The Royal Institute of Hydra Studies

Opening: Friday 23 May 2014, 8 pm

Also open on:

Saturday 24 May 2014 (1 – 5 pm) & Sunday 25 May 2014 (11 am – 5 pm)

ArtScience Interfaculty presents a multi faceted preview exhibition with ‘The Royal Institute of Hydra Studies’. Since 2011, the ArtScience Interfaculty at the Royal Academy of the Arts and the Royal Conservatory of Den Haag have organized an exhibition to showcase the graduation works by bachelor and master students in their final stages.

The preview exhibition is always headed by a theme, and this year’s is The Royal Institute of Hydra Studies. The Royal Institute of Hydra Studies is a way of presenting 11 different artistic practices in a cohesive manner; a creature of many heads that nevertheless belong to one body.

The Hydra was a mythological creature that shared the world with people: there was a real fear of its presence. It was a manyheaded snake from the marshes of Lerna, whose heads grew back twofold as they were severed by Hercules. In the Greek myth, Hercules overpowers the beast. However, our image of the Hydra has changed over time. The fear and evil associated with the creature has been replaced by a sense of history, and the Hydra became a symbol of determination and versatility. The resurgence of its heads can be seen as a symbol for innovative ideas that keep emerging from a core that is constantly under siege by budget cuts and cultural devaluation by political forces. The many headed creature stands for a gathering of autonomous minds who often have contradictory ideas but nevertheless share a common disciplinary background, and therefore a certain degree of consensus. We honor the heritage of the Royal educational facilities that we attend with the title The Royal Institute of Hydra Studies: we elevate this stubborn mythical creature to a level worthy of serious research, whether it be artistic, scientific or poetic in nature.

Each year, the department of ArtScience releases a new group of graduates into the everchanging world of art professionals. As graduates leave the fold, new students come to breathe new life into the department, to influence and be influenced by the ongoing experimental spirit of the Interfaculty: the cycle goes on.

The participating artscientists are Áron Birtalan (HU), John Fanning (US/NL), Gaby Felten (NL), Sebastian Frisch (DE), Moritz Alive (DE), Roel Heremans (BE), Jonathan Reus (US), Ronald Schelfhout (NL), Jet Smits (NL), Angela de Weijer (NL) en Emily Whitebread (UK).

The biographies of the eleven graduating artscientists can be found at http://stichting.interfaculty.nl/

This exhibition is made possible by GEMAK Vrije Academie, Fonds 1818, Koninklijke Academie van Beeldende Kunsten, Koninklijk Conservatorium te Den Haag, Vedett Beer, and Stichting ArtScience.