International Curator Competition 2014: Niekolaas Johannes Lekkerkerk
Akbank Sanat
Istiklal Cad. No. 8
Beyoglu, Istanbul
Turkey
T +90 212 252 3500
Akbank Sanat is pleased to announce the winner of the Akbank Sanat International Curator Competition 2014—Niekolaas Johannes Lekkerkerk from Rotterdam.
In its third year, Akbank Sanat received a large number of applications for the competition from all around the globe. Niekolaas Johannes Lekkerkerk distinguished himself with his application and was chosen as winner of the International Curator Competition 2014 for his proposal, by the jury consisting of Susanne Pfeffer (Artistic Director of The Kunsthalle Fridericianum), Anna-Kaisa Rastenberger (Chief Curator of The Finnish Museum of Photography), Sam Bardaouiland and Till Fellrath (Co-founders of Art Reoriented, Munich and New York).
The jury’s rational was that Lekkerkerk’s concept manifests an awareness of the current discourse around our perception of the dimensions of materiality. Using the metaphor of “the hunt,” he posits the artist as “hunter,” someone who delves beneath the undercurrents of contemporary reality to unearth new materials that she or he can then employ to articulate the complexity of our present reality.
The strength of Lekkerkerk’s proposal lies in the precision through which he has managed to weave a thematic thread while the integrity of the selected artworks was not compromised for the sake of constructing a forced narrative. Moreover, his proposal reflected an adequate consideration of the exhibition space whereby the variety of media he proposed were divided into sub-thematic zones creating conceptual and visual juxtapositions that enhanced the experience of the audience.
Developed and coordinated by Basak Senova, the competition is intended to provide support for emerging curators, reinforce interest in curatorial practices, and encourage new projects in the field of contemporary art. Accordingly Niekolaas Johannes Lekkerkerk’s proposal will be realized as an exhibition that will run from March 10 to May 16, 2015 at Akbank Art Centre, Istanbul, accompanied with an exhibition catalogue and a program of activities.
Niekolaas Johannes Lekkerkerk (b. 1988, Rotterdam) works as a curator and a writer. He holds a BA in Art History and Visual Culture from the University of Utrecht, and an MA in Curating from the London Metropolitan University, delivered in conjunction with the Whitechapel Gallery. He has worked at a number of institutions including SMBA (Stedelijk Museum Bureau Amsterdam) and DRAF (David Roberts Art Foundation). Lekkerkerk founded The Office for Curating, which is currently based in Rotterdam. Recent exhibition projects include the group exhibition John Smith, the Posthuman (2014) at the Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht; The Ringenberg Biennale (2014) at Schloss Ringenberg, Hamminkeln; the group exhibition Suite (Botanique) (2014) for the Gaudeamus Muziekweek, Utrecht; the group exhibition On the Estonian Theatre: Twelve Proposals for Rakvere (2014) for Kilometre of Sculpture, Rakvere; the group exhibition Ways of Working, According to an Office Desk (2014) at Upominki, Rotterdam; the group exhibition Livre Imaginé – Dans Cinquante Ans d’Ici (2014) at Les Territoires, Montreal; the group exhibition Within the Sound of Your Voice for the 5th Marrakech Biennale (2014); the duo-exhibition All the Pieces, Back Together (2013) at Selma Feriani Gallery, London; the group exhibition Shadows of a Doubt (2013) at Tallinn Art Hall, Tallinn; the group exhibition The Great Indoors (2013) at Motive Gallery, Brussels; the group exhibition Can’t Hear My Eyes (2013) at NoguerasBlanchard, Barcelona and Madrid; the duo-exhibition Two in the Wave (2013) at Printroom, Rotterdam; and the group exhibition Artists of the No (2012) at Projektraum Viktor Bucher, as part of Curated by_Vienna 2012. Lekkerkerk edited the anthology and hypothetical catalogue None of the Above (2011) on curating and the curatorial in the key of fiction. His publications include, among others, ‘Untitled’ (Constants Are Changing) on the works of Felix Gonzalez-Torres, published in 2010. He has contributed to a number of magazines, among Art Licks, Cura. and Metropolis M. In 2012 he was the recipient of the inaugural NEON Curatorial Award at The Whitechapel Gallery, in recognition of his fiction- and literature-based approach to curating.
