All artists participating in This Art Fair 2025 will be supported in their preparations by a coach. As an artist, you take part in the fair independently, but you certainly don’t have to do everything alone. The coaches – art professionals such as gallery owners and exhibition makers – are there to assist in all kinds of areas: from presentation and pricing to promotion. Around 20 coaches will each guide approximately 5-6 artists. There will be 4 masterclasses, group sessions, 1-on-1 contact moments and studio visits.
How do you present your work in an exciting way? How do you approach visitors and potential clients? How do you build your network of collectors, curators, gallerists? How do you price your works in a realistic, representative and profitable way?
In our selection of coaches, we look for the same diversity we want to achieve at This. The coaches’ different backgrounds, locations, experiences and disciplines warrant that every kind of artist gets the right support – whether you’re a beginning performance artist or a veteran painter.
Furthermore, artist club This Works will organise four masterclasses for participants, where professionals will teach them all about a specific relevant subject, such as communication, presentation or conversation techniques. This Works focuses on extending your network, learning new skills and the sharing of knowledge.
We’re happy to introduce you to a first batch of coaches:
Ellis Kat
Ellis Kat, previously director of art space Nieuw Dakota in Amsterdam, is currently active as a freelance curator with a passion for experimental and groundbreaking exhibitions.
As a coach at This Art Fair, she will inspire artists to explore their artistic boundaries, challenge them to critically question their own practice and guide them during their first steps in the professional art field.
Simomo Bouj
Dancer and curator Simomo Bouj has diverse (cultural, professional, moving) skills that find origins from Morocco to here. He has coached fellow artists, performed as a dancer, and co-directed projects with artists. As a pluralist, Simomo is also active in various collectives and alliances like Sexyland WORLD and Queer 365. Bouj is also the adjunct director of NO LIMITS! ART CASTLE, an art space that exposes/ initiates and researches collaborations between the Outsider- and Insider-art world. Bouj loves to question the value of art and the artist.
“I like to guide in how ideas can flow together, and how you can keep enjoying what you do, while still keeping control of that endless to-do list. How do you stay interested in your own work and ensure that the audience also feels the responsibility to find interest in what you make? I help determine what you can and may ask of your audience, and how you can best do that. If you want to involve your own body in your work, I can play a major role in this as a movement director. I also like to guide in creating your own rules of the game within an environment that often already comes with rules.”
Koen Bartijn
All-rounder Koen Bartijn organises exhibitions, festivals and performances, among other things. Koen is artistic leader of art initiative VHDG, a presentation institution and residence in Leeuwarden. Here he develops together with the team an art programme consisting of exhibitions, educational activities and long-term projects. He is also a dramaturg, researcher and initiator in both the performing and visual arts. Koen is the founder of art collective Antidote, with which he organises festivals and makes performances. From 2020 to 2023, he was co-director of Platform BKt, a membership association and think tank that explores the role of art in society and fights for a better art climate and a stronger position of the artist.
Jip Hinten
Jip Hinten (1994) is interested in the connections between small and large art venues, galleries and museums in the Netherlands. Since 2015 she is the curator of Expositieruimte 38CC in Delft, a non-profit organisation where she realises exhibitions with both young emerging and more established international contemporary artists. She is also an editor at Tubelight, an independent online and offline platform for art criticism.
Jip was also a coach for Springboard Art Fair in 2023.
“As a coach for This Art Fair, I want to set a clear goal together with the artists: what do you want to achieve at this fair? Are you going for a big statement, or for a presentation with more ‘saleable’ work? As a frequent visitor to art fairs, I value a well-groomed presentation: an accessible text with an explanation of the work, business cards, an overview of the works with a price list. This certainly does not mean that a booth has to be boring. On the contrary! I want to investigate together with the artists how they can make their booth stand out, for example by using a bright color on the wall, sound, or an interactive element.”
Lars Been
Lars Been is a curator at Galerie Ron Mandos in Amsterdam, where he works with both emerging talent and established artists. Each year, he helps organise the Best of Graduates exhibition, providing recent graduates with a platform to showcase their work and connect with art professionals, collectors, and fellow artists. Passionate about supporting young artists, Lars enjoys helping them grow their networks, improve their presentation skills, and create dynamic fair presentations, which he finds deeply rewarding.
Maurits van de Laar
Maurits van de Laar is the founder of the gallery of the same name. The gallery, established in 1991 in The Hague, focuses on art in which the personal involvement and engagement of the artist emerges. The programme focuses on drawings with artists such as Marcel van Eeden, who started his career in the gallery in 1993, Robbie Cornelissen, Dirk Zoete, Martin Assig, Henri Jacobs, Dan Zhu and Susanna Inglada. In addition, there is attention for painting, sculpture and once a year an installation or project is realised in the gallery.
Why is Maurits excited about coaching for This? “I am always curious about new talent and like to look beyond the boundaries of my own gallery. I can coach artists in the do’s and don’ts of the gallery and art circuit.”
Petra Heck
As curator at Stichting NDSM-werf – the location of This Art Fair 2025 – Petra Heck is responsible for all art programming outside at the former shipyard, where she programmes many large-scale works in the public space. She has also worked in other places and with various media. For example, she worked with Cooperatie TAAK, at TodaysArt festival, the Netherlands Media Art Institute and gallery Paul Andriesse.
What part of coaching does Petra look forward to? “I enjoy coaching artists with questions they have about presenting their work within the context of This Art Fair.”
Sergi Rusca
Sergi Rusca is a curator whose practice focuses on intersectional ecology. At the moment, he is specially interested in philosophy of science, queer studies, and more-than-human worlding. He is currently Curator at RADIUS, Delft, and Gallery Curator at Ellen de Bruijne PROJECTS, Amsterdam.
He has been living and working in the Netherlands since 2019. He holds a BA in Art History from Universitat de Barcelona (2018) and an MA in Arts and Society from Universiteit Utrecht (2020). He has previously worked with 1646, ArtEZ University of the Arts, Eye Filmmuseum, Hortus Botanicus Amsterdam, TU Delft, University of Amsterdam, Universiteit Utrecht, and Willem de Kooning Academy.
“For This Art Fair 2025, I am looking forward to being of help in guiding artists in their presentations and getting acquainted with exciting and inspiring artistic practices in the Netherlands.”
Other coaches, which we will highlight in a future post, are: Mette Samkalden, Jeanine van Berkel, Wouter van Herwaarden, Fleur Feringa, Lih-Lan Wong, Selby Gildemacher, Inge Pollet.
Apply Now
Would you like to exhibit at This Art Fair and be guided by an art professional? Then apply now! Deadline: Sunday, 9 February. Find out how to apply here
