Bart Houwers is a Dutch visual artist and spatial designer. In his work he reflects on the rural changes of the past decades up to the present day.
In site specific installations, interventions and sculptures, notions like: (spatial) memory, micro-histories, place, industries, scale, tradition and loss are being explored.
He often uses pre-existing materials in relation to language, or lack of language. There is a sense of playing with quotes, at the same time it transcends the quote and manipulates what is quoted. Resulting in, seemingly, incoherent and displaced fragments.
Houwers examines the long-term consequences of economic expansion: the erosion of local knowledge, the scaling-up of production, and the gradual disappearance of reciprocal forms of co-existence. These changes are approached obliquely; through fragments, detours, and material traces.
Houwers studied Fine Arts at the Rietveld Academie (2017-2021) and was resident at De Ateliers (2022-2024).
Naast autonoom beeldend werk, geeft Bart Houwers ook educatie; in de vorm van (gast)lessen, colleges en projecten. Houwers verzorgt onderwijs aan leerlingen, studenten en volwassenen, variërend van het primair onderwijs tot en met het universitair niveau.
Zijn educatieve aanbod bevindt zich op het snijvlak van kunst, ontwerp en maatschappelijke verandering. In workshops, presentaties en projecten worden grote thema’s onderzocht, zoals mens-dierrelaties en de manier waarop we omgaan met onze leefomgeving.
Leerlingen worden uitgedaagd om na te denken over hun eigen maatschappelijke positie en relatie tot de wereld om hen heen.
Binnen de lessen wordt via verschillende artistieke werkvormen onderzoek gedaan naar de directe leefomgeving van de deelnemers. Daarbij ligt de nadruk op het proces: kijken, verzamelen, herinterpreteren en maken.
Afhankelijk van de context kunnen werkvormen bestaan uit:
• beeldend werk en installaties
• ruimtelijk onderzoek, ontwerp en mapping/cartografie
• performatieve of verhalende elementen
In addition to his autonomous art practice, Bart Houwers is also active in education, offering (guest) lessons, lectures, and projects.
Houwers provides education to pupils and students, ranging from primary education to university level.
His educational work operates at the intersection of art, design, and societal change. Through workshops, presentations, and projects, broad themes are explored, such as human–animal relationships and the ways in which we engage with our environment. Students are encouraged to reflect on their own position in society and their relationship to the world around them.
Within the lessons, participants investigate their immediate surroundings through various artistic methods. The emphasis lies on the process: observing, collecting, reinterpreting, and making.
Depending on the context, formats may include:
• visual artworks and installations
• spatial research, design, and mapping/cartography
• performative or narrative elements