research: he is currently working on a documentary titled Invisible Infrastructures. 'We keep talking about “the cloud”, which sounds very romantic, but in fact it's just a pretty word to describe gigantic data centres.'

Centko set out to find the facts. 'How much electricity does an Instagram post consume? And where does that electricity come from?' To answer the latter question, he visited a coal mine in Germany. He also investigated the silicon crystals that microchips are made of. As the project progressed, however, he decided to involve 'softer' values as well. 'These crystals are not only essential for digital technology – it seems that they have a healing effect on people.' This led Centko to drop all technology and embark on an offgrid trip through the Malaysian jungle, or at least as close to a zero technology off-grid trip as he could get while still bringing a camera to record the dream-like world he encountered there.

In a course on the subject of NFTs at the Berlin Art Institute, Centko explored a completely different side of the digital spectrum. This is typical of Centko's constant movement from the digital domain to the physical and back as he seeks to capture the value of both worlds. His latest work, Garden of Aether (commissioned by Slagwerk Den Haag), studies the impact of simulations. It involves a home-built computer on which an autonomous cameraman leads his own, digital life… until it all becomes too much and the simulation crashes. 'Unlike with video, simulation means giving up control to the computer. It's essentially a kind of videogame that plays itself.'

Text: Willemijn de Jonge
Alexander Beeloo

Alexander Beeloo

Architect Alexander Beeloo grew up near the lakes of Nieuwkoop in the province of Zuid-Holland. He has now spent the last year researching the future-readiness of this area as a potential production landscape for construction materials, against the backdrop of today's pressing issues such as soil subsidence, CO2 emissions, and the transition in construction materials. 'The dual nature of this area appeals to me. There are agricultural areas and there is a nature area where reeds are harvested for roof thatching and façade covering. By studying all these purposes and processes, you can arrive at a suitable answer to local issues.' Beeloo's proposal boils down to this: create a mosaic landscape with mixed functions, where there is room for livestock farming, for nature, for the 'wet cultivation' of reeds and bulrush, and for these local crops to be processed into construction materials.

During his research, Beeloo continually maintained a critical view of his own role as well: how can I, as an architect, relate to this issue (that touches on so many important themes)? How can I visualise the potential of this region in such a way that I can get all stakeholders – local residents, farmers, clients – to support the required changes? 'I consider it my responsibility as a designer to not just develop knowledge but also to persuade other parties.' Thus, at an exposition in Nieuwkoop, Beeloo presented studies of bulrush, reed and hemp as construction materials; all of which can be grown and processed locally. 'When people can see and smell the actual material, it triggers a dialogue. And then you notice that people are open to change and experimentation.' In addition to the materials study, Beeloo is working on a design for a viewing tower built using local construction materials. 'The tower forms an illustration of my own research. It not only demonstrates the local materials, but from the top of the tower you can look out on the new landscape, as I imagine it.'

For the coming time, Beeloo wants to focus more explicitly on building his profile as an architect. He likes to be closely involved with the actual building of his designs, and he works on different scales: from the overall landscape to the scale of materials use, and down to the architectural details. He would also like the freedom and autonomy he experienced during the past year to become a lasting part of his identity. 'If you're not performing commissioned work, then you can consider a design question with an open mind and can listen to all stakeholders. I hope to preserve this open, investigative attitude in future assignments.'

Text: Merel Kamp
Ameneh Solati

Ameneh Solati

It was during her master's study at the Royal London School of Art that Ameneh Solati realised that an architectural practice can also consist of viewing the world through a spatial lens. She decided to continue as an independent researcher. She draws on various disciplines for her research: from architectural design to film and visual arts, and from teaching to writing and editorial work. 'My practice is geared to revealing the kind of spatial knowledge that is not activated in the more traditional architectural practices.'

Solati applies the various disciplines to tell stories and to acquire new insights and perspectives regarding urgent issues. 'When I look back on everything I've done so far, my work is about alternative ways of living. I research the lives of people who drop out of society, whether or not of their own accord, and who attempt to elude what society considers acceptable and to resist the dominant systems that are extractive or exploitative.'

