Visual artist, archivist and researcher Vera Mennens (b. 1991) lives and works in Eindhoven. Through a wide range of media including video, text, photography, audio, installation and textile, she explores how one can conduct historical and archival research as an artistic practice. While lingering on the border between fact and fiction, unravelling the past, present, and (potential) future, she reflects on how archives can assist us to preserve our collective and individual histories, and construct future knowledges. Mennens completed her Bachelor in Photography at AKV/St. Joost, Breda, in 2013, and her Master degrees in Artistic Research and Preservation and Presentation of the Moving Image at The Royal Academy of Art, The Hague and the University of Amsterdam in 2017 and 2023.
_Education
2021-2023. Dual Master Preservation and Presentation of the Moving Image, UvA, Amsterdam
2015-2017. Master Artistic Research, The Royal Academy of Art, The Hague
2016. Research course Art and Politics, The Royal Academy of Arts & BAK, Utrecht
2012. Minor Art and Politics, AKV/St. Joost, Den Bosch
2009-2013. BA Photography, AKV/St.Joost, Breda
_Grants/ nominations
2023. Cultuurfonds project subsidie for ‘Langs heide, duin en drasland’
2023. CultuurEindhoven subsidie for ‘Langs heide, duin en drasland’
2021. Stichting Droom en Daad Makersloket subsidie
2021. Presentation, production and research grant (PPR), CBK Rotterdam
2021. Stimuleringsfonds for the project What do landscapes say, Phase III
2020. Prins Bernard Cultuurfonds - Cultuurmakersfonds for project space at7
2019. Prins Bernard Cultuurfonds - Josine de Bruyn Kops Fonds
2019. Stimuleringsfonds for the project What do landscapes say
2018/2019. Mondriaan Fonds Werkbijdrage Jong Talent
2017. Nomination master department award, KABK, The Hague
_Selected projects, collaborations, work, and exhibitions (from 2016 onwards)
2024. The limits to growth, chapter 2: From raster to vector: the Netherlands as profit landscape, group exhibition, 18 May – 25 August 2024, RADIUS CCA, Delft
2024. Langs heide, duin en drasland, video essay, fourth chapter of The Three Stages project in collaboration with De Heimans en Thijsse Stichting
2023. ‘De Blauwe Zeedistel’, short story for reissue of ‘Flora Batavia’ initiated by Norbert Peeters and Esther van Gelder
2023. Talk at ARKC, organized by Liza Prins and Marta Pagliuca Pelacani, Nica Institute, University of Amsterdam
2022 – March 2023. Research internship at Atria | institute on gender equality and women’s history
2019-2022. What do landscapes say, collaborating artist, Open Call Russia - Stimuleringsfonds, Russia/NL
2017- 2022. co-founder and archivist, at7 project space, Amsterdam / Rotterdam
2022. Master thesis_ WHY HAVE THERE BEEN SO MANY GREAT WOMEN VIDEO ARTISTS? - Increasing the visibility of video art by women through feminist theory and reinterpretation2022. Screening of Shifting Dunes (2022) and Q &A with Jasper Coppes, organized by Eros Chien, Vreewijk, Rotterdam
2021. Common Geostory, exhibition curated by Annosh Urbanke, Atelierhaus, Aachen, Germany
2021. Performance for Liza Prins, Womxn and Weeds, Art Rotterdam, Rotterdam
2021.What Do Landscapes Say, Shifting Dunes, Lithuania/Russia, The Netherlands
2020. What Do Landscapes Say, with The Three Stages project, exhibition curated by curated by Yue
Mao, group show, Het Nieuwe Instituut, Rotterdam
2020. What Do Landscapes Say, with The Three Stages project, exhibition curated by curated by Yue
Mao, group show, Gallery Richter, Moscow, Russia
2020. What Do landscapes Say, group show & lecture series, het Nieuwe Instituut, Rotterdam
2020. The Three Stages, duo show and research project with Naomi van Dijck, Glasgow, UK
2020. Artistic Research in Film, lecture, exhibition curated by curated by Julia Sokolnicka, March,
Gdańsk, Poland
