Exhibitions Organised
The Erasmus Foundation has been very active in organising two art exhibitions and in staging or supporting exhibitions related to migrant experiences.
The “Second Landing”
This was an art exhibition in the Access Gallery of the National Gallery of Victoria, which was opened by the Dutch Ambassador Cornelius Bast on 12 November 1993 and attended by some 300 guests. It ran till 23 January 1994 and coincided with a Van Gogh exhibition at the NGV.
The exhibition was a successful staging of works by of Dutch born artists living in Australia. An earlier attempt in 1972 to organise such an exhibition faltered, as there were apparently insufficient artists of Dutch decent of sufficient standard at that time. However, 20 years later sufficient artist with quality works were found and 19 artists were selected out of 28 prospects and 52 applications.
The fact that the exhibition was held in a prime Melbourne venue of course contributed to its success. It should be noted that we already had contact with the NGV for some time, as Dr Ursala Hoff was an early committee member and previously a Deputy Director of the NGV. In her retirement she was one of our speakers in 1995.
Our main sponsor was Heineken through our contact with Roosenburg Promotions who organised the Melbourne Golf Open. The Dutch Consulate in Melbourne also donated significantly. The total budget was about $18,000. A catalogue showing a summary of each artist was compiled and printed. Artists included the famous Annemieke Mein and others, see list below. The exhibition was largely organised by Dirk Eysbertse with assistance from his then wife Marjory, Jan Stracke and Isabelle Roosenburg.
List of Artists:
| Adrian Mauriks | Louis Jetten |
| Alfred Calkoen | Marijke Owen |
| Anneke Silver | Meza Rijsdijk |
| Annemieke Mein | Nico Martin van Dalen |
| Antone Bruinsma | Paul Cox |
| Cornell Swen | Petrus Spronk |
| Corrie Ancone | Richard Woldendorp |
| Jan Riske | Rob Knottenbelt |
| Jan van Fucht | Yolanda Calkoen |
| Jose De Koster |
The NGV asked us to organise additional events around the exhibition as they usually do. A talk the “Dutch Australian Artistic Heritage” by Dr Edward Duyker in the Gallery Society Room, a concert by the Gregorian Male Choir and a concert by the Dutch Chamber Music Performance directed by Marco van Pagee in the Great Hall were organised.
Dirk Eysbertse also organised the setting up of a Second Landing Artists Association to keep contact with the artists and provide a Newsletter. However, this did only last 2 years.
Continue: The Other Dutch