Nienke Scholts
Nienke Scholts is a dramaturge currently working with Arkadi Zaides, Moha, Ola Maciejewska, Emke Idema and Veem House for Performance, where she is developing various discursive programmes. She teaches at the Scenography master’s programme at HKU University of the Arts Utrecht, and she is co-founder and co-editor of Platform-Scenography (P-S). Scholts’ practice (frequently in a creative role) focuses on new forms of theatre and art and on contributing to the development of the methods and practices that this requires.
She is interested in applying dramaturgical techniques in fields beyond theatre. Recent publications by Nienke Scholts include 'Poetic Faith' in Current Movement, Future Landscapes (edited in collaboration with P-S and the Performative Processes research group (Lectoraat voor Performatieve Processen), 2016), and 'Dramaturgs That Do Not Work for a Work' in The Practice of Dramaturgy (edited by Georgelou, Protopapa, Theodoridou, 2016). Scholts lives in Utrecht and works in the Netherlands and abroad.
Forms of work and organisation for artistic practice
A study of existing and new forms of work and organisation for artistic practice and focusing on young and ‘mid-career’ professionals in the performing arts in Amsterdam.
There is a growing need in the professional field in Amsterdam for alternative models for organising and producing work – among individual performing artists, in developmental organisations and throughout the performing arts sector as a whole. And there is a broad call for this transforming practice to incorporate or act as a springboard for collaboration and connection, generating solidarity with one another and with other social domains.
A number of case studies form the basis for research into the feasibility of implementing these proposals for alternative structures at various levels in practice – and if feasibility is demonstrated, how they should be implemented. To what extent would these potential new models necessitate redefining the relationship between on the one hand artists and organisations in the performing arts, and on the other the place where they operate? The focus of this research is on the dynamic exchange between the three spheres of artistic practice, connections in the professional performing arts as a whole, and arts policy.
A need exists for a range of sustainable solutions and examples. This study will map out these examples in two ways: by publishing its findings, and in a literal sense by utilising cartographic techniques to create a visual chart of the mutual relationships and various affiliations in the professional field.
Might we derive an alternative organisational vision from a chart such as this?
