{"id":80716,"date":"2017-09-27T10:45:35","date_gmt":"2017-09-27T08:45:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=80716"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:22:51","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:22:51","slug":"postbezorgers-maken-kunsttentoonstelling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2017\/09\/27\/postbezorgers-maken-kunsttentoonstelling\/","title":{"rendered":"Postmen put together an art exhibition"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Peter van der Ham and Milton Liauw-A-Fong at their art exhibition.<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAysha Gasanova<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

A small group gathers around on Friday afternoon, 22 September at 3 p.m. in the Erasmus Gallery in A Building, adjacent to the aula. Snacks and drinks are on the bar; a student who happens to be strolling past looks at the noisy gallery inquisitively. Once silence has fallen, the chairman of the art committee, Philip Hans Franses, has the honour to open the exhibition. Fully in keeping with the spirit of the times, this is done in English.<\/p>\n

Guest curators<\/h3>

As head of the art committee, Franses \u2013 his day job is dean at the ESE \u2013 came up with the idea of involving the various EUR departments a little more in the university\u2019s art affairs. \u201cWe could, as it were, ask the men from the post room to be guest curators,\u201d Franses thought. \u201cBut,\u201d he then thought, \u201cwhy \u2018as it were\u2019 actually? They are the ones at EUR who have carted the artworks around the most.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I put the proposal to them around the coffee table in the postal department, everyone was initially very enthusiastic,\u201d Franses recounts. \u201cIdeas abounded from all sides of the table, but after a while the conversation ground to a halt. \u2018How can we do that, curate an art exhibition? We are no experts, right?\u2019 the men asked. \u2018Art is like music,\u2019 I told them. \u2018You don\u2019t have to be an expert. Just follow your instincts.\u2019 This set things in motion and the postmen chose the pieces that moved them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aeroplane<\/h3>

For instance, Peter van der Ham chose the \u2018untitled\u2019 piece (1993) by J\u00f6rg Immendorf. This piece is of an aeroplane with a naked woman on it. It is being guided in its flight by a large man. \u201cYeah, you can decide for yourself what that\u2019s meant to mean,\u201d Van der Ham remarks drily. \u201cI interpret it as a flight to freedom. Maybe the man is God. To me that aeroplane could be an allied forces plane.\u201d This interpretation is fully in line with Van der Ham\u2019s fascination with the Second World War.<\/p>\n

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\u2018zonder titel\u2019 (1993) by J\u00f6rg Immendorf<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAysha Gasanova<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Suriname<\/h3>

One of the pieces that Milton Liauw-A-Fong chose was the artwork entitled \u2018World #10\u2019 (2005) by Ruud van Empel. It is of a small, dark-skinned boy in a jungle. Thanks to the bright colours, the work has a strange sort of surrealistic depth. This piece took Liauw-A-Fong straight back to Suriname, the land of his birth and where he lived until the age of four. \u201cThat little boy looks exactly like the little boys that used to run around on the streets in Suriname.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Liauw-A-Fong next to \u2018World #10\u2019 (2005) by Ruud van Empel<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAysha Gasanova<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Helium balloons<\/h3>

Liauw-A-Fong also chose a photograph by Fiona Tan. \u2018Lift\u2019 (2000) shows a woman\u2013 the artist herself \u2013 who has around thirty helium balloons attached to her and who is slowly taking off into the air. Tan had this photo taken of herself to celebrate the turn of the millennium. \u201cI chose this piece together with my trainee,\u201d Liauw-A-Fong explains. \u201cThe photo really cheered us up. We couldn\u2019t stop laughing when we saw it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u2018Lift\u2019 (2000) by Fiona Tan<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAysha Gasanova<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

To be continued<\/h3>

Each year four exhibitions are on display in the Erasmus Gallery. The intention is that, from now on, one of these exhibitions will be compiled by staff members or students. \u2018The post room\u2019s choice\u2019 is on display until the end of October.<\/p>\n

Read more about exhibitions in the Erasmus Gallery<\/h2>