Nest; Ruimte Voor Kunst

Nest is an exhibition space that facilitates in making contemporary art accessible for the broad audience of the Hague and they want to serve as a springboard for young artists.
With a strong social focus Nest is not afraid to tackle urgent topics that are in need of visibility and they have a critically thinking attitude.
They have been established in the Dutch art scene since 2007 and later on they started working on developing upon the factors mentioned above and making that more visible for the audience. Nest also spans out of the space itself by collaborating with people, organisations and events with a similar focus.
As someone who is interested in the arts and how it can bring social and niche topics to light in the visual sense, I thought Nest would be a great place for me to explore this. And furthermore I also see how the arts and culture sector is organised in the real world as opposed to inside the bubble of the academy.

Prior to applying at NEST I had been introduced to the space through my high school photography class with Delé Oriogun, where we used the space as inspiration and framing the themes for our projects. I knew then that I had an interest in the realm of contemporary art, so Nest was always a reference point for me in that sense.
When I applied for the internship at NEST I was looking for a multidisciplinary job as I thought interning at a graphic design studio would be too narrow for me as I also like to do more hands-on things and have variety in the work I do to create a more dynamic work day. Therefore the mix between logistics, communication , assembly and disassembly, PR and collaborating with the graphic designer was something I thought could give me a place to challenge my skill set and see what things work for me as someone who wants to work in the cultural and artistic field.


As I am also pursuing the minor Public & Private for my final year at the academy I thought it would be very relevant for me to have more knowledge surrounding organisations/initiatives and how the structure of that works. I can also see within the structure where my major comes in handy for the design of new projects.

Therefore my goal as an intern at Nest was to soak as much information in about the arts and culture scene and I was open to exploring what goes into running an art space and therefore also the responsibilities that follow with that.
I also wanted to experience first hand how artist operate within this scene and gain insight into the various practices of said artists.
Lastly I wanted to gain work experience outside of the graphic design bubble and see how art functions at large, outside of the graphic design as a discipline.


Nest has a small team core team of four women wherein I mostly interact with Daphne (head of Production) and Clara (head of program). Within this setting of working you are able to voice your ideas and adjust to changes rapidly as there isn’t a strong hierarchy preventing you from developing and working on projects, the threshold is low for initiating new ideas. Asking questions is another thing that is encouraged, which makes it a positive work environment.
We work from a Microsoft To do list app where there are several tasks to tackle some requiring desk work and others where I get to be active and hands-on, at Nest is required to be flexible as an intern as there is a big range of things you can be a part of. This was also the reason why I was able to collaborate with their graphic designer, which of course is very relevant to my study and therefore the internship at Nest can also be tailored to your interest alongside the necessary tasks which might not be as exhilarating at times but it's all part of running an art space so I am able to embrace that and I find myself to be very versatile.
In the beginning we had professionals (journalists, artists, curators) coming into the space to see the exhibition from time to time, so this occasionally also means hosting the guests and showing them around.
The space was able to open 5th of June after the restrictions were lifted this also developed in scheduled hosting shifts for guests.

Assignments:
Out and About
Verwend Nest
Website updates
Production (painting)
Mondriaan fonds
Calls for Graduates