During his residency, from September 2016 until December 2016, Arthur van Mourik will realise a multidisciplinary research project. The project aims to describe, portray and reflect on the characteristics of the Instituto Buena Bista (IBB ) educational art-program. The research focusses on the question if it is possible to preserve this specific type of education for upcoming generations, without defying it as an definitive methodology.

In order to analyse this subject Arthur van Mourik will make a documentary about the intangibly elements that are part of IBB as a movement, meaning; visions, ideas, concepts, didactics and process related art happenings. Arthur van Mourik shall perform empirical research-methods and will experiment as a spectator by being inter-actively involved within the IBB social-community projects.

These research-approaches consists; artist-interviewing, shadowing, filming and photographing activities led and performed by David Bade and Tirzo Martha, students and other participants at IBB. Arthur van Mourik plans to organise workshops at IBB and proposed to organise site-specific projects at partner institutions in the Caribbean during the Junior-Senior exchange programme.

With these approaches Arthur van Mourik intends to analyse the IBB education in context of Caribbean social customs and community life. The outcomes will be exhibited at IBB. After his residency a film-documentary and publication will be issued. The research outcome might also offer new perspectives and strategies for the conservation and presentation of contemporary art. Please see the weblog to follow the progress… (yet to come)

Short Bio
Arthur van Mourik (Amsterdam, 1980) has a bachelor degree in Museology and is experienced in management of contemporary art. His interests are; artists interviews and the relations between documenting and presenting contemporary art in context of intangibility. At the moment he works at the Foundation Centraal Museum Utrecht in the Netherlands as a collection manager of modern and contemporary art where he is responsible for conserving and exhibiting the collection in his country and abroad.

In the past he performed a research project in the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag and worked at the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam for the department of collections. He also worked as an advisor for art funding at Cultuur-Ondernemen (Amsterdam) and as a freelancer at the Van Abbemuseum (Eindhoven, Netherlands) where he documented installation artworks.
In 2007 and in 2011 Arthur van Mourik interviewed and filmed artist and founder of IBB, David Bade, about his artworks in museums (process of interaction), philosophy, semantics and art analyses. They also talked about ways to preserve the IBB education-programme. He published the interview-results and presented them at the Van Abbemuseum during a symposium by The Foundation for the Conservation of Contemporary Art.

Furthermore Arthur van Mourik loves to travel and interact with cultures and people. He finds it very important that (young) people get the opportunity to develop their skills and he believes that education can be a starting-point for individual progress and commitment.

David Bade interview 2011