The board and employees have unanimously chosen Arend-Jan Weijsters (1961) as the new director of the AGA LAB with effect from 1 January 2021. Weijsters succeeds interim director Geert Schriever who took over this position last year. AGA LAB has developed from a traditional workshop into a multidisciplinary graphic production center since its foundation in 1958.
Weijsters was previously director of the National Glass Museum Leerdam, where he carried out professionalisation after the renovation. The museum was then included for the first time in the Cultural Basic Infrastructure (BIS 2013-2016) of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. He was subsequently director of Museum Het Valkhof, where he broke open the established culture in the museum and restored the damaged organization. Before that, he worked in various managerial positions at, among others, the Rijksmuseum, ABN AMRO Art Foundation, the Stedelijk Museum, the Van Abbemuseum and W139.
Arend-Jan Weijsters has broad substantive and business experience, which makes him very suitable to strengthen the role of the AGA LAB. “I see the AGA LAB as a dynamic work and stopping place that initiates, facilitates and connects. The ideal workplace for artists, designers and photographers to research, produce and further develop their work through graphic techniques”.
“The creative process has always fascinated me and that is why I want to further emphasize the importance of the AGA LAB. Without well-equipped and functioning workplaces and incubators, after all, no experiments and talent development in art. My primary objective is to promote the position of AGA LAB. so that new and established makers can work, experiment and exchange knowledge in an inspiring environment ”.
photo: Arend-Jan Weijsters, © Gert Jan van Rooij