Hague Sculpture 2007

PRESS RELEASE
The Hague, 26 April 2007

DE OVERKANT / DOWN UNDER
Contemporary Art from Australia and the Netherlands

TEN YEAR JUBILEE of The Hague Sculpture
In 2007, The Hague Sculpture is celebrating its tenth anniversary with a special jubilee exhibition on contemporary Australian sculpture and art in the public space titled DE OVERKANT / DOWN UNDER.


Taking curiosity as point of departure, The Hague Sculpture 2007 demands attention for the adventure of the discovery of new grounds and the desire for the unknown. With extra activities and new guest locations, The Hague Sculpture hopes to reach a wide-ranging and mixed public in The Hague, the Netherlands, Down Under and last but not least the ‘Overkant’ [the other side], both close to home and further away.

DE OVERKANT
The special bond between Australia and the Netherlands can be traced back to March 1606, when to the south of Java on the Dutch East India Company ship ‘De Duyfken’, Willem Janszoon reached the coast of what today is known as Australian Queensland.


At that time, the continent was terra incognita for Europeans, although for centuries explorers had been in search for this southern continent known as Terra Incognita Australis, scientifically underpinned and predicted in antiquity. This imagination-inspiring counterpart of the North Pole, that by that time had been discovered and mapped, was seen as a mysterious missing link, functioning as a receptacle for religious, scientific and mythical fantasies, ideas of an earthly paradise or long lost Atlantis, or dreams of utopia or possibly even hell itself.

After the first, brief acquaintanceship, a few years later, notoriously no-nonsense Dutch tradesmen ‘christened’ the new country Hollandia Nova (New Holland) and as such was it thereafter referred to on the maritime cartography.

& DOWN UNDER
In connection with over 400 years of friendly / bilateral relations between Australia and the Netherlands, the focus of The Hague Sculpture 2007 exhibition DE OVERKANT / DOWN UNDER is on the work of contemporary artists from both countries.

On selecting the artists, the prevailing theme was adventure and desire; artists, for example, inspired by voyages of discovery and mass migration in the past and the present and/or driven by curiosity about technological or scientifically and science fiction -inspired blueprints for the future.

MAPPING THE SYSTEM – Commissions & in situ-works
The Hague Sculpture 2007

With the special commission theme of MAPPING THE SYSTEM, The Hague Sculpture’s Australia exhibition has invited artists to tap into a futuristic layer in the main theme of adventure and desire, to shape their fascination for social and/or technological systems or to explore the ever-expanding space between fiction and reality.

Now that all places on the globe have been discovered and mapped, it may well be up to art to find new areas or rediscover where fantasy can take root.

The System was once the euphemistic term for the system set up by England from 1788 onward to solve abroad the problem of their overfull prisons at home by founding a prison colony on what Europeans saw as the undeveloped continent of Australia.

Today, The System generally has a very different meaning, but still refers to the desire for reassuring order, for example by feeling out the system in social & city-planning, in (bio) engineering, in science and particularly also the in rapidly developing media, especially the virtual world. In science fiction too, new borders are being explored and parallel worlds mapped or dreamt up.

The assignments and in situ- works will be eligible for 2007 The Hague Sculpture Rabobank Award.

PARTICIPATING ARTISTS
Brook Andrew, James Angus, Robyn Backen, Harold de Bree, Jon Campbell, Mikala Dwyer, Shaun Gladwell, Richard Goodwin, Fiona Hall, Peter Hennessey, Bill Henson, Danius Kesminas / The Histrionics, Harmen de Hoop, John Kelly, Natasha Johns Messenger, Erik Jutten & Ramon Ottenhof, Ram Katzir, Hans Ligteringen, Robert MacPherson, Tracey Moffatt, Callum Morton, Noel McKenna, Ron Mueck, Patricia Piccinini, Patrick Freddy Puruntatameri & Pius Tipungwuti, Jan van der Ploeg, Lisa Roet, Daniel von Sturmer, Ricky Swallow, Koen Wastijn, Louise Weaver, Guan Wei, Anne Zahalka, Ah Xian.

