precursors
Where: Park Paleis Soestdijk
When: until August 5
The blooming rhododendrons in the park of Soestdijk Palace form the entourage of the exhibition this summer precursors† For example, Bob Hendrikx has a Living Couch made: a transparent sculpture of bioplastic, filled with green and red algae from the palace pond. Ingrid Mol shows a diorama in the princess playhouse, while Zeger Reyers gives new life to a forgotten tennis court. †precursors shows artists who love to experiment and who like to color outside the lines of disciplines’, according to compiler Marie Jeanne de Rooij.
Estate Anningahof
True: Zwolle
When: until October 30
In 2004 Hib Anninga opened a private sculpture park in Zwolle on the spot where his parents used to have a farm. This summer, there are no fewer than 145 statues on Landgoed Anningahof in the open air, in addition to smaller indoor exhibitions. Anninga calls his 5-hectare sculpture garden, with thousands of trees and large ponds, ‘a hobby that got out of hand’. The starting point is Dutch sculpture from 1980 to the present, with big names and young talent. The young generation is particularly well represented this year.
Barbara Hepworth
Where: Rijksmuseum Gardens, Amsterdam
When: June 3 to October 23
Barbara Hepworth (1903-1975) is considered one of the most important modernist British sculptors. She was shaped by her travels to Italy and France, where she visited the studios of Picasso, Arp and Brancusi, whom she became friends with. This summer there are nine large statues of her in the Rijksmuseum Gardens in Amsterdam. The exhibition is curated by Sophie Bowness, art historian and granddaughter of Hepworth. The image is also special Construction (Crucifixion) from 1966 can be seen; this atypical angular sculpture in black, white, red, yellow and blue is a tribute to Piet Mondrian.
Arts Festival Aardenburg
Where: Aardenburg
When: July 16 to September 4
Kunstenfestival Aardenburg, near the border with Belgium in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen, has the (applicable) theme ‘Across borders’. The program is promising, with work by Folkert de Jong, Maria Roosen and Johan Tahon, among others. The artworks will soon be found in indoor and outdoor locations, such as churches, abandoned houses and private gardens. For part of the exhibition, the visitor really (a few kilometers) has to cross the border: to the Belgian village of Middelburg.
Lustwarande
True: Tilburg
When: June 26 to October 2
De Oude Warande is a baroque star forest in Tilburg from 1712. Since 2000 it has been the location for Lustwarandean international exhibition for contemporary sculpture. Lustwarande follows current affairs at an international level. This edition is entitled ‘Godheads – Idols in Times of Crisis’. Now that statues of historically charged figures are smeared with paint or pulled from their plinths, a renewed reflection on the concept of ‘idol’ is in order.
Country Art Weekend
True: Flevoland (various locations)
When: June 4 and 5
The Netherlands is rather small and busy for country artor landscape art. Flevoland makes up for that with no fewer than ten major works. During the Whitsun weekend, on 4 and 5 June, it is Land Art Weekend in this province. A guide is available for each work of art to explain. at the picture exposure (2010), Antony Gormley’s nearly 26 meters high crouching man, is given tai chi classes. The program also includes a whisper performance, a drawing workshop and a morning concert.