Theo Tegelaers

I am a member of TAAK. From 1987, based on my own artistic practice and in collaboration with other artists, I experimented with organising exhibitions with various artists' initiatives. From 1994 to 1998, I was the first appointed director at W139, an exhibition space for contemporary art in Amsterdam. I later worked on exhibitions in the Netherlands and abroad as an independent curator, and spent half a year in New York as a “curator in residence” at the ISCP (International Studio and Curatorial Program). During the following five years, from 2001, I worked as a visual art advisor to the Rijksbouwmeester (Chief Government Architect of the Netherlands). In this period, I supervised many art projects for ministries and other central government buildings, including a contemporary art programme during the renovation of the Rijksmuseum. I also was curator at De Appel from 2002-2005, a centre for contemporary art in Amsterdam. From 2006 to 2012, I worked for SKOR | Stichting Kunst en Openbare Ruimte (Art and Public Space Foundation), where I developed many art projects in the urban environment and landscape. These included land art related projects associated with the construction of the Maasvlakte 2 (an industrial area built on newly-reclaimed land on the Dutch coast), and a film about the famous land art project “Broken Circle Spiral Hill” by Robert Smithson in Emmen. In response to government cuts to art subsidies, one consequence of which was that SKOR ceased to exist, I initiated the founding of TAAK in 2012. Within the team of 9 I give guidance and collectively we develop and realize projects for various clients in the public and private sector. Examples include the Dutch Ministry of Justice, the Hortus botanical gardens in Haren, and Cure Park in the Amsterdamse Bos. TAAK also developed programs and projects starting from our own agenda and/or with artists. Some recent examples are Cure Park, Palace Ruin and the Carnival of the Oppressed Feelings.