TACS Virtual Events 2021
Two talks from TACS members Johan and Francine – editors of Tegel, the annual publication of the Friends of the Dutch Tile Museum. Francine and Johan also participated as author, translator and editors in the publication of a richly illustrated bilingual survey of the history of Dutch tiles, based on private collections of Friends of the Dutch Tile Museum (Glazed Charm. The Beauty of Dutch Tiles, Zwolle 2013). They also attended Tile Symposia in the UK and Portugal together.
The Dutch Tile Museum (Otterlo) and collecting tiles, Johan Kamermans
In the summer of 1961 the architect Gerrit Feenstra (1890-1985) opened a museum in Otterlo to house his own collection of tiles, so the Museum will celebrate its 60th anniversary this year. Gerrit Feenstra aimed at showing a representative selection of four centuries of Dutch tile manufacture, in a period that saw homes being modernized everywhere and their tiles removed, while at the same time antique Dutch tiles were being exported abroad. As an architect he had his profession’s traditional fascination for the decorative possibilities of tiles. And many a collector of antiques and art has a soft spot for antique wall tiles, even though they are seldom counted as fine art.
CV Johan Kamermans has been curator of the Dutch Tile Museum since 2000. He matriculated in Social and Economic History and Medieval Studies at Utrecht University and wrote his PhD thesis at Wageningen Agricultural University (1999). He has written articles and books about Rozenburg (an important Art Nouveau pottery in The Hague), about the last Rotterdam tile works, and about Gothic Revival tile panels.
The Cuypers Passage and the Zeeburg Skate Park, Francine Stoffels
Two monumental applications of new but traditionally manufactured tiles were opened recently in Amsterdam. The Cuypers Passage (77,500 tiles) is based on an early eighteenth-century Dutch tile picture and breathes the atmosphere of old Dutch tiles, whereas the Zeeburg Skate Park is very modern in its imagery, though the concept of this huge tile adventure (over 50,000 small tiles) was inspired by the Cuypers passage.
Francine Stoffels studied English Language and Literature at Utrecht University and later Portuguese at the University of Amsterdam. She taught English at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences and until recently was also a registered sworn translator for English and Portuguese. Her interest in tiles was sparked when she was asked to write an article on tiles in Lisbon, which she had often visited. She has done translation work for the Dutch Tile Museum and its Friends since 1997, organized tile excursions to different regions in Portugal as well as to Brazil and keeps in touch with Portuguese tile experts.
