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This is the third edition of the annual Maker behind the Maker award honoring craft and collaboration.
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The award was co-created by Kunstinstituut Melly in collaboration with the Mondriaan Fund.
The Maker behind the Maker Award honors creators whose impeccable craftsmanship and supportive collaboration have been indispensable for a visual artist to best materialize their work. The Maker behind the Maker Award is an initiative in collaboration with the Mondriaan Fund, the public fund for visual art and cultural heritage in the Netherlands.
It is with great pleasure that we announce Karen Zeedijk, an expert in tufting, as the winner of this year's Maker behind the Maker Award. Zeedijk will receive a cash gift of €5,000 and her attentive practice will be celebrated during an Awards Ceremony at Kunstinstituut Melly on November 8, 2023, at the same time as the Berry Koedam Award.
Commissioned by artists, Zeedijk makes tapestries, rugs and textile artworks in her atelier Fabrikaat in Tilburg and as part of her decades-long profession at TextielLab, part of the TextielMuseum. The textile works are exhibited all over the world. "It's slowly beginning to dawn on me that I am allowed to receive such an honorable award. This is fantastic recognition for my work," Zeedijk said. "When a work is finished, the artist or designer gets all the recognition at the presentation, but usually the person who did the executive work remains invisible." According to her, this award reflects a clear appreciation of the role a "maker behind the maker" has.
Zeedijk was nominated for this award by the Dutch visual artist Catharina van de Ven, for whom she made several rugs. Van de Ven states that Zeedijk is very dedicated to her profession as well as to the artists with whom she works, creating special working relationships in which both Zeedijk and the artist open themselves up to learning and developing by working together. She adds value to the artists’ work with her dedication and compassion that is invaluable.
According to Zeedijk, the secret to such a productive working relationship lies in listening carefully to what the artist says about the work and being able to translate that in execution. "You have to learn to speak each other's language," says Zeedijk. "And if you can do that, that you can find and feed each other, then a work like this almost allows itself to be made. Together you lift the whole thing up, which feels almost magical." Including Van de Ven, other collaborators of Zeedijk include artists such as Otobong Nkanga and Robert Zandvliet.
Van de Ven’s nomination of Zeedijk was one of nearly one hundred nominations sent by artists living in The Netherlands. Nominations were submitted by visual artists in response to an open call launched by Kunstinstituut Melly and cross-promoted with Mondriaan Fund. The nominees could only be people, groups or companies within the Netherlands that are seen as experts within a particular craft. All nominations were reviewed and discussed by an external jury. The nominating artists could come from all over the world. |
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| | About the jury
All the nominations were assessed by the jury for the Maker behind the Maker award: Rieke Vos, Curator for New Projects at Teylers Museum, Haarlem; Anne Wenzel, Rotterdam based visual artist; and Binna Choi, outgoing director and curatorial advisor at the Casco Art Institute, Utrecht. The jury meeting was chaired by Kunstinstituut Melly’s Development Manager, Sarah van Overeem-van der Tholen.
The jury took note of Zeedijk’s practice and the manner in which Van de Ven spoke of the maker’s skills and collaborations, which sometimes span years and require great patience, persistence and relational skills as well as knowledge of material and technique. The jury also recognized Zeedijk’s broad experience to inform apt translations of the artists’ ideas, while maintaining a personal signature and quality throughout. In both the jury’s and Van de Ven’s view, Zeedijk is able to form horizontal collaborative processes, where both she and the artists open up to learn and expand from working together. The jury concluded that their choice to award this deserving nominee “allows us to highlight the importance of committed exchanges and sustained conversations” that are part of the Maker behind the Maker’s purpose —and how these exchanges themselves form part of the creative process that produces artworks.
About Karen Zeedijk
In 2001, Karen (Kaat) Zeedijk (b. 1970) started her stained glass studio Fabrikaat in Tilburg. Since 2003 she has also been working as a tufter at the TextielLab in Tilburg. In 2015 her glass studio Fabrikaat continued as a tuft studio and she works full-time as a tufter ever since. Both with Fabrikaat and at the TextielLab, Zeedijk works commissioned by artists such as; Catharina van de Ven, Robert Zandvliet, Lizan Freijsen, Otobong Nkanga, Victor de Bie, Kiki van Eijk, Rop van Mierlo, Sandra Keja Planken, Jan Koen Lomans, Charlotte Jonkheer, Jan Taminiau, Els van 't Klooster and others. Works created by her have been exhibited in museums home and abroad. In 2020, Zeedijk founded the Tuftlokaal, where she shares her knowledge by giving workshops and master classes to interested parties. Several art academies in the Netherlands and Belgium have also called on her knowledge. Zeedijk lives and works in Tilburg.
About the Maker behind the Maker Award
Created in 2020, the focus of the Maker behind the Maker Award is unique. It is created to celebrate and acknowledge craftsmanship and skills of those who work behind the scenes of making the ideas of artists come to life. The Maker behind the Maker Award is one of the awards that Kunstinstituut Melly launched in 2020, each involving a unique focus. Supported by various foundations, this awards program was designed to celebrate the institution's thirtieth anniversary by honoring its ecosystem over time. Former winners of the award are Charly van Rest (2021) and Struktuur 68 (2022) from the Hague, founded by Henk Trumpie and Jacques van Gaalen. Click here to learn more about Kunsinstituut Melly's awards program.
About the Mondriaan Fund
The Mondriaan Fund is the national cultural fund for heritage and visual arts in the Netherlands and the Caribbean part of the Kingdom and works on behalf of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. They contribute to the realization of projects and activities of artists, curators and critics, museums and other heritage institutions, art venues, archives, galleries and patrons at home and abroad. In addition, the fund organizes various activities such as the Dutch entry for the Venice Biennale and the Prix de Rome. The fund finances the Maker behind the Maker Award in the context of crafts. |
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| | | For press inquiries, please contact Liza Wolters via liza@kunstinstituutmelly.nl.
Kunstinstituut Melly’s mission is to organize activities on the latest developments in contemporary art and theory. It creates exhibitions, publications, and educational programs of artistic merit and cultural significance. It also commissions new art, supports innovative research, and advocates for cultural partnerships. Kunstinstituut Melly welcomes audiences year-round in its +3,500m2 nineteenth-century building, located at 50 Witte de Withstraat in the Cool District of Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Kunstinstituut Melly is supported by the City of Rotterdam and the Ministry of Education, Culture, and Science in The Netherlands. In 2023, support was also provided by grants from AMMODO, Hartwig Foundation, and Droom en Daad, among others. Project support is earned through fundraising activities, individual donations, and foundation grants. The Maker behind the Maker award is made possible by the Mondriaan Fund.
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