This week we’re joined by multidisciplinary artist Sethembile Msezane (1991), who lives and works in Cape Town, South Africa. Using an interdisciplinary practice of performance, photography, film, sculpture and drawing, Sethembile creates commanding works heavy with spiritual and political symbolism.
She had a conversation with Ama van Dantzig, researcher and creative thinker based in Ghana and The Netherlands, and co-Founder of Dr. Monk.
This week 10 February, Sophie Ruigrok joined the conversation. Sophie is an artist and writer based in London. Her pastel drawings are about the relationship between people and the nature that surrounds us. We are used to looking at the world around us from the human scale, but what happens if we turn this around? In the talk she will tell us all about her work and inspirations.
Watch the talk here.
Every Wednesday at 17h – Live on Zoom, we host an Artist Talk from the exhibition. Watch past sessions here.
Live on Zoom, we host another Artist Talk. Next up: Ama van Dantzig will have a conversation with painter Emma Prempeh about her work, inspirations and the exhibition Onward&Upward.
Emma Prempeh (UK, 1996) made the work Ardour at a time when she was dealing with the loss of a loved one. It helped her come back to life and cope with a deep sense of loneliness. It captures an intimate, everyday setting, where two people hunker down together blissfully in a room. The painting appears to capture a moment frozen in time, but on closer inspection, time seems to be advancing.
This week the conversation is hosted by Ama van Dantzig, researcher and creative thinker based in Ghana and The Netherlands, and co-Founder of Dr.Monk.
Every Wednesday at 5pm for the upcoming weeks, we host an inspiring conversation with one of the artists through Zoom.
This Wednesday, we will be hosting another artist talk from the exhibition ONWARD&UPWARD. This week with photographer Dora Lionstone. Dora believes in the power of daydreaming: letting go of fixed ideas and imagining what else could be. “We should all make space for daydreaming.”
Tune in at 17:00 CET on our Instagram.
Every Wednesday for the next weeks, we will be hosting a live artist talk.
On Wednesday, droog will be hosting another artist talk from the exhibition ONWARD&UPWARD – Art in the Garden of Life. Painter Anya Janssen will join the conversation this time.
Watch it here.
Every Wednesday for the next weeks, we will be hosting another live artist talk.
On Wednesday, Droog will be hosting the third artist talk live from the exhibition ONWARD&UPWARD – Art in the Garden of Life. Artist Yi-Fei Chen will join the conversation this time.
Tune in at 17:00 CET through Instagram Live @drooggallery
Every Wednesday for the next weeks, we will be hosting another live Artist Talk.
The gallery space of @droog is open. Book you time slot online to visit ONWARD&UPWARD – Art in the Garden of Life. The exhibition reflects on the many uncertainties and pitfalls of life itself, and on our enduring will to continue in the face of these challenges; a resilience that carries us ‘onward’ and ‘upward’ using every means at our disposal.
Opening times: FRI-SUN 11:00 – 18:00
YOU CAN BOOK YOUR TIME SLOT HERE
Your safety is our priority – we take COVID-19 measures into account at all times. Face mask is obligatory in the entire gallery.
Today at 5pm (Amsterdam time), live on Instagram, @drooggallery. hosts the second artist in a series of talks: George Stamenov. You’re able to direct your questions directly to the artist, tune in!
In the coming months @droog invites a selection of artists from the exhibition Onward & Upward to talk about art! Every Wednesday at 5pm, we host an inspiring conversation with one of the artists through Instagram Live
25 NOV: #1 Margaret Lansink: Rewatch here.
2 DEC: #2 George Stamenov
9 DEC: #3 Yi-Fei Chen
16 DEC: #4 Mike Pelletier
Vanaf 15 oktober zijn wij terug met Droog To Go. Op woensdag tot en met zondag. Blijf op de hoogte via Instagram @droogrestaurant en bekijk hier het to go menu en bestel via [email protected] of ga naar onze bestelsite. Je kunt je bezoek combineren met de tentoonstelling Onward&Upward-Art in the Garden of Life.
Tijden:
Woensdag t/m vrijdag: 11-18.00 voor Lunch- en Dinerpakketten.
Zaterdag en zondag van 9:30 – 18.00 voor Ontbijt-, Lunch- en Dinerpakketten
De culturele sector wordt hard geraakt door de pandemie. Theatermakers hebben nauwelijks werk vanwege beperkingen in aantallen bezoekers. @droog heeft ruimte genoeg in een van de mooiste gebouwen in het centrum van de hoofdstad. Daarom organiseert @droog lekker eten in combinatie met theater. Niet te lang, niet te kort, leuke makers. Iedere donderdag vanaf 29 oktober.
