The Steenbergen Stipendium is the oldest photography award in the Netherlands and has been accompanied by an exhibition of the nominees’ work in the Nederlands Fotomuseum ever since its first edition. From December 4 the work of the five nominees for 2021 is exhibited.
The nominees from five art academy students are selected for their graduation projects based on the final exam exhibitions that took place in autumn. Julia Gat is a French student from Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam. Her graduation project: Hamsa hamsa hamsa | an upbringing convinced the jury.
For the project she dove into her own archive from the past 15 years, documenting the daily life of five unschooling siblings. Through both photography and film, julia researches how the personal act of having documented her own upbringing, family and home can help reimagining ways of learning and growing up with a sense of freedom.
The project already received the prize isem jeunes photographes 2020 as well as prix festival portraits vichy 2016. It was a finalist for the résidence bmw 2019 and athens photo festival 2018. The graduation show took place in ijzerblok studios in rotterdam last june. Before, the project has been shown at the maison européenne de la photographie, unseen amsterdam, nederlands fotomuseum and exchange rates art fair nyc. It will be published by actes sud coming june with a release during rencontres d’arles 2022.
Also nominated for Steenbergen Stipendium
Other nominees are Laura Bouman, Rick van der Klooster, Vladimir Vidanovski and Lilli Weinstein. They are respectively from Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam, St. Joost in ‘s-Hertogenbosch and Royal Academy of Art in The Hague. All works can be seen in the Nederlands Fotomuseum as of 4 December. Visitors to the museum cast their votes for the winner of the public prize.
The winner will be announced by the jury on Thursday 16 December 2021. The winner of the Steenbergen Stipendium 2020, postponed for a year due to corona, will also be announced. As are the public awards for 2020 and 2021. The winners get an incentive prize of 5,000 euros from the Steenbergen Foundation.
Published at the same time will be the jury’s report. It includes a critical review of the quality of the graduation exhibition at each art academy. This year, the jury is made up of Merel Bem (jury chairperson and art critic & writer), Alexandre Furtado Melville (photographer and writer) and Teun van der Heijden (photography book designer).
