Kunsthuis SYB

Sybren Hellinga Art Prize 2022
Sunday, November 13, 2022

Visiting address
Hoofdstraat 70,
9244CP Beetsterzwaag

Open on Saturday and Sunday 13:00-17:00
www.kunsthuissyb.nl

Date: November 13, 2022

Jury 9th Sybren Hellinga Art Prize
Vytautas Kumža (Winner Sybren Hellinga Art Prize 2019)
Saskia Noor van Imhoff (Visual artist)
Laurie Cluitmans (Central Museum curator in Utrecht)
Sanne Luteijn (manager of The Ekard Residency)
Chair: Arnisa Zeqo (director of Kunsthuis SYB)

We see a strong connection between the works and feel that curator Titus Nouwens managed to create a layered group exhibition out of these five individual positions. Titus very sharply brought forward the autobiographical elements overlapping.

In the exhibition, we sense a lot of connections and shared sensitivity about maintaining a self in a complex and violent world. We see a strong place for interhuman relations, ways of going against certain authoritarian structures and a search for healing and connection.

Benjamin Francis
We are impressed to see how Benjamin adjusted and adapted his installation ‘Guard Gates’ to the challenging architecture of Syb. The adaptive skills that he talks about in his artistic practice, especially regarding dyslexia, are transcended to the space here. In fact, Benjamin manages to take over the space and ask of everyone to adapt or respond.

Olivia D’Cruz
Olivia managed to bring current and important subjects into a mythical story where past-present and future are unsettled. We loved the physicality of the installation, bringing the landscape to Syb. We were impressed with the strong aesthetics of the performative intervention in the landscape and the way she edit both the film and treat the subtitles as an object within the film.

Peter Scherrebeck Hansen
Peter invited us in a very subtle way to enter the work. The vase becomes a choreographic carrier. We were touched by the intimate gestures of singing into each other’s bodies, echoing each other’s voices, and sharing bodily memories. The performance and the installation reinforce each other, yet easily function without the other losing strength.

Sarjon Azouz
Sarjon translated their work into a more intimate setting for Syb where they invite us to step in, to touch, and to engage in a very energetic and playful manner. We really liked the latex covers which provoked a physical ambiguity and the textile chains. We enjoyed getting to know the extensions of the self and Sarjon’s alter egos.

Vita Soul Wilmering
We very much enjoyed getting to know the story behind Spiegl, and how they met, as it allowed us to understand the work even more as a collaboration. Vita plays with the documentary form, where the protagonist is also a co-creator. We were impressed with the editing of the film and how she unfolds the protagonist’s life and the entanglement with society and history.

We were impressed by all five presentations. The winner of the Sybren Hellings Art Prize 2022 is Peter Scherrebeck Hansen.

“As we walked into Peter’s space one by one, we all took part in their performance. They invited us in a very subtle way to enter the work, to become part of something intimate yet resonating with the political. We were very impressed to see how with minimal means Peter created a gesture, a performance, and an installation that is so powerful on both the personal intimate level as well as daring to speak about bigger topics that concern us all.”