Author: Anna van Schouten

The Special Award, a quadrennial visual arts competition for artists with disabilities, provides a stage for hidden talents. The jury, consisting of gallery owner Nico van der Endt and artists Paul Klemann, Jacobien de Rooij, Roland Berning and Lisa Couwenbergh selected 41 artists for the exhibition Recall of Infinity at Museum Cobra (on view through Nov. 3, 2024). “The necessity and authenticity of the work speak volumes,” the jury said.

The works range from colorful monsters to surreal portraits and reflect on themes of creativity, authenticity and necessity. Paul Klemann emphasizes the importance of the cross-pollination between mainstream and outsider art: “The Special Award plays a crucial role in the Netherlands by making these artists visible.”

Jury award winners
The jury considered quality as well as how the artist depicts a world of their own or shows a surprising vision. From the exhibiting artists, the jury selected four artists to receive a prize that contributes to further visibility and or development. The winning artists are: Cedric ter Bals (The Hague), Kar Hang Mui (Goes), Lenneke Zoeteman(Driebergen-Zeist) and young talent Maikel Baas (Utrecht). Each jury member also awarded a personal honorable mention. These artists are Jacques Bal, Zoë Diepenbroek, Hannie de Haan, Davy van der Schaaf and Levy Winter.

Audience Award Winner
Artist Frits Schreurs of Oss won the audience award at the Special Award 2024 on Sunday. Drag performer ChelseaBoy, dressed in a creation inspired by Van Gogh’s “Starry Night,” presented the award to the creator of colorful paintings and sculptures. “That’s my name!” a surprised Schreurs exclaimed as his name came out of the envelope.

Schreurs’ work made a big impression on the audience. Visitors to the exhibition praised the vibrant use of color and the layering of his work. “Versatile and colorful. You keep looking at it,” wrote one visitor. The work appeals to a wide audience – from art connoisseurs who appreciate the refined details to four-year-old Wies, who especially loves the pink colors. Schreurs received the most votes from online voters and museum visitors combined.

Exhibition
The exhibition Recall of Infinity is on view through November 3, 2024 at Museum Cobra.

Museum Cobra is pleased to announce that the first major Cobra exhibition in Morocco will be on view from October 30, 2024 through March 3, 2025 at the prestigious Mohamed VI Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rabat. This unique exhibition, called Cobra: A Multi-headed Snake, is the result of a special collaboration between Museum Cobra and the Moroccan museum led by Mr. Mehdi Qotbi, right hand man of the King of Morocco and director of the Fondation Nationale des Musées, and Mr. Abdelaziz Elidrissi, director of the museum.

Following the success of the exhibition The Other Story: Art from Moroccan Modernism in 2022 in Amstelveen, in which an important part of the collection of the Mohamed VI Museum was shown, this year a large part of the Cobra collection travels to Rabat. The exhibition includes some 100 artworks, supplemented by archival material, and emphasizes the official Cobra period (1948-1951), but earlier and later works of the movement will also be presented.

“Cobra: A Multi-Headed Snake ” offers a multifaceted view of the Cobra movement, focusing on diverse and sometimes contradictory views of the movement. In addition to Dutch Cobra works, the Moroccan museum will also show modernist works from their own collection, revealing the fascinating cross-pollination between the two countries.

What makes this exhibition in Rabat extra special is that the Cobra works will be presented alongside Moroccan modernist works from the collection of the Mohamed VI Museum. This reveals shared themes of both European and Moroccan art in which freedom, experimentation and engagement are central. The exhibition has been made possible through collaborations with the Dutch and Moroccan embassies, as well as Dutch Culture, Centre for International Cooperation, and the Reinwardt Academy in Amsterdam.

This exhibition will open on October 30, 2024 at Mohamed VI Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rabat, Morocco. Keep following us via museumcobra.nl or our social media channels and discover how Cobra continues to inspire to this day!

During the exhibition Recall of Infinity, Museum Cobra in collaboration with Special Arts is hosting a finissage with an ongoing program for the public, studios and artists on

What can you do this day?
– Viewing the exhibition Recall of Infinity. There are several entry tours
– Join art in motion
– Get to work with Klets & Kwast in the Cobra Atelier
– Open Poetry Stage in collaboration with Nikki Verhoeven, city poet of Amstelveen and Mattino, ambassador of The Other Poem. Write a poem to a work of art and come recite it on stage October 27.
– The announcement of the winner of the Special Award 2024.

It is an ongoing program, for which you cannot make reservations by section. Subject to program changes.

Museum Cobra is proud to announce the appointment of Suzanne Wallinga as its new general director. Together with financial director Cor Dinkgreve, she will form the museum’s new board of directors from October 1, 2024. Her appointment marks a new chapter for Museum Cobra, in which her vision and refreshing approach will further strengthen the museum.

