Jelle Bouwhuis

 

A discussion with Jelle Bouwhuis, curator and winner of the Abraaj Capital Art Prize (ACAP) 2010 in collaboration with artist Hala Elkoussy.

Jelle Bouwhuis was born in 1965 in Utrecht, the Netherlands. After working as an art critic and writer, Bouwhuis became Communications Officer at both the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen Rotterdam and the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. Concurrently he held teaching positions at the Utrecht University and the Arnhem Art Academy. At the Stedelijk Museum he became curator in January 2006 where he is still responsible for the programme of exhibitions, publications, residencies and other activities of Stedelijk Museum Bureau Amsterdam (SMBA – www.smba.nl), a project space in the city centre. A major collaborative, durable project of SMBA in 2009 / 2010 will be Imagining Africa. Bouwhuis was also co-editor of various publications such as Sculpture in Rotterdam (2001); Nina Fischer & Maroan el Sani – Blind Spots (2007) and the upcoming collection of essays Now is the Time – Art & Theory in the 21st Century (2009). Bouwhuis is also advisor of Visual Art and Design for his home city, Utrecht.

Laura Trelford: Would it be right to say that it was Hala Elkoussy that first introduced you to work from the Middle East / North Africa?

Jelle Bouwhuis: No, but the show I did with Hala's work in my space, Stedelijk Museum Bureau Amsterdam (SMBA), was the first with an artist from that region for sure.

LT: What do you think Elkoussy’s work will bring to ACAP and to the fair itself?

JB: A splendid photographic mural that dives into the history and mythology of that vast metropolis called Cairo.

LT: What were your impressions of Dubai from your visit in September?

JB: An amazing city. Being there definitely changed my world perspective, with Iran and Saudi Arabia in close range and India not far away. It's a perspective that is really missing in Europe.

LT: How does winning the Abraaj Capital Art Prize as a curator fit into your overall career objectives? What are you hoping to gain from the experience?

JB: Applying for the prize was Hala's idea; I hadn't heard from it up to now, to be honest. Since I do sometimes help artists with all kinds of applications it was logical to help Hala as well - things I do mainly in my 'free time' (if such time exists for a curator at all). The thought of actually winning the prize had not crossed my mind, so it was one of those extras that came quite by surprise. So basically I'm glad for Hala while it offers me a chance to get acquainted with the region and - see above - another world perspective.

LT: What do you feel the ACAP does for the advancement of both curatorial and artistic practice as well as awareness of artistic disciplines in the region?

JN: I guess it helps. Us winning the prize was published in four out of the five major national newspapers in the Netherlands where I'm based, and that is only in the Netherlands! I don't know how it works anywhere else, but if the object is to make the MENASA region more contemporary art minded, then yes it is an important step in the right direction.

LT: How does the Dutch audience appreciate Hala’s work and that from the MENASA region?

JB: MENASA as such is not really on the map - personally we hardly think of art as something that is so much bound to a specific region or country, although sometimes it is obvious from the work. Or from an exhibition, especially those of Chinese artists which we have seen quite a few exhibitions here in Holland recently. But that's the kind of ethnographic approach that I do not favour in particular. I can easily sum up a few artists from MENASA who are working, or have been working, in the Netherlands.

LT: Tell us about your work at the Stedelijk Museum.

JB: The SMBA is a project space of the Stedelijk Museum that functions quite autonomously. Traditionally its policy is to focus on 'art in an Amsterdam context' which means that it has an international approach but also focus on showing artists from our region. Luckily, Amsterdam is an international city (in that sense it is comparable to Dubai!). Activities consist of exhibitions, residencies, publications, lectures, screenings and so on. Currently we are actually focussing on Africa, especially the way it is reflected in images from mass media, and researching whether it is possible to adjust this image through art. It's a long term research programme.

LT: Despite its mass of criticisms, there is still a flux of people from the art world that have recently descended in Dubai. Having fresh eyes on the region, what do you predict for the future of the Emirates, in terms of culture and creativity?

JB: People go where the opportunities are. This also accounts for the art world. Expecting not much I was actually quite surprised by the number of interesting art spaces in Dubai. I guess the expat community is largely responsible for having an art scene there in the first place. The criticism of course focuses on the artificiality of it, but I can hardly think of any biennial around the world that hasn't come into existence, at least partly, for reasons of city marketing, and even in contemporary art minded Holland a lot, if not all, is heavily stimulated by government - as long as it lasts. As a historic trading centre in the region, Dubai at least has an excuse for doing the things it does, such as organising an art fair and the ACAP. It might help 'culture and creativity' on the long term, but those features aren't unique to art to begin with, I'm afraid...

Renzo Martens
Enjoy Poverty (2008)
Part of Exhibition 'Episode 3 - Enjoy Poverty'
Hala Elkhoussy
Peripheral (and other stories) 2006

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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