Chairmen

Since 2021, the Mondriaan Fund has been working with chairmen for the advisory committees. The members are professionals from all over the country and offer a wide variety of expertise and backgrounds.

By working with chairmen, the connection between the field and the fund becomes even stronger and more consistent. The team oversees the right implementation of the policy plan of 2025-2028 (Dutch only) during the advisory meetings. They all chair dozens of meetings a year in the field of visual arts and cultural heritage and ensure a uniform working method within all committees.

Our chairmen

Christian Braak

chairman

Christian Braak is director of the stichting ERM (Dutch foundation for a recognized restoration standard in the preservation and restoration of historic buildings and sites). Braak is also active for his consultancy firm BRAAKLAND. He focuses on interim management, strategic advice and moderator/chairmanship in spatial planning, cultural heritage and the arts sector. Christian is also a member of the supervisory board of the Jos van Amsterdam Fund (housed at the Grafisch Atelier Alkmaar).

Julius Thissen

chairman

Julius Thissen is a visual artist and artistic researcher, living and working in Arnhem. In his visual practice he works with the media photography, film, and performance. His works mainly investigate community and representation, gender, in particular masculinity, contemporary performance culture, the influence of social expectations on our behavior, sports and competition. Within his artistic research, Thissen focuses on investigating diversification processes within the creative sector, in particular in museums. He does this by organizing artistic community-based research projects, developing residencies and advising museums and cultural institutions.

Maarten Doorman

chairman

Maarten Doorman is a writer and philosopher and is emeritus professor of German Cultural History on behalf of the DIA at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. He taught cultural philosophy at Maastricht University and is a contributor to NRC. His well-known books include Art in Progress: A Philosophical Response to the End of the Avant-Garde (2003), De romantische orde (2004), Rousseau en ik: Over de erfzonde van de authenticiteit (2012), De navel van Daphne: Over engagement in de kunst (2016), Dichtbij en ver weg: Opstellen over kunst, filosofie en literatuur (2018), and Een jager in het woud: Frankrijk, Duitsland, Europa (2023). In addition, Doorman has published several collections of poetry and has written extensively on art criticism, philosophy, the canon, art, and various social issues.

Peter van der Es

chairman

Peter van der Es has a background as a visual artist and curator. He is co-founder and director at Unfair Amsterdam, a biennale, art fair and curating platform through which he sets up various projects with visual artists and institutions. In addition, he is secretary on the board of online art magazine Mister Motley and is active as an advisor to other (cultural) institutions, with a focus on talent development, entrepreneurship and innovation.

Raul Balai

chairman

Raul Balai is beeldend kunstenaar- curator. Raul werkte onder ander voor The Black Archives, het Rembrandt Huis, het Rijksmuseum Amsterdam en CBK Amsterdam Zuidoost. Op dit moment is werk van de kunstenaar te zien op Documenta fifteen in Kassel (Duitsland) en Façade 2022 in Middelburg. Tevens is Raul lid van de Raad van Toezicht van danstheatergezelschap Don’t Hit Mama.

Rita Ouédraogo

chairman

Rita Ouédraogo is a curator, researcher, moderator and writer with a background in cultural anthropology. Rita is currently curator of the new Buro Stedelijk, writes for Mister Motley, among others. She is involved in various projects as program maker and curator including making museum collections accessible. Rita's work is invluenced by an interest in the African diaspora, the decolonization of organizations, institutional racism, pop culture and social issues.

Roomyla Choenni

chairman

Roomyla Choenni is the director of Groninger Archives. In addition, she works as an advisor on visual arts and cultural heritage at the Amsterdam Fund for the Arts, among other things. She was previously head of strategy & policy at the University Library University of Amsterdam/Hogeschool van Amsterdam and the Allard Pierson, among others, and was an advisor at the Mondriaan Fund for many years. Choenni specialises in (digital) heritage, digital civil rights and decolonisation and has held various board positions in the cultural sector. Her mission is to actively bring perspectives together and strengthen free access to heritage and information.

Sandjai Bhulai

chairman

Sandjai Bhulai is professor of Business Analytics at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and has a background in mathematics. He is involved in applying mathematical models, data science and artificial intelligence to help institutions improve business processes. His research is at the intersection of mathematics, computer science and operations management, with a specialization in decision-making under uncertainty. Sandjai is co-founder of the Amsterdam Center for Business Analytics (ACBA), co-founder of the postgraduate program Business Analytics and Data Science, and also co-founder of PersonalAIze.

Youri Appelo

chairman

Youri Appelo is a curator, advisor and art mediator with a background in art education (BA) and museology (MA). He is currently artistic director of POST (Arnhem/Nijmegen), board member of De Zaak Nu and advisor at the Groeispurtfonds. Previously, Appelo was curator at Garage Rotterdam, (guest) curator of Day of The Young Artist and curator-in-residency at Schloss Ringenberg. Appelo’s curatorial work consists of a wide range of activities, always focusing on ecological, economic, social and political issues. With an interest in artistic practices that translate complex notions into poetic, investigative and critical artworks, Appelo aims to explore the value of art for contemporary societies.

Thomas Bakker

chairmen

Thomas Bakker is a visual artist. He makes conceptual, site-specific work in which analogue film and sculpture form the main components. His work has been shown in (inter)national museums, art institutions, artist initiatives and in public spaces. His work is in private and public collections at home and abroad. Thomas initiated exhibitions in public spaces and is co-founder of the artist initiative Club Solo in Breda. In addition to his own practice, he was a visual arts advisor at various cultural institutions from 2011. Since 2003 he has been teaching at the visual arts department AKV St. Joost in Breda/Den Bosch and worked on a project basis at the Design Academy, Eindhoven.