Dutch Drempelprijs awarded to three graduates

Rotterdam - Roxy Capriles, Glenn da Silva and Ermi van Oers each took home the Drempelprijs 2016, an award given to outstanding graduates of the Willem de Kooning Academy College Rotterdam by the Academy in conjunction with the city of Rotterdam.

The Drempelprijs was first launched in 1962 and has been awarded to graduates of the Academy on an annual basis ever since.

The awards ceremony was held on Sunday July 10 during the last day of the graduate exhibition ‘WdKA Finals’. Each winner was awarded a 5,000 euro incentive check. The candidates each graduated in one of three areas - Autonomous, Social or Commercial Practices - and were awarded accordingly. This practice was first launched in 2014.

”Celebration of personal identity”

The Drempelprijs Autonomous Practices went to Roxy Capriles for her project ‘Rock on Fire’. “The Jury was struck by an assemblage of items that ingeniously recollected stories of belonging and separation. Personal loyalties and colonial stories interfere. The celebration of personal identity coincides with a collective awareness in which the idiosyncrasies of the colour locale merge into a forceful and demanding agency,” said jury member Jan van Heemst.

The award for Social Practices was given to Ermi van Oers for her project ‘Living Light’, a plant that visualises its need to be taken care of by lighting up when stroked or fed water. Jury member Marjolein de Zeeuw described Van Oers as a ‘passionate and smart lady with the potential to become an important player in the field’. “The jury admires how she is able to infuse a regular plant with a whole new meaning and added value. Ermi demonstrates how an artist can be an intermediary between innovation and technological solutions and thereby contribute to the current urgency surrounding sustainability.”

Meanwhile, Glenn da Silva won the award for Commercial Practices with his project ‘Love Assist’, in which he developed resources to help maintain intimacy between seniors. Speaking on behalf of the jury, Gert-Jan Pas said: “Glenn da Silva approached the project with enthusiasm. He mapped out an unknown market, senior sex or rather, senior sex with physical limitations, and invented appropriate resources. He conducted proper research and, speaking in marketing terms, developed a value proposition which took into account all obstacles. The accompanying clips and folder material were convincing, beautifully made and utterly complete.”

Images courtesy of WdKA/photographer: Sofie van Esch.
Image 1: Glenn da Silva,
Image 2: Ermi van Oers,
Image 3: Roxy Capriles,
Image 4: The winners