Wendelien van Oldenborgh receives prestigious Dr A.H. Heineken Prize for Art
Lecture: 1 October 2014
Casco – Office for Art, Design and Theory
Lange Nieuwstraat 7
3512 PA, Utrecht
The Netherlands
www.heinekenprizes.org
www.knaw.nl
The Dr A.H. Heineken Prize for Art is the largest Dutch prize for the visual arts that is financed by a private fund, the Dr A.H. Heineken Foundation for Art. Van Oldenborgh will receive 100,000 EUR, of which half is intended for a publication and/or exhibition.
Alfred Heineken established this prize in recognition of and as encouragement for artistic talent in the Netherlands. The Foundation has been conferring this biennial prize since 1988 on an outstanding artist who lives and works in the Netherlands.
According to the jury, which was chaired by Kitty Zijlmans, Professor of Contemporary Art History and Theory, Van Oldenborgh’s body of work occupies an exceptional and unique place within the Dutch art landscape. The jury commends Van Oldenborgh for the way in which she translates topical societal themes into exceptional, persuasive and subtle works of art, primarily in the form of film and photo installations.
Previous laureates include Peter Struycken, Mark Manders, Barbara Visser, Job Koelewijn, Daan van Golden, Aernout Mik and Guido Geelen.
Public lecture and debate with Wendelien van Oldenborgh
Wednesday 1 October, 19.30–21.30h at Casco – Office for Art, Design and Theory
Casco is honored to host this year’s Dr A.H. Heineken Prize for Art lecture by artist Wendelien van Oldenborgh who presents her seminal work Supposing I love you. And you also love me (2011), which brings the voice of the Swiss-Egyptian philosopher and theologian Tariq Ramadan into an exchange with those of a group of five young adults of multicultural origin from Belgium and the Netherlands. Against the back drop of a “de Stijl”-inspired broadcast building designed by Piet Elling, the Dutch architect and friend of Gerrit Rietveld, the work is set up as a polyphonic mini-tragedy. The adolescents act as the chorus in a playful interchange with the notions that are brought to the foreground by Ramadan, who shares his thoughts on diversity, fear, conflict, and his interrupted engagements in the city of Rotterdam. The cast’s own experience and modes of expression guide the script, which took form during shoot. Van Oldenborgh explores issues related to such “fear of difference” in her lecture that reignites the debate around the role of art in society. The lecture is followed by her discussion with Dutch sociologist Willem Schinkel, who has written extensively on democracy, nationalism, and the sociology of art.
On the occasion of the lecture, Casco offers the publication Wendelien van Oldenborgh. A Well Respected Man, or Book of Echoes (Casco and Sternberg Press, 2011) for a discounted price.
Admission is free. To reserve a seat, please send an e-mail to Ying Que at ying [at] cascoprojects.org. Please visit www.cascoprojects.org for more information.
50 Years of Heineken Prizes
The Dr H.P. Heineken Prize for Biochemistry and Biophysics was first awarded 50 years ago, in 1964. Five more Heineken Prizes were added to this internationally regarded science prize in subsequent years: the Dr A.H. Heineken Prize for Art (1988), Medicine (1989), Environmental Sciences (1990) and History (1990), and the C.L. de Carvalho-Heineken Prize for Cognitive Science (established in 2006 as the Dr A.H. Heineken Prize for Cognitive Science). Alfred H. Heineken (1923–2002) initiated the Heineken Prizes in 1964 in honour of his father, Dr Henry P. Heineken (1886–1971). Alfred Heineken’s daughter, Charlene L. de Carvalho-Heineken (b. 1954) continues this tradition as Chairwoman of the Dr H.P. Heineken Foundation, the A. H. Heineken Foundations and the C.L. de Carvalho-Heineken Foundation, which finance all the Heineken Prizes.
The Heineken Prizes are awarded once every two years. The winners are selected by juries composed of members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences (KNAW). The Heineken Prizes for Science comprise a sum of 200,000 USD each. The Heineken Prize for Art is 100,000 EUR, of which half is intended for a publication or exhibition. The Heineken Young Scientists Awards are 10,000 EUR each.
Note for the press
For further information, interviews and visual materials regarding the Dr A.H. Heineken Prize for Art, contact heinekenprizeforart [at] communicatieincultuur.com.
