Keep an Eye Academy
You are a passionate artist, musician, photographer, designer, filmmaker or budding creative entrepreneur.
Maybe you are still studying or at the very beginning of your creative career – an exciting, inspiring and promising phase! But at the same time, it can also be overwhelming. How do you take your first concrete steps in a world where there is so much talent and where competition seems huge? Maybe you have countless ideas, but are not yet sure how to realise them, which opportunities to seize and which pitfalls to avoid.
Everyone knows how difficult it can be to build a successful career in the arts and culture sector. The creative industry is dynamic and offers countless opportunities, but it also has challenges. How do you make sure your work gets noticed? How do you build a strong network? Where do you start when you take your first steps in the field? Whether you dream of a big stage, publishing your first photo book, exhibiting your artworks in a renowned gallery, or starting your own creative enterprise – there is no set route to success.
Precisely because there are so many different paths, we organise a series of inspiring and practice-oriented master classes together with leading academies throughout the Netherlands. During these sessions, you will have the opportunity to learn from experienced professionals and established names within the art and culture world. They not only share their knowledge and practical experience, but also give you concrete tools to further develop your artistic and business skills. From artistic deepening to entrepreneurship, from personal branding to networking – these master classes offer you the insights and tools you need to turn your creative ambitions into reality.
Besides substantive knowledge and valuable advice, these master classes also offer you a unique opportunity to connect with like-minded creators, inspiring teachers and potential cooperation partners. By sharing experiences and working together, you will not only expand your network, but also discover new perspectives and opportunities.
Don’t want to miss anything? Keep a close eye on our agenda for more information! We look forward to supporting you on your creative journey and helping you grow into a promising future within the world of art and culture.
‘Maker zoekt Maker’
Keep an Eye: always on the move with new initiatives
Keep an Eye is a very active foundation that not only supports existing talents, but also likes to develop its own initiatives. Initiatives that do not yet (or hardly) exist and that therefore form a valuable addition to the existing offer of cultural education, festivals and talent development programmes. By continuously setting up innovative projects, Keep an Eye ensures that young artists and creators are given additional opportunities to develop their talent and find their way within the creative sector.
From the very beginning, music has had a special place within Keep an Eye. We started with jazz, later expanded with classical music and even later, talent in cabaret was added to our programme. This passion for music still drives many of our projects and is also evident in some of our latest initiatives.
One example is Maker Seeks Maker, an innovative online platform through which we act as matchmakers and connect young, professional artists from different disciplines. This platform encourages collaboration and interdisciplinary work, creating new, surprising art projects.
Think, for instance, of a musician looking for a filmmaker to make a music video, a photographer who wants to collaborate with a costume designer to create a unique photo series, or a theatre maker looking for a composer to develop an original soundscape. The possibilities are endless, and that is precisely what makes Maker Seeks Maker so special.
With this initiative, Keep an Eye aims not only to support individual artists, but also to stimulate cooperation between different art forms. This cross-pollination creates new ideas, unexpected collaborations and groundbreaking projectsthat might otherwise never have come to fruition.
We remain committed to supporting young makers, musicians, performers and visual artists and helping them realise their artistic ambitions. Because it is precisely by connecting talents and disciplines that the most beautiful and innovative works of art are created !
‘Nieuwe Makers’
We proudly present our brand new collaboration with Festival Cement within the framework of New Makers! Every year in March, Festival Cement launches a nine-day bombardment of exciting performances. At various locations in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, audience and professionals alike cast their eyes on a new generation of performing artists.
You will discover young makers, their themes and new forms and get alternative proposals for the future. In addition, there is plenty of room for the public, makers and professionals to meet, talk to each other and immerse themselves in the extensive context programme.
The cooperation between Keep an Eye and Festival Cement focuses on De Werfplaats – an experimental and meeting space where a loose coalition of five makers who do not know each other yet comes together. Directors, actors, writers, choreographers, composers, dancers and other (performing) artists live and work together in Den Bosch during the entire period. Every day, a different maker takes the lead and introduces the group to his/her own working methods.
It is a unique place where makers can exchange across disciplines and without production pressure. This provides room for mutual inspiration, broad development, discovery and cross-over with other disciplines in the form of an exchange between the Netherlands and Flanders. In addition, the workspace is a potential starting point for a long-term conversation between the maker and the festival, making the workspace one of the ways in which makers eventually find a development, production or presentation spot at Cement.