JUBILEE CATALOGUE
The jubilee catalogue (published by Veenman Publishers) maps ten years of The Hague Sculpture in a nutshell. In addition, there is substantial attention for the adventurous theme of the year with information on all participating artists, photos at the location of the works of art and projects, and lots of extras, including a mapping-inspired catalogue-design, essays on contemporary art and culture in Australia and a special section titled Me & Australia / Australia & Me in which a broad-ranging array of Australia experts divulge their personal relationship with down under.

AD MAGAZINE
On Saturday 9 June, a special AD magazine will appear fully dedicated to the jubilee exhibition of The Hague Sculpture 2007. The magazine will be available free of charge on the exhibition grounds and at all locations where The Hague Sculpture is a guest throughout the period of the exhibition.

KIDS
Children can send in a drawing inspired by the exciting stories about people’s hero NED KELLY or take part in the writing competition SONGLINES.

The best drawings and stories or songs will be presented or recited at the jubilee LEMONADE BALL on Sunday 2 September, that all children taking part will be invited to.

More information: www.denhaagsculptuur.nl

Stichting Haags Kinderatelier organizes workshops with guided tours along the sculptures on the Lange Voorhout. For more information: www.haagskinderatelier.nl

GUIDED TOURS: www.rondleidingen.net


THE HAGUE SCULPTURE 2007 AS GUEST ....
This year, the Hague Sculpture has sought explicit cooperation with other cultural institutes and new exhibition locations in order to attract a new public and promote cultural and educational cross-fertilization. Due to the artists’ largely non-traditional approach of sculpture, a choice has also been made for inside locations and/or semi-public locations nearby the outside location on the Lange Voorhout, where DE OVERKANT/DOWN UNDER will be a guest.

These guest locations include

Affichegalerij, Atrium-Stadhuis (James Angus, Koen Wastijn, video programme),
Escher in het Paleis (Ron Mueck, Natasha Johns Messenger, Ah Xian),
GEM/Fotomuseum (Bill Henson, Tracey Moffatt, Anne Zahalka),
Kloosterkerk (Noel McKenna),
Hague Historic Museum,
Artoteek Den Haag and Stroom Den Haag.

Thanks to the cooperation with the GEM/Fotomuseum Den Haag it is possible, for example, to exhibit three special Australian photographers during The Hague Sculpture 2007. In addition, in Escher in het Paleis, The Hague Sculpture has found a special location among other things for sculptures by Ron Mueck and the Australian-Chinese artist Ah Xian. Thanks to the cooperation with all these ‘guest’ locations, The Hague Sculpture will be able to allow the public to familiarize itself even further with what Australian art has to offer in the public space in addition to sculpture. The cooperation with the other ‘guest’locations’ aims to do the same.

Dynamic INFO CENTRE
The Hague Sculpture 2007 annex Bureau for Contemporary Adventure

For The Hague Sculpture, the jubilee year is an extra reason to focus more attention on educational and public participatory activities. One good example is a special PPPPP evening (Programme Preview & Presentations for Press & Public) on Tuesday 12 June following the press conference that same afternoon, the drawing and writing competition for children, as well as the artist’s project of Erik Jutten & Ramon Ottenhof, Bureau voor Hedendaags Avontuur (Bureau for Contemporary Adbenture), with public participation throughout the entire period of the exhibition. Together with this interactive Social Mapping artist’s programme, our info-kiosk on the Lange Voorhout will function as a dynamic cultural Hague Sculpture Info Centre where guided tours start and enthusiastically well-informed information desk assistants shed light on the exhibition and draw visitors’ attention to the Hague Sculpture cross-fertilization & culture elsewhere in the city.
Throughout The Hague Sculpture 2007, a broad range of activities will be on offer including lectures and meetings on artists and the theme of DE OVERKANT / DOWN UNDER. For more information: www.denhaagsculptuur.nl


AGENDA The Hague Sculpture 2007: DE OVERKANT / DOWN UNDER

Exhibition period 15 June till 9 September 2007, admittance free of charge day and night
(from 1 June on, many works of art will already be built up at the Lange Voorhout location)

Official OPENING 15 June 2007, 16.00 hours in Kloosterkerk * (with a special opening guest!)
(*)only for invitees Presentation of the jubilee catalogue
Presentation of The Hague Scultpure Rabobank Award 2007 (€ 6,500.00)
Reception in Escher in het Paleis

