- Employee
- 25/10/2024
Behind the Scenes | Britte Sloothaak, TU/e art curator
"The switch from a museum to a university was logical, because knowledge and research are the core values here"
Keeping a university running is no easy feat. It takes a lot of hands to make sure everything is in order, from administration to cleaning and from security to technical maintenance. Who are the unsung heroes behind the scenes keeping everything on track? In this series, Cursor shines the spotlight on TU/e employees. Today: Britte Sloothaak, curator of the TU/e art collection.
The first rector magnificus of TU/e, Professor Dorgelo, said on the occasion of the founding of the university that art is important at a university of technology. Not only as an embellishment, but also as part of a creative environment, which is important especially for technical people. “I always translate this into: seeing new things, is thinking new things, is doing new things,” says Sloothaak.
What time do you clock in?
“I basically always clock in at nine. How I spend my day depends on whether it’s an office day or a field day. On office days, I start and finish by catching up on emails and writing or editing texts. In between, I plan all of my appointments with my team of interns and freelancers.
When I have a field day, I make appointments with colleagues in the field. For instance, I’ll soon be visiting the University of Twente. It’s a very specific sector with specific challenges, so you can try to do everything on your own, but it’s better to soundboard with other people.”
As a curator, you have four basic tasks: management and conservation, research, making your collection accessible to the public, and expanding it
What does your job involve exactly?
“As a curator, you have four basic tasks. Management and conservation, research, making your collection accessible to the public, and expanding it. Management and conservation often involves depot issues – you generally have a shortage of space – but also maintenance. The climatological conditions in your depot are very important.
Number two is research. From whom was a work of art purchased, who purchased it, and under what conditions? A collection curator should know these things, but art teams at universities are usually not large and used to consist of people who were passionate about art but didn’t have any formal training in the area. That is why I’ve been busy in recent years catching up in the field of provenance research.
Making the collection accessible to the public is self-explanatory, of course. It’s a public company collection, so it’s your task to showcase it and make sure all of the information is transparent. For example, together with my team I’m currently overhauling the entire website and all of the texts.
And finally, welcoming new acquisitions. These can be purchases or donations, but also commissioned works.”
What’s your favorite work of art on campus?
“I adore the works by Sigrid Calon. These are ‘risograph prints’, produced using a specific printing technique from Japan. They are currently hanging in someone's office because they’re part of the art lending library, which consists of nine hundred works that can be borrowed by TU/e employees. I would like to have her work formally included in the art collection, which consists of approximately 400 works of art to which a stricter management and preservation policy applies.
I’m also fascinated by Margot Zanstra. There’s a sculpture of hers in the outdoor space between Luna and Impuls, which was made in collaboration with staff of the Department of Applied Physics. Next year I’ll conduct more research into this work and more information about her will then be put online. But my long-term love is actually Hella Jongerius. Her work at the Neuron building was my debut.”
What led you to this job?
“I worked at a large museum in Amsterdam for twelve years. And there I noticed at some point that I found knowledge transfer very important. I learned that in that knowledge transfer inclusion and exclusion takes place. When I looked up information about Picasso it was a thick folder, but when I did the same for many female or non-European and non-North American artists these were often very thin folders.
I increasingly noticed that I had a lot of passion for that knowledge transfer aspect. How do we know what we know? The step from a museum to a university therefore made sense, as knowledge and research are the core values here. In addition, the opportunities to make a meaningful contribution to what art and culture can be are much greater here than at a very large museum.”
Here on campus, art is much closer to the people. As a result, you get honest reactions and I find those very educational
What is the best part of your job?
“The works of art in the TU/e collection are very close to the people. When you work in a museum, there is often a distance: the art is fenced in or covered, or there’s a security guard standing next to it. As a result, you enter a space with a very clear feeling of ‘this is a museum’ and that determines how you look at something. Here on campus, art is much closer to the people. As a result, you get honest reactions and I find those very educational.”
And the least enjoyable part?
“I’m very passionate about making a collection accessible. And I don't like the fact that I can't do that to its full potential yet. For example, you need image rights to put your collection online and sometimes I just don't have the money for that. After all the work that has gone into the provenance research, you just really want to show your collection to everyone. But in the end you have to make choices and set priorities. In an ideal world, I’d put everything on display.”
What time do you clock out?
“At five thirty. But this isn’t just my work, it’s my hobby as well. I regularly visit museums on the weekend, so it never stops completely.”
What do you do after work?
“I really love gardening, no joke. If I hadn’t become an art historian, I think I would’ve been a ‘garden lady’. Needless to say, I have a great garden!”
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