Introducing an intern: Kirsten Weijs
Kirsten Weijs (1987) is originally from Belgium. She would describe herself as an urbanist painter and creative entrepreneur who studied Graphical Design at Sint Lucas in Gent and Arts & Culture at University Maastricht. After her bachelor she worked as assistant curator at several art galleries in Vienna like Galerie Nächst St. Stephan Rosemarie Schwarzwälder and Elisabeth Michitsch. She also studied exhibition marketing and culture management at the University of Vienna.
From networking with gallerists to documenting the city by foot, she always strives to keep her finger on the pulse of a city´s creative beat. In 2011 she started her Master´s degree at Maastricht University in the field of Arts & Heritage, where she specialized in the area of urban development; the tension between art and architecture and cultural industries.
The coming months Kirsten will devote much of her time to the Netherlands Architecture Institute, where we are currently organizing the summer programme, and for which Kirsten moved to Rotterdam. After her first week in the city, we asked her some questions.
- How did you end up at Non-fiction?
Since my interests are so wide it was very hard for me to pin down what I really wanted to do. Nonetheless when I told my teacher from the UM that I was searching for an internship that has to do with “ urban development, architecture, design, creative industries, culture, art, where I am allowed to create something of an added value and where my voice is heard”. After this very demanding and chaotic description she immediately knew to link me to Non-Fiction. After I met Michiel van Iersel myself at “A perfect day- tekenshow”, I knew for that this was exactly the working area that I was looking for.
- Could you describe Non-fiction in one Tweet?
A force of nature, a colourful, fast moving and diverse undertaking that knows how to move and leaves its mark in the cultural and urban field.
- What are you expecting from your internship?
That´s an easy one. The opportunity to work and be surrounded with people who are just as passionate as I am to create, produce and search for brilliant and bulky ideas.
- Where will/would you like to focus on (projects, topics, etc.)?
I would particularly like to work in the area of urban development. Nonetheless I also have a passion for projects and topics that are slightly quirky and different. As long as it is a challenge I’ll adopt a ‘die-trying’ attitude.
- Any idea(s) how Non-fiction can be improved?
Ha! Tricky, well… I think of Non-fiction in terms of antonyms like the following; structured chaos, moderate grandness, flawed perfection, and so on. These paradoxical qualities are able to surprise, overwhelm and inspire. I personally don’t think it should be pinned down or controlled. Non-Fiction is a life on it´s own, that’s how it should be.
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Kirsten’s own website is currently under construction, but make sure you visit it when it’s back online and in the meantime you can browse her fascinating photo collection on Pinterest.