Exhibition Henry Moore: Vorm en Materiaal

Produced in collaboration with the Henry Moore Foundation

Museum Beelden aan Zee, the Hague. April – October 2023

Overview

From 2022 – 2023, my work at Museum Beelden aan Zee was focused on realizing a blockbuster exhibition of seminal artist Henry Moore. As curator and project manager of Henry Moore: Vorm en Materiaal, I acted as the main point of contact with the Henry Moore Foundation regarding: administration of works, transportation contracting, shipment scheduling and load planning, installation procedures and materials, project and design proposals, image and film sourcing and licencing. I devised the installation schedule and installation strategy, which involved cross-departmental coordination of Beelden aan Zee’s staff members and their duties. This also involved the management and coordination of local art handlers, technicians, and the incoming installation team from Henry Moore Foundation based in the United Kingdom. My ability to track and quality-control multiple aspects of an exhibition simultaneously was tested due to the sheer scale, value and importance of the show. I successfully acquired natural specimen loans: elephant skull (Loxodonta Africana) and dorsal vertebra of a cetacean (whale) from Museon, the Hague (involving contraction, transportation, installation and condition reporting of the loans).

Distinctive Contributions

The introduction of natural history specimens was a critical addition to the exhibition. They were presented as the first element in the display – as a ‘wunderkabinet’ – in order to drive home the major idea of the exhibition; that Henry Moore’s works were very much inspired by natural forms. These additions gave visitors the opportunity to understand this concept in a more concrete manner through their own sensory experience and interaction with real objects. In preparing the approach of display for the exhibition, Varga conducted on-site research at Hauser & Wirth in the United Kingdom together with the senior curator of internal sculpture and Beelden aan Zee’s resident exhibition designer. She collaborated with this team to create a visual landscape free of chronological definitions. By juxtaposing sculptures with diverse materials, forms and dimensions, a dynamic space emerged with fluid readability. Varga supervised the technical construction of design elements in coordination with design company Solits B.V. and supplier Labshop to ensure structural and aesthetic quality in the fabrication of designs.

Reception I modernized Beelden aan Zee’s exhibition development process, by translating two-dimensional sketches of exhibition layouts into one holistic three-dimensional digital model. This addition was discovered as an asset to the artistic department, since it allowed for better planning, overview and functional assessment of the exhibition as a whole. In addition to its high-definition visualization, the model’s accurate measurement reflected realistic feedback between choices that were made in the digital sphere and their implications for real space. Other departments benefited from the model because of it’s ability to aid in the planning of interpretive material and preparing educational guides. Henry Moore: Vorm en Materiaal was nominated for De Museumtijdschrift Tentoonstellingsprijs, an annual public election of the best exhibition of the cultural year (a professional jury selects 10 nominees, from which the public is invited to cast their vote for – the winning museum receives a cash prize of €10,000). In total, over 70,000 visitors came to Museum Beelden aan Zee to see Henry Moore: Vorm en Materiaal.

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