Initially, Solati submitted a proposal to research alternative cultural production in Europe, more specifically in the Netherlands. 'But then I decided to focus on another project I was working on at the same time, and which was gaining momentum just then. The project is essentially comparable but is set in a completely different context. This project is about the Mesopotamian wetlands in Iraq and how the local population and environment have been suppressed over a history spanning thousands of years. Most of the swamps were drained in the early 1990s. The area is now suffering catastrophic problems as a consequence of the water politics and climate change. I investigate how the dynamics of power and resistance in peripheral areas is being played out, challenging national narratives. My research is about how themes such as resistance, government, society, gender, production and ecology can be understood more accurately within the context of this specific region.'

Solati now works as an editor for the online platform Failed Architecture, and last year started teaching at the Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam and at Design Academy Eindhoven. 'Besides the research, I have developed my teaching, writing and editorial skills. The talent development grant gave me the freedom to explore the sources and opportunities that I happened to come across, but also to create these for myself. The next step is to conduct field research in Iraq and to determine how best to respond to all the research results.'

Text: Lotte Haagsma
Anastasia Eggers

Anastasia Eggers

Anastasia Eggers has always wondered how our complex food system works. With Migrating Seasons, her research on migrant seasonal labour, the fragility and complexity of the food system and geopolitics, she comes closer to an answer. She took Dutch agricultural and food culture as a starting point. 'For me, the subject is a way of saying something about the world. We live in a “post-season world”, because everything is available all year round. Growing, harvesting and consuming food no longer depend on natural factors.'

You could call her an action researcher: 'I participate in my own research to familiarize myself with the context.' For this project, for instance, Eggers worked temporarily in a vegetable greenhouse in the Westland where she interviewed people and captured on film the harvest in the peak season, the transition to the winter season and the preparation for yet another new season.

The tangible result of her participatory research includes the publication of a contemporary interpretation of the traditional farmer's almanac, a calendar documenting what is needed in agriculture during the year, such as knowledge of sowing time, tide tables and weather forecasts. With global trade and the modernisation of technology within agriculture, this almanac 'went out of fashion', along with the rituals and celebrations surrounding the harvest. Eggers' farmer's almanac should breathe new life into this by telling new seasonal narratives and revealing what remains hidden from us within the food system. After all, who are the parties involved, how does the migration of seasonal workers and food work, and what about the interdependence of international trade relations? On a timeline in the calendar, she highlights themes that are the subject of new, speculative rituals around the harvest. Like a ritual to celebrate the collective harvest, or the transfer of the aubergine harvest from the Westland to Europe's other largest aubergine exporter in Almeria, Spain, visualised with an Olympic torch as a metaphor.

At various points in her research, Eggers collaborates, such as with Dr Clemens Driessen of Wageningen University who is researching the history and future of the Westland, and with graphic designer Benjamin Sporken who advises her on the graphic layer in the farmers' almanac.

Text: Viveka van de Vliet
Angeliki Diakrousi

Angeliki Diakrousi

Angeliki Diakrousi studied architecture in Greece and Experimental Publishing at the Piet Zwart Institute in Rotterdam. She is developing an interdisciplinary practice, grounded in her interest in the social aspects of technology and design. 'I am interested in the politics of social media and how this digital infrastructure relates to the physical, public space of a city. The way these spaces were designed often has a constraining effect. People have different ways of understanding the world, and I believe that these differences should be able to co-exist both online and in the city. Conceiving and visualising other, techno-social futures is what I'm working on, together with Varia, the Rotterdam-based collective practice that I'm part of.'

She worked on two projects in the past period. Hunting Mosquitos is about the use of the Mosquito high-frequency sound device in Rotterdam, to deter young people from loitering in public space. 'It is first of all a socio-political issue which I approach from the angle of artistic research,' Diakrousi says. The second project is a collective research project by a group consisting of mainly Greek performers, artists and architects. 'WordMord is about language, code and trauma. We are developing performative actions and digital tool scripts and programming experiments to this end. Our research hovers between language, art and technology. We draw attention to the violence of Greek language. This not only concerns spoken language but also technological language, computer code, which sometimes reproduces the bias inherent in spoken human language.'

