Han Nefkens started to collect art in 2000. The H+F Collection, named after himself and his partner Felipe, is in long-term loan to various museums in The Netherlands and abroad. Nowadays Han Nefkens is not only active as a collector but also as an initiator of international art projects, often in collaboration with museums and other art institutions.
The Han Nefkens Foundation is a private non-profit organisation that was set up in Barcelona in 2009 with the aim of promoting the production of contemporary artworks. The mission is to stimulate artistic creation in Barcelona by offering international artists an opportunity to create artworks and interventions in the city, and to promote other fields of contemporary creation.
According to Han Nefkens, sharing is the antidote to loneliness, and he does so through his artistic and anti-AIDS projects and his writing. In 1995, he made his debut with the autobiographical novel Bloedverwanten (“Parents”), which was followed by Twee lege stoelen (“Two empty chairs”, 2006) and De gevlogen vogel (“The bird flew”, 2008). Nefkens also writes short pieces, “vignettes”.
SpainBarcelona: BECA/GRANT ART AIDS
GRANT ART AIDS
Mataró artist, Veronica Aguilera, with her project “En volver”, has been named winner of the Grant awarded by the ArtAids Foundation in collaboration with Can Xalant. The Grant provides production funding for a new video project relating to the issue of AIDs. The completed work will be exhibitied in December
SUMMARY
“Wrapping People in a First-Aid Blanket” is a project that uses video to develop a series of actions that are like quick notes around AIDS and its transmission.
The project offers each person the opportunity to participate and reflect on the illness and the way it is transmitted.
Metaphors are part of our way of thinking, of understanding the world. Wrapping deals with the concept of protection through the action of enveloping different people in a first-aid thermal blanket.
It offers a subtle and metaphoric reflection on the illness and its transmission that is far removed from the advertising techniques we are all familiar with.
DESCRIPTION
Life is full of chemical reactions: in plants (photosynthesis), in our bodies (breathing, digestion), all around us (in kitchens, laboratories, industry…).
In order to keep us healthy, our immune or defence system takes charge of dealing with any internal or external attack. The immune system traps any foreign elements that it detects, and destroys them through cells located in different parts of our bodies. The defence agents are white blood cells called lymphocytes and another type of cell called macrophages. Our immune system also produces antibodies to fight foreign elements, whether they be viruses, bacteria, fungi, etc
This video project talks to us about our bodies in an entertaining and original way, about our bodies’ reactions to possible external threats and about our lived experiences. In the video and during the rehearsals a dialogue takes place with the interlocutors about their fears and concerns about their bodies and the potential threats that they are exposed to on a daily basis.
OVERALL AIMS
SPECIFIC AIMS