SEA Foundation is a Dutch non-profit, artist-led organisation in

Tilburg Tilburg () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, in the southern province of North Brabant. With a population of 222,601 (1 July 2021), it is the second-largest city or municipality in North Brabant after Eindhoven and the seventh-larg ...

The Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

established in 2013. SEA Foundation provides residencies for artistic research, experimentation, and production out of which an ongoing public programme emerges. This programme consists of exhibitions, screenings,

talks Talk may refer to: Communication * Communication, the encoding and decoding of exchanged messages between people * Conversation, interactive communication between two or more people * Lecture, an oral presentation intended to inform or instruct ...

, workshops and publications. It focuses on challenging perceptions of what constitutes as

contemporary art Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic com ...

, and to bring the audience closer to the practices that motivate producing

. SEA Foundation was founded by Jan-Willem van Rijnberk and Yvonne Elias.

History

SEA Foundation is located on the Tivolistraat, in the city center of

. The building where the SEA Foundation is housed originally belonged to the Tilburg-based tobacco merchant Gust van Dijk (1884–1977). In the 1930s, Gust van Dijk commissioned the construction of a retail residence in the style of the New Objectivity, on the former Bosscheweg in

. The building includes a gallery on the ground floor and two Artist in Residence studios to facilitate professional artists, curators and writers.

Organization

SEA Foundation is a non-profit organization. SEA Foundation works according to an agile, holacratic model. In a holacratic model, the aim is driven by a social organisation model based on self-directed teams. In a

holacracy Holacracy is a method of decentralized management and organizational governance Governance is the process of interactions through the laws, social norm, norms, power (social and political), power or language of an organized society over a soc ...

, participants have to take on multiple roles. Roles can partially overlap, creating different circles of activities, where the organization as a whole is the overarching circle. SEA Foundation is member of

Res Artis Res Artis is the peak member organisation for the international arts residencies field comprising more than 700 vetted members in over 85 countries. Founded in 1993, a operates a website and the largest existing network of artist residency program ...

, an international network for artist residencies. In 2019, SEA Foundation partnered with Cove Park in Scotland to stimulate artist exchanges.

Residencies

Tailor-made residencies with the goal of deepening and developing one's artistic practice, are the core activity of SEA Foundation. The

residency Residency may refer to: * Domicile (law), the act of establishing or maintaining a residence in a given place ** Permanent residency, indefinite residence within a country despite not having citizenship * Residency (medicine), a stage of postgrad ...

program AiR Tilburg, which was founded in 2013, is intended to provide professionals in the visual arts with the opportunity for artistic research and facilitate new productions. SEA Foundation offers approximately eight residencies a year. Residents are selected by means of nominations or through an annual

open call An audition is a sample performance by an actor, singer, musician, dancer or other performer. It typically involves the performer displaying their talent through a previously memorized and rehearsed solo piece or by performing a work or piece giv ...

. Former residents of SEA Foundation include a.o.

Eloísa Ibarra Eloísa Ibarra (born 1968) is a Uruguayan visual artist who has been recognized for her graphic works. Biography Ibarra studied graphic design at the Figari School, and was trained at the National Institute of Fine Arts. She also attended the wo ...

Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer (born 17 January 1968) is a Dutch poet, novelist, polemicist and classical scholar. He was born in Rijswijk, Netherlands, and studied, lived and worked in Leiden, and he moved permanently to Genoa, Italy, in 2008. Biogra ...

, Yelena Popova and Thomas Braida.

Selection of recent exhibitions

*2013 – Max Hattler – ''A Very Large Increase in the Size, Amount or Importance of Something Over a Very Short Period of Time (2012)'' and ''X'' (2012) during Playgrounds Festival *2013 –

John Dyer Baizley John Dyer Baizley is an American musician and painter most notable for being the vocalist and rhythm guitarist of Savannah, Georgia heavy metal band Baroness. He has also achieved critical praise for his artworks, some of which have been incorpor ...

– ''The Virgin Spring'' in collaboration with

Roadburn Festival Roadburn Festival is an international music festival held in Tilburg, Netherlands every April since 1999. It was set up as a spin-off from the Roadburn music blog founded by Jurgen van den Brand and Walter Hoeijmakers. Originally focused on stone ...

*2015 ''-

Katerina Athanasopoulou Katerina Athanasopoulou ( el, Κατερίνα Αθανασοπούλου) is a Greek film maker and animation artist. Early life Katerina Athanasopoulou was born in Athens and studied painting at the School of Fine Arts of the Aristotle Univers ...

'' – ''The Architecture of Melancholy : Ruins'' *2016 – ''Claudia de la Torre – BackBoneBooks'' *2016 – Jens Standke – A Tape Runs On in Silence in collaboration with Incubate (festival) * 2018 – ''Mila Lanfermeijer – Ever so Humble, Ever so Proud'' * 2018 – ''Iwona Rozbiewska – The Tales That Follow'' * 2019 – ''Jon Tarry – Catching the Moment'' * 2019 – ''Collette Rayner – I Presume You Pictured it Differently'' * 2020 – ''Freja Niemann Lundrup – Making the Unseen Seen''

References

External links

SEA Foundation Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:SEA Foundation Tilburg Contemporary art galleries in the Netherlands