Programma (voorlopig)
29 oktober: Zomaargasten van Oscar Kocken en Patrick Nederkoorn. . De show waarin iedereen een hoofdrol kan spelen. Boek je tickets hier.
05 november: Leonora Carrington van Eva Bartels (vier sterren in Volkskrant). Boek je tickets hier.
12 november: Amsterdam Eet Door, wervelende talkshow over de Multiculinaire Samenleving. Onderwerp van de avond: het multiculinaire kookboek. Boek je tickets hier.
Er zijn twee dinervoorstellingen per avond 18 .00 en 20.30 uur. Voor de voorstelling serveren wij drie gangen heerlijk eten bereid door Sheila Struyck ism het droog-keukenteam. Sheila verruilde het pluche van Procter en Philips voor een plek achter de kachel. Onlangs haalde zij het felbegeerde diploma van koksopleiding Cordon Blue in Parijs. Op 12 november verzorgt Maureen Tan, schrijfster van de Bijbel van de Indonesische keuken, drie gangen eten uit de ‘Gordel van Smaragd’.
De kosten voor diner en theater bedragen € 50 euro inc een kop koffie of thee. Per shift zijn er slechts 30 plaatsen. Alles conform de richtlijnen van het RIVM. Er zijn nog enkele plaatsen beschikbaar.
Ps. Als je op de hoogte gehouden wilt worden van het programma, stuur dan een mail naar [email protected] onder vermelding van THEATER@DROOG.
Come visit the exhibtion to find comfort and joy in these uncertain times. Because of the exhibition our Amsterdam store is closed. But don’t you worry, you can still satisfy your design cravings through our webshop!
Artists:
Anthony Goicolea, Anya Janssen, Charlotta Östlund, Desirée Dolron, Driessens & Verstappen, Dora Lionstone, Elspeth Diederix, Emily Bates, Emma Prempeh, George Stamenov, Hugo Rocci, Joana Choumali, Jorge Mañes Rubio, Levi van Veluw, Margaret Lansink, Margriet van Breevoort, Mike Pelletier, Niek Hendrix, Sethembile Msezane, Sophie Ruigrok and Yi-Fei Chen.
More information and tickets: www.onwardandupward.nl
Image by Thijs Wolzak
You can find comfort and solace in the exhibition ONWARD&UPWARD, as well as in our new special dishes the “everyday comforts”.
Do you want to know which comfort dish is on the to go menu today?
Go ahead and have a look at the to go menu
ASA Vegan Sushi will take place @droog during the exhibition ONWARD&UPWARD, elevating the surreal feel of this healing, cleansing and refreshing garden experience, with her deceivingly fish-looking sushi.
Tasting platter 5 pieces € 15,-
Unfortunately the terrace is closed, but you can still drop by for your daily coffee to go and sit outside on the wooden benches at Groenburgwal . Hope to see you soon!
From October 2, @droog is hosting ONWARD&UPWARD – Art in the Garden of Life.
The group exhibition shows art as inspiration, guidance and solace in a life full of uncertainties.
The immediate cause for the exhibition ONWARD&UPWARD, which is curated by Droog’s co-founder Renny Ramakers and fashion designer Liselore Frowijn, is the unpredictable present we find ourselves in. However, have there ever been times full of certainty and security? The concept of ONWARD&UPWARD looks beyond COVID-19 to reflect on the insecurities and pitfalls of life, on the strength and power of life. Whatever happens, we must carry on moving ‘onward’ and ‘upward’ using all the means at our disposal.
The exhibition is on show in our gallery spaces from 2 October to 17 January 2021.
“We must cultivate our garden”, Voltaire wrote at the end of his novel Candide. In other words, let’s do what is in our power to bring change and improvement to the world by starting close to ourselves. In line with this, you could say that, in order to grow ‘onward’ and ‘upward’, we need art that brings us close to ourselves.
The scenography of the exhibition, designed by Liselore Frowijn, is a surreal garden. A garden is continuously evolving and in need of constant care. The garden is a visual feast, but it can also contain poisonous plants and roses with mean thorns. Unwanted elements keep popping up too: fungi, weeds, dead leaves. Yet it is the place that moves you, gives you comfort and joy, a place that both gives peace of mind and puts you to work.
The art that appears in this scenography leaves aside the major social issues. First comes the visual power of art, poetic art, art that moves us, art that comforts us, art that gives hope and love, art that makes us happy, art that embraces us, evokes emotion, art that inspires and stimulates us… art that is close to our skin, art on a human scale. But also, art that in this context astonishes, scrapes, stings and offers unexpected points of view. In short, art that guides us to deal with uncertainty.