2020. The Three Stages, The Meeting, screening, Susan Bites project space, Den Haag
2020. The Three Stages. video installation of The Meeting (2019) and Between Mountains and Sea (2020),
Art Rotterdam, Mondriaan Fonds, Prospects & concepts, Rotterdam
2019. The Three Stages, ‘Die Entwicklungsgeschichte der Erde’, Room for Space, exhibition curated by
curated by Annosh Urbanke, de Vensterbank, Leiden
2019. Presentation and lecture, the British school of Art, Moscow, Russia
2019. The Three Stages, The Meeting, Anomia exhibition curated by curated by Bergur Thomas Anderson and Gunnar Gunnarson, screening, Worm, Rotterdam
2019.What Do Landscapes Say, participating artist in ‘Sustainable and Inclusive Cities and Societies’
Russia, Creative Fund NL, Russia/ The Netherlands
2019. The Three Stages, “an answer to that a question is beyond the scope of this account”, duo show with
Naomi van Dijck, at7, Amsterdam
2019. The Three Stages, Mount Saint Peter, screening, Switch film festival curated by Mylan Hoezen,
Roodkapje, Rotterdam
2019. The Three Stages, Mount Saint Peter (2018), presentation and screening ARC, curated by Paul
Craenen, C.M. Roos & Leiden University, Korzo, Den Haag
2019. The Events Between the Events, presentation, screening and exhibition Heden/ Verleden curated by
Youri Appelo, VHDG, Leeuwarden
2018. The Three Stages, Mount Saint Peter, video installation, group show, at7, Amsterdam
2018. The Three Stages Part I, Contrapunctus XIV (2018), curated by Arthur Cordier & Valentino Russo,
the Balcony, Den Haag
2017. The Events Between the Events, video installation, Master artistic research, graduation exhibition, KABK, The Hague
2017. The Events Between the Events, MAR, group show, 1646, Den Haag
2016. Kvarstonoj, a monument for an almost country, Master artistic research, group show curated by Alessandra Troncone and Laura Amann, Locatie Z, Den Haag
2016. Lecture and participation SAR/JAR conference, Den Haag
2016. Conflicting Identities with The Events Between the Events, video installation, curated by Youri
Appelo, Expoplu, Nijmegen, NL
2016. A city called Heerlen, curated by Liza Nijhuis, Art Deli meets Unseen, Amsterdam
2016. Momument for an almost country, group show, Gallery space, The Royal Academy of Art, The Hague
2016. Monument for an almost country, group show, initiated & curated by Youri Appelo, Conflicting Identities (with Adrian Melis, Bas Overbeek, In Limbo Embassy, Lonnie van Brummelen & Siebren de Haan), Expoplu, Nijmegen, NL
_Working periods/ collaborations
2021. Working period for What Do Landscapes Say, Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Russia
2021. Residency as project space at7, Hotel Maria Kapel, Hoorn
2019. Working period and collaboration, Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden
2019. Working period, the Natural History Museum, Rotterdam
2018. Working period and collaboration de Heimans & Thijsse archief, UvA Artis bibliotheek, Amsterdam
2018. Working period, The Events Between the Events project, Goethe/ Schiller archive, Weimar, Duitsland
2016. Residency Hospitalfield, Arbroath, UK
2016. Residency for Kvarstonoj, a monument for an almost country, Esperanto Museum, Vienna, Austria
_Publications
2022. Je vindt Vera Mennens even vaak in de natuur als in het archief, Interview by Maarten Busser for, De Lage Landen
2021. What Do Landscapes Say, publication on research (final publication)
2021. Planten voor kroedwusj, short story for of Womxn and Weeds publication by Liza Prins and Layla
Durrani, publication
2020. Ellipsis, On Maps, Writing New Legends/ (Mis) Interpreting Maps, Kunstlicht Vol. 41, no 2-3
2020. What Do Landscapes Say, publication on research for Na Peschanoy gallery, Moskou, Rusland
2020. In contact, short story for Notes on Hapticity Collective
2020. The Three Stages, Shifting Dunes, handout (edition of 300)
2020. MetropolisM Review Prospects & Concepts 2020 by Marsha Bruinen
