Summer exhibition in the Old Library: artworks by colleagues
Silver jewellery, sculptures made of cork and intriguing photos of psychiatrists' treatment rooms. Staff at Leiden University exhibit their artworks in the Old Library. The summer exhibition can be viewed until 12 August.
Opening during the High Tea
This unusual exhibition can be viewed in the hall of the Old University Library at Rapenburg 70 in Leiden. Twenty members of staff at Administration and Central Services are exhibiting artworks varying from oil paintings and poems to striking photos and colourful embroidery. The members of staff who have produced the works of art all come from very different departments: from project leader information management and staff member at Studium Generale to receptionist and financial auditor. But they all have one thing in common: they are proud of the work they are displaying in the Old Library. The exhibition will open on 30 June during the High Tea.
Mandela's smile
Mayke Wessendorp works at the Service Desk in the Central Administration building and is quality controller in the Pieter de La Court building. She also has a very different career as an artist. She uses a wide range of materials such as cork, bronze, stone and wool. An eyecatcher at the exhibition is her bronze statue, Guardiano (protector). The bust has a serene smile: 'I was inspired by Mandela's smile,' Wessendorp explains. She is also exhibiting a female torso made of cork filled with red wool. The statue, entitled ‘Transition’, symbolises the female menopause. Wessendorp graduated from the Free Academy of Visual Arts in Driebergen. onlinekunstenaars.nl
Psychoanalysis in photos
Martijn Berk is project manager information management at the Administration department and is also an excellent photographer. His earlier work has been exhibited in the FOAM photo museum in The Hague. His photo book on Freudian psychoanalysis will be published this autumn. ‘I don't have any personal experience, but I find it fascinating that some patients have a treatment session a few times a week in a psychiatrist's treatment room, but they have no eye contact with the psychiatrist during the sessions. Some of these rooms are terribly ugly with worn-out chairs and dark green walls. Others are more attractive and you wouldn't mind sitting in them.' Berk has photographed the intriguing interiors of psychiagtrists practices in the Netherlands, New York and Berlin. He is exhibiting several photos of the treatment rooms and models that represent the process of psychoanalysis. martijnberk.com
Autumn leaves in silver
Wilma Deul van der Graaff works in Internal Control at the Administration department. She also makes gold and silver jewellery. Her showcase contains necklaces, earrings and brooches. 'It's a hobby that's got a bit out of hand,' she herself says. After following the training as goldsmith, her enthusiasm was fired. She incorporates stones that she either buys or finds and that she polishes herself. 'I get my inspiration from anything that I think is beautiful. That could be autumn leaves or everyday objects with an interesting shape.' Her jewellery is for sale via the website ornamentum-lugdunum.nl