Artists
Anthony Goicolea, Anya Janssen, Charlotta Östlund, Desirée Dolron, Driessens & Verstappen, Dora Lionstone, Elspeth Diederix, Emily Bates, Emma Prempeh, George Stamenov, Hugo Rocci, Joana Choumali, Jorge Mañes Rubio, Levi van Veluw, Margaret Lansink, Margriet van Breevoort, Mike Pelletier, Niek Hendrix, Sethembile Msezane, Sophie Ruigrok and Yi-Fei Chen.
ONWARD&UPWARD is open from Wednesday till Sunday from 11.00 to 18.00 hrs.
Get your timeslot here!
Image by Anya Janssen, 2020
“It just happened; there was no plan,” says Droog co-founder Renny Ramakers.
Article by Benedict Hobson, published on Dezeen.com, 26 July 2020.
Renny Ramakers looks back at how the influential design platform shook up the industry in the 1990s in the latest talk in our ongoing collaboration with Friedman Benda for VDF.
Droog launched at Milan design week in 1993 with an exhibition of work by young Dutch designers selected by Ramakers, a writer and curator, and Gijs Bakker, a designer.
In sharp contrast to most other Milan exhibitions at the time, the objects presented were rough and unrefined, made from repurposed materials and found objects.
The exhibition caused a storm and established Droog as one of the world’s leading platforms for cutting-edge design.
It would go on to launch the careers of a generation of Dutch designers, and some of the biggest names in European design, including Marcel Wanders, Hella Jongerius, Piet Hein Eek, Tejo Remy, Richard Hutten and Jurgen Bey.
Droog presented “a new kind of aesthetic”
“It just it happened; there was no plan,” Ramakers told curator Glenn Adamson in the latest of New York gallery Friedman Benda’s Design in Dialogue interviews that Dezeen is publishing as part of Virtual Design Festival.
“At a certain moment, I became bored. I thought: ‘I’m not interested anymore in what I do’. And then suddenly I saw very young designers coming up with something totally different.”
“They looked at the design world in a totally different way,” she continued. “They were not interested in styling, in refined products. They made things from scrap food, from used materials. They didn’t do decoration or whatever. And the products were so beautiful. I found a new kind of aesthetic.”
Before Droog, “everything looked the same”
Droog, which means “dry” in Dutch, was a reaction against two very different approaches to design that were prevalent at the time, Ramakers said.
On one hand, there was the highly decorative, postmodern approach espoused by the likes of the Memphis Group, which had gained in popularity throughout the 1980s.
On the other, many designers were trying to ape the success of British designer Jasper Morrison by creating extremely simple products, according to Ramakers.
The work Droog presented was completely different from both.
“Without the postmodern movement, it couldn’t have happened,” Ramakers said. “And also, without Jasper Morrison, it couldn’t have happened either.”
“[Morrison] was so influential that at the beginning of the 90s, when you went to Milan, everyone was making simple products: simple chairs, simple tables, either in wood or in metal or plastic. And it was so boring. It was so boring because it was just simple furniture. And everything looked the same.”
Droog combined “rough design with storytelling”
Ramakers made the comments while presenting a diverse range of Droog products and exhibitions, as well as other projects she’s been involved in throughout her career.
Influential Droog designs she presented include Tejo Remy’s You Can’t Lay Down Your Memory chest of drawers, which was first shown at the 1993 Droog exhibition in Milan. It comprises a series of found drawers held together by a belt.
Other iconic Droog designs include Marcel Wanders’ Knotted Chair, which was presented at a 1996 Droog exhibition called Dry Tech. It is made from lengths of hand-braided rope, which have been impregnated with epoxy resin to make them rigid.Related story”Young designers have to understand they are practising art” says Gaetano Pesce
According to Ramakers, what unites the Droog designs and makes them stand out is that they each have a story behind them.
“Before that time, design didn’t have a real narrative,” she said. “It was about form and function. And here you saw designers talking about daily life and making a connection with daily life. And I thought: ‘I can make a group out of it. I can make a group of products designed by these young designers.”
“There were interesting stories,” she added. “So it was the culmination of a rough kind of design with storytelling.”
Design in Dialogue
Ramaker’s conversation with Adamson is the seventh in a series of Friedman Benda’s Design in Dialogue talks we are broadcasting as part of Virtual Design Festival throughout May and June.
Previous interviews in the series we have published include conversations with pioneering architect James Wines, who lamented the predominance of digitally created forms in architecture, and designer Faye Toogood, who revealed she suffers from imposter syndrome.
Ron Arad told Adamson that “business is always a necessary evil”, Stephen Burks discussed the lack of diversity in the design industry and Joris Laarman discussed the “magic” of digital technology in previous talks in the series that we have published.
In the most recent talk, Gaetano Pesce called on young designers to consider how to address social issues through their work.
Article by Benedict Hobson, published on Dezeen.com, 26 July 2020.
