Ranti Tjan, the director of the Royal Academy of Art (KABK) who has been inactive since the end of March of this year, will be fired with effect from 1 July. This was decided by the court in The Hague on Monday. The reason given by the court is the “disturbed employment relationship” between Tjan and the Executive Board of the University of the Arts, which includes the KABK. The court also condemns Tjan’s “seriously culpable actions”. Because of the latter, the court sees “no grounds” for “awarding transition compensation and fair compensation.” Tjan is ordered to pay all legal costs.
Tjan went public in March with the news about his intended dismissal by Executive Board chairman Huug de Deugd, with whom he had a conflict about the organizational structure of the University of the Arts, which includes the KABK. De Virtue has been the sole director since his appointment in September 2022; Tjan wanted to expand this one-manship. Tjan – employed by the KABK since April 2022 – brought the art academy into calm waters after a period of serious turmoil and management changes. After the news of his intended resignation, a petition in support of Tjans staying on was signed by more than 1700 people from the KABK and from the cultural sector. Tjan is considering, he says in a response, an appeal.