June13th, 2015 – Maastricht (NL)



To whom it may concern,


As head of the artistic program at the Van Eyck Academie in Maastricht I would like to take the opportunity to confirm that Andrea Di Serego Alighieri was a participant last year at the Van Eyck from 2014-15.

The Jan van Eyck Academie is an institute for research and production in the fields of fine art, design and theory, based in Maastricht in the south of The Netherlands. The academy offers individuals the opportunity to submit research or production proposals. The Van Eyck itself also initiates projects for which artists, designers and theoreticians can apply. These miscellaneous projects form the basis for several events which are organized each week: lectures, seminars, screenings and exhibitions. External interested parties are welcome to attend these activities. The result is a dynamic and critical exchange between the different agents from within and without the Jan van Eyck.

Andrea took part in both the public presentations and more academic discussions internal to the Van Eyck. He was a thoughtful and considered addition to any group discussion and a respected participant among his peers. Widening the parameters of his initial proposal to the Van Eyck, Andrea focussed on the critical concerns around cinema as embedded history. His research at the Van Eyck was a study of cinema that originates from an interest in its material, peripheral (logistic) elements. By referring these back to films, cultural context and theory, he attemts to expose the paradox of temporal indeterminacy and the instability of an image in relation to contemporary ideas about memory, archiving potential, and the overbearing notion of cinema's immateriality.


During their post-graduate year at the Van Eyck, researchers take part in Inlabs – self-organized workshops with their own agency that deal with either current concerns in contemporary art or literary practice, or with medium-specific practice, viewed from an art-historical or theoritical perspective. During his stay, Andrea took part in various reading group s , discussi ons and publishing projects. He not only exhibited in, but was heavily involved in continued conversation stemming from the exhibition: 'The Shaping of Things', which departed from Villem Flusser's theories of technology and design. 



Researchers also have the possibility to engage – in one-on-one studio visits – with visiting academics and artists throughout the year. Past visitors over the years have ranged from Slavoj Žižek to Francois Laruelle to, more recently, Joseph Vogl. Andrea particularly benefitted from discussion with Ilse Van Rijn (writer. philosopher and phd fellow at the UVA), Hans Christian Dany (writer, art critic) and Charles Esche (director Van Abbemuseum).


The Van Eyck actively contributes to raising the level of the international debate on art, design and theory in The Netherlands and the surrounding EU region.

Continuing the critical/theoretical expansion of his practice would be the ideal opportunity for Andrea, and I can see that a masters position in Comparative Cultural Analysis at The University of Amsterdam would be an ideal circumstance for such advancement.

If you have more questions or require more information please do not hesitate to ask.


With kind regards,



Huib Haye van der Werf
huibhaye.vanderwerf@janvaneyck.nl
+31628447995


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His research