Diakrousi used her development year especially to reflect on her position as researcher and maker, and on how she wishes to flesh out her practice. She paid a thorough visit to Documenta in Kassel, where she learned a lot about collective working. 'In Kassel we discussed for instance how to deal with joint budgets.' In the meantime she is experimenting with different forms of presentation. For Hunting Mosquitos, for example, she organises guided tours along spots in Rotterdam, Oslo and Amsterdam to let the participants experience the impact of this technology. She also gave workshops during the biennial festival Art Meets Radical Openness (AMRO) in Linz, Austria. At the end of this year she will participate in a group exhibition in Tent, Rotterdam.

Text: Lotte Haagsma
Anne Nieuwenhuijs

Anne Nieuwenhuijs

Anne's graduation project as a landscape architect was about poisonous sludge in the Schelde river, and what it could be used for. It led to her application for a talent development grant, which enabled Anne to spend one year studying natural resources and their properties.

'It was a year that was all about patience as well as further learning', is how Nieuwenhuijs sums it up. 'The thing is that I became increasingly interested in the smallest components of the earth. That's why I also wanted to do a course in chromatography, which is a process for separating components of a mixture. But then this course was repeatedly postponed because of corona, and so I just set about on my own with buckets and sludge. I've put the sludge in small containers in my studio and will examine it through a microscope to zoom in even further, but I can already perform experiments now. What happens when you add seeds? Or other substances? How does the sludge dry up and then what are you actually left with, when it's no longer sludge? Right now my whole studio is full of these containers.'

It is a form of knowledge about the earth that wasn't part of her education curriculum. Of course Nieuwenhuijs learnt about peat soils and clay soils and about sand; 'but they don't teach you to really understand what it is. What is its composition? And once clay is no longer clay, how do the components start to behave? For example, there is a poisonous form of sludge from the Schelde river that produces a wonderful glaze for art works. I found this inspiring, and this was reflected in the ceramics course I was doing: I also started mixing substances there. I was given “pure” studio clay to work with, but I added sand. Because I was interested in discovering how the one type of natural resource behaves with respect to another.' There is so incredibly much to discover, and Nieuwenhuijs is determined to do so, but under her own conditions. 'I notice that by experimenting, by observing and recording, I am increasingly clear about how I wish to conduct my experiments. And I feel supported in this endeavour by the Fund.'

Above all, she wishes to conduct her experiments without any prior plans or judgements. So the question is not: where can I find the most suitable type of soil for a park? But instead she simply wants to wait and see what happens in her containers in her studio, of their own accord. You could also describe it as listening. First listen and look at all the components, before you start answering back.

Tekst: Jowi Schmitz
Ant Eye

Ant Eye

Hanneke Klaver and Tosca Schift are a duo who create works that straddle the boundary between design, performance and art. They met at ArtEZ art academy in Arnhem, where they both studied Product Design. Klaver and Schift are inseparable, operating together under the name Ant Eye. 'The objects we create are not functional: what we do is anti-design,' says Klaver. 'But because “anti” sounds so negative, we chose a name that has a different spelling, but is pronounced almost the same. Ant's eyes see details, see things from a different perspective every time.'

Ant Eye's art is best described as playful, absurdist and slightly magical, focusing on the tension between the everyday and the surreal as a gateway to a world of imagination. 'We embody the objects we create, thus bringing them to life,' says Schift. 'By literally putting ourselves into our work, and experimenting with it, we find perspectives that teach us more about what the role of design could be.' For example, a repurposed, wheeled and winged washing machine that 'eats' socks is the main character in Sock Monster, Klaver and Schift's first short created for a film festival. The thirteen-minute production premiered at the Go Short – International Short Film Festival in Nijmegen in April 2022. 'For designers, an object is often the final product. At a presentation, such objects stand on a pedestal, accompanied by a brief description. In performance and film, however, the object is just the start. Through time, atmosphere, sound and interaction, you create more room for the object's story,' Klaver explains.

