We’re you exposed to art while growing up?
A: As a little girl my parents took me to museums, churches and galleries – especially on holidays. When I was younger, I found it annoying at first, but in my puberty, I also started to appreciate it. After doing my a-levels, I decided to study Art History in Groningen. But I was young, and didn't quite know what I wanted to do 'later'. Unfortunately I changed my studies after a year. In retrospect, I kind of regret it, but that's the way things go.
W: Yes, very much, as a child my father took me to various art and antiques auctions. I still remember getting lost in time between all kinds of works during the viewing days at the various auction houses. I especially remember the old building of Sotheby's, on the Rokin in Amsterdam. My father usually turned left when he entered and I turned right.
A: It was in Cape Town (where we lived for five years) that we came into contact with artists, designers, filmmakers and musicians. The cultural world there is very small. We were both active in the film industry ourselves. When the decision was made to move back to the Netherlands, we decided to start a gallery with a focus on art and design furniture from South Africa.
W: This was mainly due an artist friend, Feike Otto van der Zee. The older brother of a close friend. At that time he attended the Minerva art academy in Groningen. A visit to his studio and a journey through his work and inspiration has given me a glimpse into the art world. His study of the works of Egon Schiele especially inspired me at the time.
What was your first job in a gallery? Or did you immediately start a gallery yourself?
A & W: When we started Nuweland – in the Frisian countryside, in 2017 – we mainly started with design furniture, supported by contemporary art from South Africa. Gradually we grew into an art gallery. In 2018 we organized our first major solo exhibition, with ceramist John Newdigate. This was a great success. This exhibition marked the real start of our gallery.
How would you describe your gallery’s profile?
A: Due to our direct connection with South Africa, our focus is mainly on contemporary art from Southern Africa. We work with young emerging talents (fresh out of art school) such as Ben Orkin and Shakil Solanki, as well as mid-career artists such as Pierre Fouché and Sanell Aggenbach. The art we show looks very different. When we started the gallery, relatively little contemporary African art was shown in the Netherlands, we wanted to change that.
W: We enjoy working with influential artists, who deal critically with both global and local contemporary art and socio-political contexts. In doing so, we try to organize projects that offer a critical reappraisal of South African art history within a worldwide dialogue.
What do you think is the best part of being a gallerist?
A: Discovering and experiencing other realities through art. The variety, meeting new people (art lovers and artists) and travelling. We do everything ourselves, from start to finish. We do not employ any people. Getting it together over and over again is very satisfying.
W: A valuable social network, based on the principle of learning from each other. As far as I'm concerned, this applies to our contact with artists, but certainly also to art collectors and art professionals.
Which national / international galleries do you feel an affinity with?
A&W: We have only just started, or so it feels at least. Of course there are international galleries that we feel related to, mainly from South Africa. But we really have our own DNA and like to find our own way.
In an ideal world, which artist would you most like to represent?
A: Of course, there are great artists from the Southern Hemisphere that we admire. Yet, as we are building and growing, it is nice to bind artists to the gallery who have not yet been discovered. This gives the opportunity to grow together and achieve success together.
W: An artist who can knock us over the head every now and then and awaken our collective consciousness.
What has changed in the art world since you took your first steps?
A&W: We feel we are just getting started, so it's hard to say. We are still very open-minded and mainly follow our heart and our passion. We don't really play by 'the rules' yet, and that gives us a lot of energy and freedom.
Wat/wie verzamelt u zelf?
A: In the last few years we have started collecting art, mainly from the artists we work with or have a personal connection with. The work of the artists we represent always appeals to me, I feel connected to it. For the time being, these are mainly artists from South Africa, but this is certainly not a requirement. That happened by chance.
W: On a personal level, I arrive at a work by painter Jan Mankes, as well as by Jacob Hendrik Pierneef. I consider this slow collecting.
Has the pandemic changed the way you see the artworld?
A: That’s a difficult question. The express train of organizing exhibitions, participating at art fairs as well as the extensive travel has come to a (almost) standstill in the last eighteen months. This gives room to reconsider what we actually want to achieve with the artists and the gallery. It has given us a lot of time, peace and new insights, but it also entailed a great responsibility towards our artists. South Africa has been hit very hard economically. How can you optimally support the artists during this period? We have decided to undergo this time consciously. Of course, we participated in a number of online art fairs, but physically in the gallery we took some time out. We used the lockdown to further develop our physical location in Friesland by means of an external exhibition space in our yard. We have also worked hard with our artists on our exhibition program for 2021-2022.
And now, a year and a half later, it's really starting to itch. The regular contact with the artists and the art buyer/enthusiast is missed. Online presence is important and online sales are very nice, but the physical contact and the physical experience that goes with art are even more important. Fortunately, the world is slowly opening up again and there are beautiful exhibitions and participations in art fairs in our agenda.
W: I believe that Corona hasn’t very much changed the art world as such, but the deck of cards has been reshuffled and the road map and infrastructure has been partially wiped out, and perhaps for the better. The world is healing.
See the artists represented by Nuweland.