My name is Eva Olthof and I am a Dutch visual artist, educator and organiser based in Glasgow with 15 years worth of experience in the Creative Industries. From 2011-2022 I was based in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. My image and text based art practice is cross- and multi-disciplinary, and socially engaged. Since 2017 much of my work revolves around public and self-organised libraries in the broadest sense. Please visit publiclibraryof.net for more information.
Keywords: democratisation of art participation, practice of everyday life, the power of transformative learning, valueing lived experience, self-publishing, self-organisation, hidden stories and histories, do-it-yourself, photography, documentary, writing, the library & the archive.
Artist in residence programs I have participated in are KUNCI Study Forum & Collective & Cemeti Art House Yogyakarta ID, Künstlerhaus Bethanien Berlin DE, CRAC Valparaíso CL, Schloss Ringenberg DE & Opekta Cologne. I have made two research trips of a month to public and self-organised libraries in the USA. My work has been exhibited in the Van Abbemuseum library in Eindhoven NL, Savvy Contemporary Berlin De, KIOSK Ghent BE, TENT. Rotterdam and Showroom MAMA Rotterdam to name a few.
Between 2012 and 2018 I was a member of artist-run space Het Wilde Weten in Rotterdam which is a studio building with project space and artist in residency program. Here I was a member of the residency comittee between 2012-2016 and Chair Woman between 2016-2018.
I obtained a BFA Fine Art at ArtEZ University of the Arts in Arnhem NL in 2008 and a MFA in Artistic Research at the Dutch Art Institute/ArtEZ University of the Arts in 2011. June 2024 I obtained a Post-Graduate Diploma in Education with teaching qualification from the University of Stirling SCO.
To make my work possible I have received multiple grants in The Netherlands from funds like the Mondriaan Fund (Artist Basic, Artist Project, Artist Start 2x & two times an AIR grant), CBK Rotterdam (Five times the Development & Research Grant) and Stichting Droom & Daad amongst multiple other smaller funds.
I have been a lecturer and symposium organiser at the Willem de Kooning Academy for Art and Design in Rotterdam (2017-2020) and invited guest lecturer at the University of Stirling, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Jakarta Institute of the Arts, the Dutch Art Institute Arnhem & Bachelor of Fine Art at ArtEZ University of the Arts.
Graphic designers I have collaborated with on a regular basis are Bas Reijnen, Stefano Faoro & NM Studio
