Thursday saw the launch of the short festival Belgium!? in the Flemish Cultural Centre de Brakke Grond in Amsterdam with amongst other things. an exhibition by photographer Jimmy Kets. The central theme of the festival is the country Belgium with all its problems and the serious political crisis in which it's stuck. By some it is even baptized the most difficult country in the world.

De Brakke Grond
It is the first time I enter the building on the Nes. More spacious than I thought with a cafe-restaurant, various theatre halls, a studio and large exhibition spaces. The name “Brakke Grond” has its origins in the fact that the area was once swampy land with brackish groundwater, a mixture of the salt water of the IJ and sweet water from the river Amstel. For centuries monasteries dominated this area but demolition of a monastery church at the end of the 18th century gave rise to the current square which is situated in front of de Brakke Grond. It's been a monastery, an inn and for a long time an auction house. In the 1960s it was taken into use by a theatre group, in the seventies it was squatted for a while and in 1981, after a renovation based on the design by the Amsterdam architect Arthur Staal, it became a Flemish Cultural Center. De Brakke Grond wants to show what's happening in Flanders in the field of theatre, performance, dance, music, visual arts, photography, film and documentary, but also wishes to be a place of international exchange and encounters in a broader sense.

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Surprising architecture of yesteryear in the Amsterdam Tolstraat. Originally built as a theosophical temple in 1927, it was primarily known as the cinema Cinetol to the folks of Amsterdam. A little over 25 years ago the public library opened up a branch here. The stylish interior, reaching into the air, invites silence and a search for inspiration, fitting the current function as a book temple. But also for the non-bookworm, it could be an almost spiritual revelation to walk around with gentle pace, dreamily getting immersed in this monumental building.
See here the opening hours.

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Cemetery (cementerio) Javea, Spain. The final resting places of old and young, serene, larded with religion, sun-drenched. A great place to relax a few hours yourself, let the silence penetrate and muse about the transience of existence.

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It was another very busy Monday at the third edition of De Donkere Kamer (The Dark Room) in Pakhuis de Zwijger in Amsterdam!

Three pitches of three minutes
For a photographer and/or affiliate in the world of Dutch photography once again DDK proved worth a visit . For 5 euro entrance fee you won't have to pass up, especially because the entrance fee is divided between three photo projects of which the photographers hold a pitch talk of 3 minutes to sell it to the public. Together with your entrance ticket you will receive five coins that you can distribute between the “pitchers”. The one with the strongest story usually gets the bulk of the coins, thrown in three collection boxes afterwards.. Els Zweerink was the happy “winner” with her El Salvador project.

Varied program
On the program was also a tribute to the recently deceased Koen Wessing (1942-2011) known as one of Holland's best documentary photographers. A series of impressive photos of his hand was projected on large screens around the stage.

Pim Milo held a humorous plea against the free provision of photos for auctions, the proceeds of which go to charity. You stimulate the debasement of your work, he finds. Leave it, for example, to the collectors to offer work out of their collections at auctions. Do not do this yourself. Read the plea.

Lars Boering (director of the Fotografenfederatie) interviewed Claudia Hinterseer. She is director of NOOR, a successful photographer-collective based in Amsterdam. NORWAY focuses mainly on the big story behind important events and tries to reach a large audience, for example with strong photo essays on the impact of environmental problems on the traditional ways of living in countries around the world. With ten renowned photographers who are all co-owners, NOOR is close to the limit. A maximum of 15, according to Claudia Hinterseer, it shouldn't be more, it becomes unworkable.

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Exhibition
In Gallery Bart work is currently on display by the young artist Gijs van Lith.
The exhibition is titled ‘Paint!’ and can be visited until March 26 th.

The Artworks
Compared with previous series, these paintings are a lot more experimental. There are, besides paint, various other materials used like plastic tape and rope. That's not the only reason the paintings have a three-dimensional character. This is also due to the different layers that are the result of an interplay of lines that on one side run pretty straightforward but then intersperse with contrary lines which seem to lead away into a space “opinion” the painting. The contrast is often strong; bright colors combined with dark patches, shiny with dull, deep black with gray and white.
Almost all the paintings bear the title ‘Structural Rules’ which says something about the philosophy behind this series. Capturing space and structure where the emphasis is not on recognition but on texture, abstraction and tension.
The result is a fascinating exposition where you definitely should stand still for a while in front of a painting to give it time to affect you.

The Maker
Gijs van Lith (1984) graduated in 2008 at the AKV|St. Joost in Den Bosch in the discipline of Visual Arts. He was nominated for several awards and in 2009 he has won the Thieme Art Award, a prestigious award for talented artists under the age of 35.
A short and informative interview with him (in Dutch) can be found at Elsevier.

Somewhere in Antwerp, rust browned metal with a message. Stress 0,0. Knock on the door. Who knows, they might let you enter!

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Escalator under construction, subway Wibautstraat, Amsterdam.

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Photos taken on the dry riverbed of Rio Gorgos at the village of Javea (Xabia) in the province of Alicante, Spain.

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Last Saturday two exhibitions opened in the Cindy Heijnen Gallery at Utrechtsestraat 95 in Amsterdam.
Not so long ago, the gallery of Cindy Heijnen was a butcher shop and that is still clearly seen in the lavishly tiled walls and floor and the massive refrigerator doors in the rear. A special atmosphere for a photo exhibition!

Especially the work of Hugo Bes (1971) fits right in. He went to icy northern Finland and made a photo serie about the Sami nomads, herdsmen in Lapland. This resulted in almost lyrical images of a tough existense, under the heading "Last Nomads of Europe '.
Part of the photographs include portraits of the shepherds, surprisingly modern dressed and shot against an inky background. Furthermore, black and white pictures are shown, dynamic and beautifully blurry images of animals from the herds of the Samis. Some of the photos were previously published in the Dutch magazine Vrij Nederland but of course that doesn't do credit to the superb quality of the prints shown here in the gallery.
in 2009 Hugo Bes won the Silver Camera for a portrait series on alcoholism in Finland.

Ewout Huibers's work is an entirely different story. He is working as an architectural- and interior photographer and exhibits some city panoramas plus two striking collages of architecture in Amsterdam. As one visitor put it: "A feast of recognition". Within the photographs, dozens of more or less known buildings are assembled, resulting in an intriguing puzzle you keep looking at for a long time.

The works of Huibers contrast with the images of Bes in their CGI-like appearance but this is sooner interesting than annoying and almost provocative. The two exhibitions together in the same space once again demonstrate how diverse the photography world is!

Links: website Hugo Bes, website Ewout Huibers

On Thursday February 3 Yee Ling Tang (1972) opened her exhibition “The Story of Four Generations” at the Central Library in Amsterdam. Also the accompanying book was presented and buyers were able to get it signed at the spot.

Yee Ling is born in Hong Kong and, as a three year old, leaves with her mother for the Netherlands where her father is already busy to build up a life. Later she goes to several art- and photography schools and today she is still living and working in the Netherlands. In her twenties, however, she regularly gets drawn back to her birthplace, interested in her background and her family of which a large part is still living in Hong Kong.
The photos of “The Story of Four Generations” illustrate and search for the connection between four generations: her grandparents, parents, herself and her daughter. Partly it's done with portraits but also cityscapes and domestic scenes serve to make the connections tangible.
In the lovely designed book, with a soft cover and a combination of glossy and matte paper, photos are interspersed with texts by Will Tinnemans.

The exhibition is free to visit until April 10 in the Amsterdam Public Library at Oosterdokskade 143.

Here you can You can find more background- and order information.
Yee Ling Tang also has a private blog at blogspot.