Stroom Invest Week 2009

Location: Stroom Den Haag, Hogewal 1-9, Den Haag
Date: June 9 - 12, 2009

The PRO Stroom Invest program supports young artists in their development and is aimed at retaining recent graduates in the city. To give young artists an additional boost, the annual Stroom Invest program is organized.

Dutch and international curators visit the studios of artists based in The Hague. Members of the PRO advisory committee also conduct studio visits as part of this program. Stroom later uses these connections to further promote the visibility of The Hague-based artists through exhibitions, presentations, and exchanges.

Participating artists
Seekee Chung, Angeline Dekker, Robin de Goede, Martijn Koolstra, Femmy Otten, Eric Schrijver en Basten Stokhuyzen.

Visiting curators & artists
Susanne Altmann (author, curator Center for Contemporary Art in Dresden), Hilde de Bruijn (curator SMART Project Space in Amsterdam), Nazli Gurlek (assistant curator Turkish Pavilion at Venice Biennial), Kit Hammonds (independent curator and author), Stefan Rusu (artist and curator), Laura Stamps (curator Gemeentemuseum Den Haag).

Susanne Altmann (1964) is the author of various publications and the curator of a number of international exhibitions, not only for the Center for Contemporary Art in Dresden, but also for institutes in e.g. London, Glasgow and Bratislava. In 2006 Altmann was the co-founder of art magazine hub. zur Kunst, which is published in Leipzig twice a year.

Hilde de Bruijn (1971) has been the curator of the exhibitions at SMART Project Space in Amsterdam since 2007. She worked for the symposium Forward! On the revitalization of modern architecture and curated exhibitions like Swallowing Black Maria, a solo show by Lindsay Seers. She is also a commission member of the Dutch Film Fund (since 2008) and the Mondriaan Foundation (since 2009).

Nazli Gurlek (1981) is the assistant curator of the Turkish Pavilion at this year's Venice Biennial. She is the co-founder of IM projects (an international collective of independent curators, and guest editor of contemporary art magazine Circa. Current and recent projects by Gurlek include the Unfair Project (Service Garage, Amsterdam) and Multiple Intimacy (for the 10th International Biennial of Istanbul).

Kit Hammonds (1975) is and independent curator and author. In 2004 he and Emily Pethick co-founded Publish and be Damned, the ever-growing fair and archive for artist publications, fanzines and magazines. From 2005 to 2008 he worked as a curator for the South London Gallery. As a mentor he also works for the Curating Contemporary Art program of the Royal College of Art. As an author Hammonds regularly contributes to art magazines like Art Monthly, Untitled Magazine and Tema Celeste.

Stefan Rusu (1964) is an artist and curator. He is primarily interested in the process of change in post-socialist societies. As an artist Ruso creates experimental films and documentaries. His recent activities as a curator include the project Cultural Campaign (2006-2009), about the recent changes in the cultural climate of Moldavia; Exhibition of Political Art, NOD Gallery, Prague and Museum of Art Zilina/Slovakia.

Hans Theys (1963) is the author of a large number of monographs, essays and interviews on the work of contemporary artists. He teaches at the Royal Academy of Art in Antwerp and at the KASK in Ghent, and is a frequent contributor to the magazine ART. He wrote about artists like Panamarenko, Luc Deleu / TOP Office, Michel Francois, Ann Veronica Janssens. As a curator he organized various shows in Belgium and The Netherlands. At the moment he is the temporary artistic coordinator of the artist initiative Artis in Den Bosch (NL).