Meet the jury of Edition #9
In cooperation with an international jury, the festival makes a well-considered selection from all the entries of the Open Call. Each year, the members of the jury represent diversity in different respects: in cultural and professional background, gender and age. This provides a broad vision of the exhibition and the theme, and a nice selection of artworks.
Lucas de Man (jury chariman)
From 2020, Lucas De Man (1982, Belgium) is the creative director of Amsterdam Light Festival. He graduated in German Languages at the KU Leuven and subsequently studied Directing at the Amsterdam School of Arts. In addition to his work as artistic director of Company New Heroes, De Man works as (freelance) director, actor and concept developer. He presents various cultural TV shows, including Kunstuur (AVROTROS), and can often be seen as a speaker or host at events at home and abroad. For example, he has presented the Design Indaba Conference in South Africa for two years and has been a host and speaker at TEDxAmsterdam.
Pascal Leboucq
Designer and stage designer Pascal Leboucq (1981, Belgium) is classically trained as a sculptor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp. He then specialized as a designer in public space at the Design Academy in Eindhoven. In addition to his autonomous work, he works as a freelance stage designer for various theater companies. Leboucq is also a core member of the New Heroes Foundation and works there as head of design. With New Heroes he makes urban, mostly bio-based art installations and multidisciplinary scenographies.
Annelies Thoelen
Annelies Thoelen (1986, Belgium), has a master’s degree in art sciences as well as cultural management. She obtained her PhD in economic sciences in 2015. As a design expert she worked at Design Vlaanderen and at the Department of Culture, Youth and Media at the Flemish government. Since 2018 she has coordinated the artistic programme of Kunstencentrum Z33 in Hasselt. Additionally she is a guest professor of contemporary and historical design at the LUCA School of Arts and a international adviser for the Creative Industries Fund NL.
Aleksandra Statimirovic
Light artist Aleksandra Stratimirovic (1968, Serbia) lives and works in Stockholm. She studied at the art academy in her hometown of Belgrade, after which she left for Stockhom to specialise in light art at the Konstfack. She has created permanent light art installations for public places such as hospitals, schools and train stations, and her work has been exhibited in the Guggenheim Museum in New York as well as the Jardin du Palais Royal in Paris. Currently, Stratimirovic is the artistic director of Skopje Light Art District.
Raquel van Haver
Artist Raquel van Haver (1989, Colombia) graduated from the department of Fine Arts at the HKU in Utrecht in 2012. She won the Royal Award for Modern Painting in 2018, the same year she celebrated her first major solo exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum at Amsterdam. She creates monumental oil paintings which she describes as ‘loud’ paintings. In these paintings she want to emphasize the similarities between big group of people around the world. Currently van Haver is researching female social leaders in Colombia, Venezuela and Curaçao.
Frank Suurenbroek
Dr. Frank Suurenbroek (1974) is a lecturer in Building Transformation at the Faculty of Technology at the Hogeschool van Amsterdam. Together with an interdisciplinary team, he conducts practical research into the physical-spatial transformation challenges in the city and the technological and social innovations that are possible (and necessary) for this in the present time. He is associated with the research programs Urban Technology and Urban Governance & Social Innovation. Frank is also a member of the Executive Committee that organizes the Media Architecture Bienale in Amsterdam at the end of 2020.