From 2025, an almost new group of advisors will consider all Practical Contribution applications. Meet Lana Mesić, Pendar Nabipour, Niek Hilkmann, Pelumi Adejumo, Alexandra Roozen, Marijn Bril and Pris Roos.
Lana Mesic
Lana Mesić lives and works in Rotterdam. Mesić's work is fueled by wonder and playfulness, rooted in a childhood surrounded by mysterious stories and the enigmatic beauty of the unknown. Born in a country that no longer exists, Yugoslavia, alienation plays a key role in her work. She explores how we try to understand the invisible and how light and shadow constantly challenge each other. With a nod to the archetype of the trickster, she uses art as a stage for confusion and fun, transforming everyday conventions and inviting new perspectives.
'I am naturally very curious and get excited by the versatility of this position. The idea of constantly diving into new projects and fully immersing myself in someone's world is incredibly inspiring to me. With my background as an artist, I often expose social issues and look for ways in which art can contribute to positive change. I see art not only as something aesthetic, but also as a means to explore possibilities and sketch new future perspectives. I hope to bring this perspective, so that together we can use art to create meaningful connections and impact.'
Lana Mesic
Nick Hilkman
Niek Hilkmann is an artist, musician and researcher with a background in art history, media design and film studies. His work focuses on the tension between everyday technology and popular culture, with a special focus on the relationship between animals and humans. He is a member of Varia, a space for collective approaches to technology, wrote a book on contemporary floppy diskette culture, and makes music, among others with the group Kwartet Niek Hilkmann.
'As a born and bred Rotterdammer, I look forward to seeing what's happening in the city. Metaphorically speaking, I hope to change the oil of the cultural machine, of course with a critical eye on the oil companies. My personal interest lies in the interaction between art and (sub)culture. I am interested in projects that are at the intersection of social developments and the autonomous imagination.'
Nick Hilkman
Pendar Nabipour
Pendar Nabipour is a visual artist, curator and teacher based in Rotterdam. His work explores communal memories, collective decision-making, humour, play and nature. He rethinks institutions and builds alternative structures through art. Pendar studies cultural elements such as proverbs, memes and comedy to investigate collective memory. He uses playfulness and interaction to create immersive experiences. He challenges conventions with humour. He draws inspiration from natural processes to understand time. He integrates these themes in his creative explorations using different media.
'As a teacher and independent curator, I love helping other creatives develop their ideas, from the initial idea to the presentation. During this process, perhaps the most interesting part is the development of the core concept and production plan. I want to help people who have a clear idea of what they are doing to realize their creative goals.'
Pendar Nabipour – photography by Stacii Samidin
Pelumi Adejumo
Pelumi Adejumo is a Nigerian-Dutch interdisciplinary writer whose work explores themes such as migration, mourning and linguistic alienation. She also understands language as a place of location, a place of struggle. She holds a bachelor's degree in Creative Writing from ArtEZ University of the Arts and a Master's degree in Fine Art from the Dutch Art Institute. In 2023, she received the Frans Vogel Poetry Prize for her multilingual work. Adejumo regularly publishes poetry and in-depth essays on art and literature in magazines and platforms such as Mister Motley, Metropolis M, RektoVerso and De Gids. She was thesis supervisor for the Sandberg Master BlackerBlackness Studies. She has also performed as a speaker and performer at cultural events, including the Sonsbeek Biennale, de Appel, SAVVY Contemporary, Into The Great Wide Open and Read My World, where she is also part of the programming and translation team.
'With my expertise in the field of interdisciplinary work, my involvement with various cultural institutions and my experience as an advisor, I hope to make a valuable contribution to the assessment of projects. I bring a keen eye for artistic quality and social impact, in which there is room for collaboration and sustainability of the artistic practice. I have a specific eye for multidisciplinary makers, for collectives and for performances that integrate text-based work. In addition, I focus on qualitatively strong makers with a long professional practice who are less visible, and I want to help them get the recognition and support they deserve.'
Pelumi Adejumo
Alexandra Roozen
Alexandra Roozen is a visual artist, specializing in pencil on paper. Her work is exhibited both in the Netherlands and abroad, at art fairs and in art collections, regularly in countries such as South Korea and the United States. She also teaches, for example as a core teacher ('20-'24) at the Willem de Kooning Academy and in masterclasses at Drawing Center Diepenheim.
'I am interested in the many issues that play a role in the development of the various professional practices of Rotterdam artists. I am also interested in the long-term professional practices, in which a completely unique oeuvre has been built up over the course of many years. In general, I am interested in both substantive and technical fascinations. Specifically, I am interested in questions that may seem small or insignificant, but can form a starting point for deepening and developing the professional practice.'
Alexandra Roozen – photography by Vincent Mentzel
Marijn Bril
Marijn Bril is an independent curator and researcher with a focus on media art and digital culture. Her practice focuses on themes such as visual culture, memes, ecology, productivity, knowledge production and artistic strategies. She curates exhibitions, writes essays and gives lectures for organisations such as IMPAKT, V2_, the Institute for Network Culture, Mister Motley and Archined. Marijn graduated from the Erasmus Mundus Joint Excellence Master in Media Arts Cultures at the universities of Krems (AT), Aalborg (DK) and Łódź (PL).
'I aim to contribute to a dynamic environment for artistic research and experimentation in the city. As a curator, I have experience with various artistic processes and methodologies, supplemented with a solid theoretical basis. Rotterdam is a place par excellence where makers like to experiment, and in my role as advisor I hope to support projects that deal with existing media and formats in innovative ways. When assessing applications, I find it important to take a supportive approach: critical but balanced, with the development possibilities of the applicant always central. In addition, I look forward to contributing, based on my expertise in media art and digital culture, to artistic practices that explore the interaction between technology and society. In a time when technological developments are moving at breakneck speed, artists play a crucial role in exposing these processes and offering a critical reflection on how these systems are applied in society.'
Marijn Bril
Pris Rose
Pris Roos is an artist, teacher, curator, researcher and storyteller. As a child she grew up in the shop of her family who emigrated from Indonesia. For Pris Roos the shop symbolizes a space of togetherness, colors, smells, food, stories and a mix of people with different backgrounds. The shop is a source of wealth for her art practice. As an artist she works with different media such as painting, spoken word, video, performance and installation. By listening to and observing the people she meets, she reflects on topics such as identity, migration and memory.
Pris Roos – photography by Arno Stevens
Read more about the Practical Contribution
Photo above: Kwinnie Lê, The Land of the Tattooed: Ungodly Beasts