After-party SCULPTURE BALL 15 June 2007 (23.00 to 04.00uur)*
(*) only for invitees location: Het Paard van Troje, with (among others) a performance by The Histrionics

Publieksprijs Sunday 2 September 2007 (during UITfestival)
Announcement of the winner of AD/Haagsche Courant Den Haag Sculptuur Publieksprijs 2007
LEMONADE BALL Sunday 2 September 2007


PRESS CONFERENCE & PPPPP evening
Tuesday 12 June 2007

We are pleased to invite you to the press conference, in the presence of a large number of participating artists, on Tuesday 12 June 2007 in Escher in het Paleis at 16.00 hours, complete with a stroll around the exhibition grounds.


You are also very welcome to attend the evening programme
PPPPP DE OVERKANT/DOWN UNDER
(Programme Preview & Presentations for Press & Public)

with lots of presentations, lectures and possibilities to hold interviews with (among others and with reservation) Brook Andrew, Richard Goodwin, Fiona Hall, Natasha Johns Messenger, Bureau voor Hedendaags Avontuur, the Hague Royal Academy of Visual Arts, The Histrionics, Harmen de Hoop, Lisa Roet.
Location: Vestia-gebouw (theaterzaal), former KPN-building Binckhorstlaan 36 - The Hague.

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DE OVERKANT/DOWN UNDER
When:
Fri 15 June 2007 - Sun 9 September 2007
Where:
Lange Voorhout, The Hague

The Hague Sculpture 2007 DE OVERKANT/DOWN UNDER will also feature activities, lectures and meetings on artists and the theme of DE OVERKANT/DOWN UNDER.

Three Australian Photographers
When:
Sat 26 May 2007 - Sun 28 October 2007
Where:
GEM/Fotomuseum Den Haag The Hague Sculpture 2007: DE OVERKANT/DOWN UNDER as guest in... GEM/Fotomuseum Den Haag: photo exhibition from 26 May to 28 October 2007 with work by Bill Henson, Tracey Moffatt and Anne Zahalka.


PPPPP Programme Preview & Presentations for Press & Public
When:
Tue 12 June 2007
Where:
Vestia building, former KPN-gebouw Binckhorstlaan 36

Lectures/presentations/interviews programme with the cooperation of (among others.) Brook Andrew, James Angus, Robyn Backen, Harold de Bree, Jon Campbell, Mikala Dwyer, Richard Goodwin, Fiona Hall, Erik Jutten & Ramon Ottenhof (Bureau voor Hedendaags Avontuur), Noel McKenna, Hans Ligteringen, Patrick (Andrew) Freddy Puruntatameri, Lisa Roet, Koen Wastijn, Pius Tipungwuti.

Official Jubilee opening (exclusively for invitees)
When:
Fri 15 June 2007
Where:
Kloosterkerk

Opening of the exhibition.
Presentation of the jubilee catalogue.
Presentation of The Hague Sculpture Rabobank Award 2007 for the best in-situ/assignment work.

Afterparty
When:
Fri 15 June 2007
Where:
Paard van Troje (Private) After-party in Het Paard van Troje with a performance by The Histrionics (23.00-04.00u.) and featuring DJs UNISECS.

Office of Contemporary Adventure
When:
Thu 14 June 2007- Sun 9 Septembre 2007
Where:
The Hague Sculpture Infokiosk on Lange Voorhout

DOWN UNDER - The Adventure Within
When:
Thu 23 August 2007 - Fri 31 August 2007
Where:
Filmhuis

A special programme in cooperation with Hall 5/Filmhuis Den Haag with Australian Art movies/video installations, with the search for the other, the adventure, the sensation of culture shock and the representation of the inexpressible (e.g. Dreamtime) occupying a central position (with reservation).

Lemonade Bal
When:
Sun 2 September 2007
Where:
Lange Voorhout

All children who have taken part in the Ned Kelly and the Songlines competition will be invited to the Lemonade Bal, where the best drawings and 'songlines' by children will be presented, after the singing of a special Lemonade songlines song.