SikkensFoundation

Projects

KEET VAN OUD 1992 — RIJKSSTRAATWEG 31, SASSENHEIM — For the 200th anniversary of the Sikkens company, the Sikkens Foundation was given a present. Under the su- pervision of the architect Wytze Patijn, a reconstruction was made of J.J.P. Oud’s director’s hut, dating from 1923, which had been placed in the project of new buil- dings, the White Village in the Rotterdam district of Oud Mathenesse. It remained in the completed complex for many years until it was burnt down in the 1944 winter of hunger. Fortunately Oud’s designs and color schedules had been kept. The replica of this little building – com- monly known, rather affectionately, as “Oud’s Keet”, was placed on the industrial estate in Sassenheim. Jan Jessurun, deputy Director General for Cultural Affairs of WVC gave the opening speech on 12 May 1992, in which he praised the Sikkens Foundation for its cultural role in society and also explained his vision of the cultu- ral support provided by industry. “Anyone who looks at the history of the Sikkens Foundation, sees that it coinci- des with the period in which a fundamental change took place in the way in which society feels responsible and takes responsibility for culture.” Jessurun outlined the de- velopment of the commitment of a small cultural elite in the arts, which developed from the patrons during the prewar era to sponsorship that focused more on individu- al interests. When Mees introduced the Sikkens Prize in 1959, this was essentially still an act of old-fashioned pa- tronage. Gradually the Sikkens Prize developed with the times, and it is striking how free the jury has always been in its choices. When the hippies were remembered, Jes- surun showed the difference which the Sikkens Prize means compared to other types of cultural sponsorship, where it is seldom a matter of idealistic sponsorship with no self-interest. Companies always want something back in terms of short-term effects: their reputation, positive product association or advertizing value. In that case it doesn’t really matter whether you sponsor a volleyball team or a musical ensemble. There is nothing against that because it means that continuity of quality is stimula- ted, but the investment in projects or activities which still have to prove their worth is usually less attractive. In this respect, an institution like the Sikkens Foundation plays a valuable and increasingly rare role in the cultural infra- structure. Back to index