About - Kolijn Jagersma

Hello there dear reader,

So, you decided to read something about me. That is very flattering. I’m blushing. Let me tell you a little about myself and my background. My name is Kolijn Jagersma and I grew up in the sad town of Veenendaal. Luckily I managed to escape and make my way to Rotterdam. I was part of Hogeschool Rotterdam’s soon to be disbanded Theatermaker bachelor and I'm still studying Cultural Social Science. Two years ago I quit studying at the Theaterschool because I was introduced to the Avantgardistic State of WORM and quickly realised that the crossover between disciplines I yearned for was something would never be taught at school. After doing an internship at WORM as Assistant Programmer UBIK and S/ash Gallery I have been busy trying making a living as a practising artist by developing projects, creating performance/ installations and curating programmes.

I would describe myself as a curator maker. This term might need some explanation. The starting point of all almost all my projects is a concept wherein I invite others (artists, performers, audiance, musicians etc.) to experiment/ work. I mostly work in the form of performance installations that make use of gamification. How can I let the audience feel like they have experienced something they have never experienced before by changing the dynamic of conventional systems? In practice this means that my projects challenge power structures and force participants to question their own role in the consumption of art – often letting them rise above the role of passive observer. My practical focus tends to be on agency and structure: I want audiences to be able to be completely free in exploring and construing their own experience, but in order to prevent complete chaos it is a necessary evil to also think about spatial and temporal confines that audiences should adhere to.

As an maker my work cannot exist without a context provided by others - audiences a.k.a. participators are my number one collaborator but I also heavily rely on the context provided by performers and spaces. Check out my portfolio for projects I was a part of and I’m sure you will notice this trend.