2019. *an answer to that a question is beyond the scope of this account, met Naomi van Dijck, handout
2019. Interview door Women Cinemakers, Special Edition, Vol.23, Berlijn
2017. The Events Between the Events, Master Artistic Research, master thesis
2017. RELAY. Master Artistic Research graduation publication, newspaper
all image, text, and video © Vera Mennens 2022
2021-2023. Dual Master Preservation and Presentation of the Moving Image, UvA, Amsterdam
2015-2017. Master Artistic Research, The Royal Academy of Art, The Hague
2016. Research course Art and Politics, The Royal Academy of Arts & BAK, Utrecht
2012. Minor Art and Politics, AKV/St. Joost, Den Bosch
2009-2013. BA Photography, AKV/St.Joost, Breda
_Grants/ nominations
2023. Cultuurfonds project subsidie for ‘Langs heide, duin en drasland’
2023. CultuurEindhoven subsidie for ‘Langs heide, duin en drasland’
2021. Stichting Droom en Daad Makersloket subsidie
2021. Presentation, production and research grant (PPR), CBK Rotterdam
2021. Stimuleringsfonds for the project What do landscapes say, Phase III
2020. Prins Bernard Cultuurfonds - Cultuurmakersfonds for project space at7
2019. Prins Bernard Cultuurfonds - Josine de Bruyn Kops Fonds
2019. Stimuleringsfonds for the project What do landscapes say
2018/2019. Mondriaan Fonds Werkbijdrage Jong Talent
2017. Nomination master department award, KABK, The Hague
_Selected projects, collaborations, work, and exhibitions (from 2016 onwards)
2024. The limits to growth, chapter 2: From raster to vector: the Netherlands as profit landscape, group exhibition, 18 May – 25 August 2024, RADIUS CCA, Delft
2024. Langs heide, duin en drasland, video essay, fourth chapter of The Three Stages project in collaboration with De Heimans en Thijsse Stichting
2023. ‘De Blauwe Zeedistel’, short story for reissue of ‘Flora Batavia’ initiated by Norbert Peeters and Esther van Gelder
2023. Talk at ARKC, organized by Liza Prins and Marta Pagliuca Pelacani, Nica Institute, University of Amsterdam
2022 – March 2023. Research internship at Atria | institute on gender equality and women’s history
2019-2022. What do landscapes say, collaborating artist, Open Call Russia - Stimuleringsfonds, Russia/NL
2017- 2022. co-founder and archivist, at7 project space, Amsterdam / Rotterdam
2022. Master thesis_ WHY HAVE THERE BEEN SO MANY GREAT WOMEN VIDEO ARTISTS? - Increasing the visibility of video art by women through feminist theory and reinterpretation2022. Screening of Shifting Dunes (2022) and Q &A with Jasper Coppes, organized by Eros Chien, Vreewijk, Rotterdam
2021. Common Geostory, exhibition curated by Annosh Urbanke, Atelierhaus, Aachen, Germany
2021. Performance for Liza Prins, Womxn and Weeds, Art Rotterdam, Rotterdam
2021.What Do Landscapes Say, Shifting Dunes, Lithuania/Russia, The Netherlands
2020. What Do Landscapes Say, with The Three Stages project, exhibition curated by curated by Yue
Mao, group show, Het Nieuwe Instituut, Rotterdam
2020. What Do Landscapes Say, with The Three Stages project, exhibition curated by curated by Yue
Mao, group show, Gallery Richter, Moscow, Russia
2020. What Do landscapes Say, group show & lecture series, het Nieuwe Instituut, Rotterdam
2020. The Three Stages, duo show and research project with Naomi van Dijck, Glasgow, UK
2020. Artistic Research in Film, lecture, exhibition curated by curated by Julia Sokolnicka, March,
Gdańsk, Poland
2020. The Three Stages, The Meeting, screening, Susan Bites project space, Den Haag
2020. The Three Stages. video installation of The Meeting (2019) and Between Mountains and Sea (2020),
Art Rotterdam, Mondriaan Fonds, Prospects & concepts, Rotterdam
2019. The Three Stages, ‘Die Entwicklungsgeschichte der Erde’, Room for Space, exhibition curated by
curated by Annosh Urbanke, de Vensterbank, Leiden
