Exhibitions NATIONS UNITED IN ART THE INTERNATIONAL ARTS EMBASSY the art of blending cultures development of a multi culturalmuseum/gallery/platform for international art THE ARTS EMBASSY is the follow-up of the initiative of the 2000 Foundation, titled The World Art Collection ‘1001 Reasons to Love the Earth’. This collection of 1001 works of art from 1001 artists from all over the world has been gathered in a monumental art-book. About 200 works have been exhibited in The Netherlands in exhibitions, titled Art for Nature. This initiative received a very positive acclaim and therefore leads to the innovative museum concept THE ARTS EMBASSY. THE ARTS EMBASSY will be a permanent, interactive and dynamic exhibition acting as a platform for professional visual artists from all over the world. Art-lovers will be entitled to become curators and select from the website the works to be exhibited in the museum/gallery. THE ARTS EMBASSY will have a universal and multi-cultural make-up. The visitor will experience a journey in to arts and get acquainted to a range of artistic expressions from all corners of the world. The Hague is a perfect location because of the international manner, due to the numerous organisations, institutions and embassies and the multi-cultural compilation of the cities inhabitants. The distinguishing aspects are: •Presentation of varied international art and culture • Unique and extra-ordinary opportunity and stage for artists from different countries, who would not be able to achieve this recognition otherwise. • No curators, but an interactive selection by art-lovers (public participation) • Acquisition and education of youngsters from different origin as hosts and custodians to inform the visitors on the arts and culture from the countries of their descent. • Terminals will give access to a wide range of art-impressions and cultural activities from numerous countries. • Each month a focus on a specific country with an artist from that country working in a studio, providing master-classes, workshops, lectures, to be combined with concerts and performances). • No acquisitions, only works in consignment. • Open 24 hours a day (optional). • Great dynamics because of the continuous mobility and exchange of works. • Co-operation with embassies in The Hague. • International sponsoring and funding. EXHIBITIONS & VISITORS THE ARTS EMBASY distinguishes innovative art and general accessible art-form (decorative art). The emphasis will be on innovative art and the inventory of artistic movements and developments in several countries. This will be mixed in an adequate way with creative art to guarantee maximum attraction for a wide public. The main question concerning the development of a concept for a new museum/gallery is whether or not the supply will be interesting enough for a vast amount of visitors. THE ARTS EMBASSY introduces a new concept of which the core is the presentation of high quality and varies art-forms from plentiful countries. A wide community desires activities which revive the climate around art. Therefore the museum/gallery will have an open attitude in spite of the prestigious label The Ambassadors Art Collection in order to strengthen the relationship between art and the community. The structure, the layout and the presentation will emphasise on atmosphere, the character and the experience of the participating countries. Terminals will enable visitors an orientation concerning a wider supply. The innovating approach due to the ever changing collection as well as the selection by a community of art-lovers (public curators) will enhance the appeal of THE ARTS EMBASSY. CULTURAL EDUCATION OF SCHOLARS THE ARTS EMBASSY will develop a unique and sustainable relationship with existing and new areas in the community. Education will have an important part in this. A visit to the museum/gallery will have to be an exiting and fascinating confrontation for youngsters. Therefore special thematic programs will be put together to make it alluring for young people and scholars to visit THE ARTS EMBASSY individually or with their class. These programs will enable youngster to match the art-experience with other aspects within their fields of interest, like movies, music, Internet, etc. This should be an eye-opener for the significance of art, related to the culture and the lifestyle of fellow-youngsters in different countries. The custodians (see: Social Inclusion) will have an important role in this concept. The inflow of school-classes will not be limited to the region of The Hague, but can be extended to the rest of The Netherlands and even beyond its borders. SOCIAL INCLUSION This international art-concept is particularly suited for the involvement of residents from different descent (the new generation of immigrants) in the city of The Hague. Out of the several nationalities to be represented in the museum/gallery, custodians (hosts) will be recruited to perform as educators. They will be trained regarding the arts and culture in the country of their (parents) origin and will share their knowledge with the visitors . Thus they will become pear-leaders from their communities and ad exotic flavour to THE ARTS EMBASSY. It will also enhance the hospitality, the service, the friendliness and mutual understanding of this institution. These ‘custodians’ will create interest in their own communities for THE ARTS EMBASSY and will strike a new potential visitors. They can create interest in these groups, who are not that motivated to become involved in visits to cultural institutions. This initiative can stimulate this aspect. INTERACTIVITY THE ARTS EMBASSY is the first interactive museum/gallery in the world, enabling a vast amount of public curators (thus overruling the exclusive selection by regular curators) to choose the works to be exhibited from proposals on the website. Visitors will also be invited to fill in a form in which they can express their preferences. DIGITAL PRESENTATION The complete collection can be seen at the website www.artsembassy.org . This will also feature the agenda, the program of activities and the backgrounds of the artists and their works. Via this site one can contact the artists and a database will be available containing a vast assortment of art from numerous countries. SELECTION & LOGISTICS In the regular museum-world a select group of curators determines what is art and what is not. They decide what the people may see. This is ok when it concerns historical cultural heritage. When it concerns art these curators are a self-appointed authorities, limiting the opportunities for many artists. THE ARTS EMBASSY will square up this elite