Last year Ant Eye has been supported by film maker Douwe Dijkstra and design theory teacher Rana Ghavami. It is a journey of discovery, of reading, watching and learning, and it has led Klaver and Schift to the realm of magic realism. Schift: 'The ambiguity, the fact that one thing can contain different truths and stories, really appeals to us. We are not looking for a single essence or meaning, but a plurality of voices. We want to challenge our viewers to find their own meaning. If it means that a work can be hard to figure out at first glance, then that's fine. We intend to seek out this friction even more in the future.'

Text: Iris Stam
Axel Coumans

Axel Coumans

Social designer Axel Coumans (Atelier Coumans) studied at Design Academy Eindhoven. In his practice he approaches ecological themes from different social contexts and a non-human perspective. He believes that listening is one of the most important skills for a social designer to have. His work revolves around trees, from the plane tree on the grounds of his own studio to the primeval forests of Poland.
Baratto&Mouravas

Baratto&Mouravas

Nicola Baratto and Yiannis Mouravas were both stu-dents at the Sandberg Instituut when they discovered how their interests connect. While Baratto worked with dreams and dreamscapes, Mouravas focused on archaeology. And through a number of remarkable research projects, they demonstrated how well the two interests go together. They have now been working for two years as a duo, Baratto & Mouravas, and are currently developing their fourth research project titled Zolfo Rosso.

Remnants from days gone by are the starting point and source of inspiration for the duo. Consider for instance a shipwreck, a pillar, a desert, and old map. What is known about the object? What significance does it have from a historic, archaeological and societal perspective? And what else can you imagine, based on these findings? With the aid of archives, historical artefacts and a poetic gaze, the duo embarks on their Archaeodreaming: a multi-disciplinary methodology that merges archaeology with dreamscape-making.

Mouravas: 'In archaeology, you don't always have definitive facts to go by; speculation plays an important role.' Baratto: 'The night is a special period for pondering things. In your dreams you create stories that cannot emerge during the day. I refer to that as re-imagine. It's possible to train yourself in this ability, which often produces valuable stories and images. We incorporate those into our work.'

Baratto and Mouravas: 'In our view, archaeologists and dreamers do the same: they weave together the past, present and future. An archaeologist excavates something from the past, brings it into the present, and projects its significance onto the future. In dreams you excavate your memories. With the resulting images you create a scenario in which the past, present and future blend together. We process the images of the archaeologist and the dreamer, and in that way create a history for our future audience.'
The duo is currently working on Zolfo Rosso: an Archaeodream project that will ultimately result in a 16mm-film installation. Baratto: 'The film speculates on the creation of an upside-down world map in the twelfth century. At first we follow the geographer and interweave this historical quest with the work of a young film maker living today.' Mouravas: 'In our view, this map symbolises the radical shifts in ideology, power, perception and narratives that determine how history is written. Inspired by the world map, the research and film also revolve around the quest for 'red sulphur': an alchemist substance that represents the exploration of the unknown, and is inaccessible and invisible.'

Text: Maaike Staffhorst
Basse Stittgen

Basse Stittgen

The German bio-designer Basse Stittgen obtained his master's degree in Social Design at the Design Academy in Eindhoven. He now lives in Amsterdam, where he has spent his last year focusing on – among others – the project Fluid Dialogues. In recognition of the 40th 'anniversary' of HIV in the Netherlands, Stittgen interviewed people from various communities. How did the diagnosis affect their lives? What prejudices did they encounter?

In addition to their stories, the participants provided Stittgen and Jennifer Struikenkamp, the project's collaborating microbiologist, with another kind of highly personal material: their blood. Using enlarged microscope images and video footage and combining this with the words of the interviewees, Stittgen built an installation that presents a poignant portrait of these people's struggle with an autoimmune disease that, until quite recently, was a death sentence. The work was created with support from the Fund and will be on display at the Stopera in Amsterdam in August 2022 as part of the exhibition House of HIV. 'The idea was already there, but the talent development grant gave me the opportunity to put it into practice,' Stittgen says enthusiastically.

The same is true of Recombined Wood, a project in which he is investigating how he might create a new product using two residual products from the paper industry. 'The first is lignin, a brown substance in wood that glues the cel