2019. Presentation and lecture, the British school of Art, Moscow, Russia
2019. The Three Stages, The Meeting, Anomia exhibition curated by curated by Bergur Thomas Anderson and Gunnar Gunnarson, screening, Worm, Rotterdam
2019.What Do Landscapes Say, participating artist in ‘Sustainable and Inclusive Cities and Societies’
Russia, Creative Fund NL, Russia/ The Netherlands
2019. The Three Stages, “an answer to that a question is beyond the scope of this account”, duo show with
Naomi van Dijck, at7, Amsterdam
2019. The Three Stages, Mount Saint Peter, screening, Switch film festival curated by Mylan Hoezen,
Roodkapje, Rotterdam
2019. The Three Stages, Mount Saint Peter (2018), presentation and screening ARC, curated by Paul
Craenen, C.M. Roos & Leiden University, Korzo, Den Haag
2019. The Events Between the Events, presentation, screening and exhibition Heden/ Verleden curated by
Youri Appelo, VHDG, Leeuwarden
2018. The Three Stages, Mount Saint Peter, video installation, group show, at7, Amsterdam
2018. The Three Stages Part I, Contrapunctus XIV (2018), curated by Arthur Cordier & Valentino Russo,
the Balcony, Den Haag
2017. The Events Between the Events, video installation, Master artistic research, graduation exhibition, KABK, The Hague
2017. The Events Between the Events, MAR, group show, 1646, Den Haag
2016. Kvarstonoj, a monument for an almost country, Master artistic research, group show curated by Alessandra Troncone and Laura Amann, Locatie Z, Den Haag
2016. Lecture and participation SAR/JAR conference, Den Haag
2016. Conflicting Identities with The Events Between the Events, video installation, curated by Youri
Appelo, Expoplu, Nijmegen, NL
2016. A city called Heerlen, curated by Liza Nijhuis, Art Deli meets Unseen, Amsterdam
2016. Momument for an almost country, group show, Gallery space, The Royal Academy of Art, The Hague
2016. Monument for an almost country, group show, initiated & curated by Youri Appelo, Conflicting Identities (with Adrian Melis, Bas Overbeek, In Limbo Embassy, Lonnie van Brummelen & Siebren de Haan), Expoplu, Nijmegen, NL
_Working periods/ collaborations
2021. Working period for What Do Landscapes Say, Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Russia
2021. Residency as project space at7, Hotel Maria Kapel, Hoorn
2019. Working period and collaboration, Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden
2019. Working period, the Natural History Museum, Rotterdam
2018. Working period and collaboration de Heimans & Thijsse archief, UvA Artis bibliotheek, Amsterdam
2018. Working period, The Events Between the Events project, Goethe/ Schiller archive, Weimar, Duitsland
2016. Residency Hospitalfield, Arbroath, UK
2016. Residency for Kvarstonoj, a monument for an almost country, Esperanto Museum, Vienna, Austria
_Publications
2022. Je vindt Vera Mennens even vaak in de natuur als in het archief, Interview by Maarten Busser for, De Lage Landen
2021. What Do Landscapes Say, publication on research (final publication)
2021. Planten voor kroedwusj, short story for of Womxn and Weeds publication by Liza Prins and Layla
Durrani, publication
2020. Ellipsis, On Maps, Writing New Legends/ (Mis) Interpreting Maps, Kunstlicht Vol. 41, no 2-3
2020. What Do Landscapes Say, publication on research for Na Peschanoy gallery, Moskou, Rusland
2020. In contact, short story for Notes on Hapticity Collective
2020. The Three Stages, Shifting Dunes, handout (edition of 300)
2020. MetropolisM Review Prospects & Concepts 2020 by Marsha Bruinen
2019. *an answer to that a question is beyond the scope of this account, met Naomi van Dijck, handout
2019. Interview door Women Cinemakers, Special Edition, Vol.23, Berlijn
2017. The Events Between the Events, Master Artistic Research, master thesis
2017. RELAY. Master Artistic Research graduation publication, newspaper
all image, text, and video © Vera Mennens 2022