interference and open up the art-world. The meddlesomeness of curators has led in the past to excesses and costly projects that almost always have been financed at the expense of the community. Now the community can choose itself thanks to this new and interactive selection-method. Established members of the art-world will reject this method to protect their own territory with the argument that amateurs will not be able to make the right choice. THE ARTS MUSEUM defies this, claiming that ‘1001 curators cannot be wrong’. The selection-procedure will be as follows: Embassies of foreign nations in The Netherlands, Royal Dutch Embassies abroad, artists-organisations, art-critics from the media and correspondents of Dutch media in foreign countries, will be invited to navigate the potential of contemporary artist, who in their opinion are acceptable to be exhibited in THE ARTS EMBASSY. This way a ‘corps artistique’ will be formed. The selected artists will perform as artistic ambassadors for their country. In each country a contact will be assigned, who will canalize the supply and pass the ‘harvest’ to the acquisition-department of THE ARTS EMBASSY. A specific quota will be developed to enable countries to bring in a reasonable amount of works. This department shows three new works each day on the website. Our public curators can vote on one of the works. The winning work will be transported to the museum/gallery by embassy mail. Each day one work will be returned to an artist, so after one year THE ARTS EMBASSY will host a complete new collection. CO-OPERATION WITH EMBASSIES IN THE HAGUE In order to intensify the relationship with the city-counsel of The Hague and the embassies of foreign nations, a close co-operation with the cultural departments will be pursued. Diplomats will be encouraged to contact the art-communities in their countries and call upon them to introduce artist and provide this information to THE ARTS EMBASSY. Each month one country will be explicitly featured with a presentation of other cultural aspects of the country, like film, music and literature. A special floor will be dedicated to this presentation (including the bar and the shop). This way each year twelve countries will be highlighted. A information-desk offers advice and guidance on different subjects, like tourism, business-opportunities, etc. This ‘Month of name country’ will be opened by the ambassador of this country with a preview-party. Therefore the collection will be titled THE AMBASSADORS ART COLLECTION. In the studio an artist from the relevant country will work and communicate with the visitors on the art-world in his or her country. Workshops and master-classes shall be presented as The Ambassadors Art Academy. This co-operation will be credited with the labelling of the collection as The Ambassadors Art Collection. The co-operation will concern embassies, which are supportive and enthusiast on this project. In order to widen the international spectrum and to prevent total dependency on embassies, several official bodies, institutions and organisations will be informed on the procedure and the aims of the museum/gallery, for instance: • Ministries of Culture and Foreign Affairs • Organisations of professional artists • Media • Public relations-departments of multi-nationals to delegate works from their corporate collections • Artist will be enabled to apply themselves. This network will ensure promotion and publicity and a steady supply of works. NIGHT MUSEUM The possibility to open the museum/gallery 24 hours will be investigated. A likewise initiative in London is a great success and has become a popular ‘waterhole’ for art-lovers, media-people, artists and night-owls. This can be scoop for The Hague with an enormous charisma and publicity-impact. DEVELOPING COUNTRIES It would be unfair to limit the opportunity to exhibit to wealthy countries. THE ARTS EMBASSY also offers Third World Countries the prospect to showcase their artistic progress. Affluence does not determine the amount of artistic talent and the quality of art. Therefore THE ART EMBASSY will provide artists from these countries with materials (paint, canvas, brushes, etc.) to enable them to work. If their works are sold they have a chance to expand their career by this recognition and make a living of it. This widens the range of ‘artistic ambassadors’ in a just manner. LOCATION THE ARTS EMBASSY will be located on a accessible site in the city-centre of The Hague. This location is a subject of deliberation with the alderman of the Finance and Culture Department of the city-counsel. EXPLOITATION The budget of THE ARTS EMBASSY will be compiled of entrance-fees, income of the bar and the shop, sales of works, sponsoring and subsidies. A reasonable fee per work will be required for the service of exhibiting the work. Due to the facts that THE ARTS EMBASSY does not (refuses to) employ professional curators and the works will be exhibited in consignment, as well as the transportation by Ambassador’s mail, the budget will be a fraction of the amount regular museums require for their exploitation. 2000 FOUNDATION The 2000 Foundation was erected in The Netherlands in 1993 and has since staged several successful exhibitions like Cows In Art, Long Live the Queen and The Jesus Mystery. The latest achievement was assembling works from 1001 artists from all over the world, which were compiled in a magnificent art-book, titled ‘1001 Reasons to Love the Earth’. About 1/5th of this collection has been exhibited in Holland as Art for Nature. Out of this collection works will be selected as the first contribution to THE ARTS EMBASSY. ART for NATURE International Art Exhibition featuring 'REASONS TO LOVE THE EARTH' INFORMATION ON THE EXHIBITIONS IN THE NETHERLANDS The exhibition ART FOR NATURE, featuring Reasons to Love the Earth took place at Ouwehands Zoo in Rhenen (The Netherlands) at the occasion of International Earth Day from 21-23 April. We selected the best works from the original collection, which was too voluminous. We now have about 160 works left, providing an amazing collection of art from all over the world. The 2000 Foundation is preparing more exhibitions with this magnificent survey of works, expressing a love for the planet in art. In 2005 the 2000 Foundation compiled the major exhibition ART FOR NATURE in Museum Leeuwenberh in Utrecht. This was a grand display of beautiful works from alle corners of the world. FLORIADE An exhibition with a selection of sculptures from the collection took place in Holland at the Floriade, a major world horticultural exhibition. Floriade presented itself with the slogan feel the art of nature.