During the scout nights, which took place this spring at five locations across the country, 59 young makers pitched their work to qualify for a grant from the Creative Industries Fund NL. From all pitches, 25 projects have been selected for the second round of the Talent Development Scheme.
April 26, 2023
Photos Derek Summer
During this fourth edition, scouts Philip van Vorstenbosch (Zwolle), Wouter Pocornie (Amsterdam), Shirin Mirachor (Rotterdam), Dina Ziad (Utrecht) and Glenda Pattipeilohy (Eindhoven) each selected a maximum of fifteen makers to present. A jury was also put together for each pitch location with experts who together represented a broad field of expertise.
As in previous years, the applicants are versatile makers. They do not relate to just one discipline, but use different media to create work and share it with the public. The selected makers convinced the jury with the quality of their work, environmental awareness and positioning, development capacity, and the potential distinctiveness of their work within the creative industry. The jury is pleased with the clear artistic signature of the selected makers and the link they make with the substantive themes.
There appears to be a great need for research into 'roots' and identity.
Dina Ziad, scout in Utrecht: 'The quality of the pitches was high. There were many strong personalities with their own story. It was striking that there appears to be a great need to conduct research into “roots” and identity. This is a trend that you see a lot at the moment - perhaps especially within my network - but I noticed a strong need to be seen and heard. In a number of pitches, makers literally said “we are there too”. That does affect me. We came across the themes of identity and biculturalism several times.'
The scout nights have been organized since 2019 and fall under the Talent Development Regulations . These pitch moments are aimed at designers and makers who have not completed a design or architecture education at higher vocational or university level. In this way, the Incentive Fund enables designers and makers from different social, economic and cultural backgrounds to further artistically develop and professionalize their design practice.
The fact that the scout nights are of great added value for the makers became clear during the meeting in Utrecht. Dina Ziad: 'In recent years I have noticed that self-taught makers really benefit from a network of makers and clients, presentation spaces and curators/program makers in order to develop further. Many self-taught and MBO makers have a less organized network than alumni of, for example, the HKU. Two makers found each other during the scout night in Utrecht. They currently have a joint exhibition at Atay Atelier – the location of the pitch night. New connections have been made and I think that is really nice to see.
Follow-up
The makers selected during the scout nights each receive €1,000 to draw up a development plan with which they can enter the second phase of the Talent Development Scheme. In this second round, the development plans are assessed by the scheme's advisory committee, together with the plans of makers who were selected in the first phase of the Talent Development Scheme. The final selection of makers who will receive a talent development grant of €25,000 from the Incentive Fund will be announced this summer.
Read more: https://www.stimuleringsfonds.nl/nieuws/25-projecten-geselecteerd-tijdens-vierde-editie-scout-nights