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”.
Jef Geys
In his multifaceted oeuvre, the Belgian artist Jef Geys attempts to bridge the gap between everyday reality and reflections on norms and values. In his installations and in the free newspaper he publishes with every project, Geys challenges contemporary society’s truisms and undermines the museum as an institution. His proposal to blow up the Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp can be regarded as illustrative of his approach. Jef Geys participated in the 2004 Access for All project.