VHDG Connect is our new yearly program that focuses on support, guidance, and the development of emerging artists. During 2025, a number of trajectories will be launched for diverse groups of (starting) artists based in the North of the Netherlands (Friesland, Groningen & Drenthe), establishing new networks for exchange, growth, inspiration, and support.
Through VHDG Connect we look to bring together current projects and trajectories, such as Club VHDG. In this way, artists can engage in a shorter period through a residency, and partake of the Club in a longer timeframe. We welcome you to apply for the residency program and/or to join the Club!
Professional advice sessions
Part of the Connect program is to facilitate monthly Professional advice sessions for the local creative community of Leeuwarden every first Friday of each month. People can reserve a timeslot and pitch an idea, share their portfolio, or ask for advice from one of the team members of VHDG. You can sign up here!
#8 Friday 5th of December, 10 – 12hs
UPCOMING EVENT: Workshop: Collectivity and dramaturgy in the visual arts
On Friday 28th of November, VHDG will organize a workshop about collectivity and dramaturgy in the visual arts, where we will dive into the challenges and opportunities that we encounter when working together, and the role that dramaturgy can have in group processes. The session will count with a series of presentations, including practical advice and hand-on exercises, facilitated by Koen Bartijn (Dramaturg and Artistic leader at VHDG) and Lola Diaz Cantoni (Artist facilitator and Project leader at VHDG).
Date: 28/11, 14:00 – 17:30hs
Location: dbieb Leeuwarden, Blokhuisplein 40, 8911 LJ Leeuwarden
Language: English
Limited spaces! Reserve yours by signing up by 26/11 via lola@vhdg.nl ~ for questions, feel free to reach out to us via the same address.
Whether you have experience working collectively or you haven’t experienced it yet, you are welcome!
About the facilitators:
Koen Bartijn is the Artistic Director of VHDG. With an academic background in dramaturgy, Koen has initiated several art collectives and supported artists in their artistic development both visual and performing arts. At VHDG, he curates and shapes the organisation’s artistic programme. He is also the chair of Platform BK, a national advocacy organisation dedicated to strengthening the social and economic position of art workers in the Netherlands
Lola Diaz Cantoni is an artist facilitator graduated from Academy Minerva in 2019, and is since 2025 project leader at VHDG. She is and has been part of a number of collectives and initiatives, where the common thread of interest is the sharing of knowledge, doings and responsibilities, on a horizontal level.
Read more about the event here!
Connect artists 2025
Artist-in-residence: Maaike Meindertsma
We are delighted to announce the first artist-in-residence of our VHDG Connect program: Maaike Meindertsma! Maaike Meindertsma (1999, NL) is a visual artist from the northern Netherlands. Want to learn more about Maaike? Click here!
Working period: Hugo Tekstra
Hugo Tekstra (1992) is a visual artist from Leeuwarden and studied Fine Arts at Academy Minerva in Groningen. Read all about Hugo here.
Artist-in-residence: Lila Veloo
Lila Veloo (2000, Groningen) is an artist and writer based in Groningen, and one of our artists-in-residence in 2025. She works with installation, publications, and text, and her practice explores the tension between desire and the unattainable. Through language and its materiality, her work investigates the possibilities of fiction as a research tool—where stories intertwine fact, fragment, and fabulation. Read all about Lila here.
Artist-in-residence: Marijke Klamer
‘In my drawings and ceramics, you see birds, hares, plant roots, marshes, and flowers with faces. The pencil drawings are monochrome, and I give each part equal attention and detail. This blurs the contrasts between the creatures and their environments. I don’t see the drawings as classic landscapes, but as portraits of living worlds,’ says Marijke. Read all about Marijke here.
