Flox Aalberts wins Harry Wich Stipendium 2024

27 september 2024

Theatre Design alumna Flox Aalberts may call herself the proud winner of the Harry Wich Stipendium 2024. The jury saw in Aalberts the ideal prize-winning candidate: 'Flox stands out because of her great individuality.'

Passion

Flox has a great love for crafts and handicrafts. This arose early in her childhood. “I used to spend a lot of time making things, crafting and sewing. Now that I'm older I notice that this love of craft fits well with my ideals. I care about how materials and the world are treated: making in a more environmentally friendly, slower and loving way. In my thesis project, I talk about the inspiration of stuff and materials. Stuff doesn't have that much value in our lives: we quickly replace it, while stuff also deserves respect and inspiration. This insight can encourage people to look at the world around them in a different way.'

Human imperfection

What fascinates Flox is the human imperfection inherent in theater-making. 'Sometimes I have made something, but realize that thousands of other versions were also possible. Situations come your way, you work with people and new ideas flow from that, which you take into the creative process. It can feel pretty crazy when you finish something: “this is what it has become, I present this and stand behind it.” It feels accidental, but at the same time intentional.'

Visual theater collective

That Flox won the Harry Wich Stipend 2024 she finds unreal. “My first idea was to use the award for a master's degree abroad, but it also seems nice to share it with others. My former fellow students and I have a plan to start a visual theater collective. We have a lot to gain from each other and it's a nice use for the money. For now, the brand new graduate is going to focus entirely on her new job at Theater Rotterdam. 'I'm designing the props for the stage there. I'm going to work there for a year and I'm really looking forward to it.

Scenographin sensibility

From the jury report, “Flox stands out for her great individuality. She has a great scenographic sensibility and the insight to be able to design space and its effect on a spectator. Flox has the impressive quality of being able to shape imaginary openings in reality through scenography, thus influencing and enticing the spectator's imagination. She has an autonomous power and is good at material use and movement. The jury is emphatically impressed by her strength as an object maker and “it is precisely in her autonomous work that potential and talent speaks.

The jury for the 2024 stipend consists of scenographer Marloes van der Hoek, scenographer Wojciech Dziedzic and Dorine de Vos, designer and the widow of Harry Wich.

About the Harry Wich Stipend

The Harry Wich Stipend for scenography was established in memory of scenographer Harry Wich, who died in 2002. The stipend of 12,500 euros is intended for a graduate of one of the four scenography courses in the Netherlands for further study or professional development. More information about the stipend can be found on the Culture Fund website.