After almost twenty years, Charles Esche is stepping down as director of Eindhoven museum for modern art. He is moving on to other projects, but looks back with pride on what he has achieved for Van Abbemuseum over the past two decades.
According to him, it is also time to close the chapter. “I think twenty years is long enough. Maybe even a bit too long”, he says. “And with the last exhibition, Soils, I also closed a kind of chapter. So I am leaving here with a smile”, he laughs.
Connecting
Van Esche looks back with satisfaction on the development of the museum during the time he was at the helm. “In the past five or six years, we have seen that there is much more diversity in visitors. We have consciously done a lot to attract different people”, he says. “People who never used to come to the museum now come here regularly. I am very proud of that”.
That consciousness is also reflected in the variety of exhibitions and works of art. Because there is not just one Eindhoven resident. “You have people who are crazy about cows and people who are crazy about hip hop. How can you attract those different people to a museum?”
Collaboration
An example of art that touches on multiple backgrounds is a replica of an artwork made by Aboriginals. Blind artist Simon Dogger made a ‘touch replica’ (‘Voelreplica’) of it, together with residents of the Eindhoven trailer park for the collection ‘cross-connections’ (‘Dwarsverbanden’). It is a multi-sensory collection where art can be experienced in multiple ways.
“An example of art that connects different groups”, Esche says. “It is the diversity of people that I find important. There are not many places in Eindhoven where people of different generations and different experiences can meet each other. The museum is one of the public places where that does happen”.
Feeling
What he is trying to do in the museum, the city of Eindhoven should actually do more broadly, Esche believes. The region is growing rapidly, partly due to the city’s technical industry. “Sometimes I think the city is a bit one-sided and very busy with the Brainport story”, he says. “Maybe you need more of the human side. I would like to see Eindhoven not only busy with Brainport, but also with ‘Bodyport’, you could say. Or with ‘Emotionport'”, he laughs.
Less
The city is growing, but according to him it still lacks a more human perspective for the future. “A perspective that is not just more ASML, more employment, more modernisation”, he thinks. But how then? “Maybe more connections, more focus on building relationships. But maybe also just less: fewer highways, less working, less pressure”.
In 2025, Esche will close the door of the museum behind him. He will then move to Amsterdam to obtain his PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) at the university there. In addition, he is starting a project in Romania, where he has bought a piece of land with friends and will work on an experimental art project. It is not yet known who will succeed him.
For more information: Van Abbemuseum
Source: Studio040
Translated by: Bob