About Suzanne Wallinga
Suzanne Wallinga has since built an appealing career in the art world. She is co-founder and former director of art platform A Tale of a Tub and granted many commissions to various artists working on new productions at the intersection of art, literature, architecture and design. As a freelance curator, she developed exhibitions and programs with social relevance, focusing on themes such as ecological crises and inclusivity. For this, Wallinga worked with renowned institutions such as the Kröller-Müller Museum, the Frans Hals Museum and the Stedelijk Museum, among others. In addition to her work as an exhibition maker, Suzanne Wallinga has been advising cultural institutions on policy and strategy for over fifteen years, most recently Sonsbeek. She was also interim director of Amsterdam Art. She is also active as a director and supervisor at various art institutions around the country and publishes regularly on art.

Future vision
With Suzanne Wallinga, Museum Cobra gains a director with a wealth of experience in both artistic and business policy, and a keen eye for social relevance in the art world. Her passion for making art more accessible to diverse audiences, combined with her expertise in curating high-profile, contemporary exhibitions with a social character, fits seamlessly with Museum Cobra’s mission and vision.

“The Supervisory Board is delighted with the appointment of Suzanne Wallinga as General Director of Museum Cobra! The Board is impressed by her originality and her vision of modern and contemporary art and her ideas to approach, from the perspective of the Cobra idea, local, national and international artistic and social developments. The Board believes that Suzanne Wallinga’s knowledge, experience and entrepreneurship will give Museum Cobra new élan,” says Jerry Straub, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Museum Cobra.

Suzanne Wallinga: “I am very much looking forward to working with the Cobra team. I want to make a valuable contribution to the development, strengthening the position and reputation of the museum in Amstelveen, both nationally and internationally. This is the moment to let Museum Cobra be a place for inspiration, exchange and encounter. Art helps us to express ourselves and connect with others-an essential element in our current society. I look forward to working with artists, our partners and stakeholders, and am grateful for the support of the Supervisory Board. See you at the museum!”

Tonight the Cobra Business Club handed over a check worth 50,000 euros to Museum Cobra.

After the commitment of the 3-year subsidy of the Municipality of Amstelveen, the Cobra Business Club is very happy to contribute their part in the form of 50,000 euros to the survival of the museum and therefore the survival of the Cobra Business Club.

We thank the members of the Cobra Business Club: altera vastgoed, AM, Amson & Kolhoff Notarissen, BDO, De Groot Douma Vosmeijer & Frantzen Advocaten, Dura Vermeer, Handelsbanken, KEIM, KLM, Léons, Lunshof Makelaardij Amstelveen, Maasdam Group, Netjes Beheer, Rabobank Amstel en Vecht, Renewi Nederland B. V. Randstad-Noord Region, Technische Unie, Trebbe, Unibail-Rodamco Westfield, Van Doorne, Van Poelgeest BMW-MINI Amstelveen, Zorg en Zekerheid.

Museum Cobra has been nominated for Best Event Venue for the Meetings Awards 2024! And we need your vote to win this special title.

Our unique location offers endless possibilities for events: a reception among art, a product presentation in a room, a meeting or presentation with an inspiring guided tour, or a dinner surrounded by beautiful art objects. Museum Cobra is the place where art and events come together!

Can you help us win the prize? Vote now via Meetings

On Sunday, September 15, the second edition of the Cobra Children’s Museum opened. It was a successful afternoon where many families came to see the children’s work.

After a number of preparatory lessons at school, at elementary school Het Palet and de Bloeiwijzer in Amstelveen, children themselves chose a theme for this second edition of the Children’s Museum. Based on this theme, over 35 children, together with accompanying artists, Annet Breure and Julia dos Santos Baptista, set to work creatively to visualize their ideas around this theme. Each time they were taught a new visual technique and they learned to give words to what they made and their ideas about it. The accompanying artists listened to their stories, creating a wonderful audio tour to accompany this exhibition.

Evegeny Astapov

Cobra Children’s Museum
The Cobra Children’s Museum is a unique exhibition that shows how children express their ideas around their own chosen theme. A celebration of boundless imagination! It is a place where children have a say in what can be seen and experienced in a museum. Their own place to make that happen. The children are introduced to Museum Cobra, the Cobra ideas, the design process of their own museum and finally the creative execution of it in the form of a real exhibition in the museum. The Cobra Children’s Museum will be built, festively opened and the children themselves will give a tour of their own museum.

This is the second edition of the Cobra Children’s Museum. Start of this second edition were preparatory lessons at school, in which questions like “What is a museum?” and “What should a museum be about?” were central. Through an intensive, 4-day workshop, the children were taken through a creative making process that culminated in this exhibition with its own audio tour.

This second edition of the Cobra Children’s Museum was also developed and supervised by artist and visual teacher Júlia dos Santos Baptista and Annet Breure, story collector and storyteller. For more information, see www.plantenverhalen.nl/florafantastica

Partners:
Elja, VSB, Plantenverhalen, MAM, De Bloeiwijzer, Het Palet, Buurtkamer

Evgeny Astapov