Self-discipline

‘Reality, rhythm and roots’

Article

No. 41 • March 2026

We asked seven curators and directors to look ahead. Which themes and trends will shape the conversation in the coming years? And which artists are already showing where things are headed? Cathelijne Broers is an art historian and the director of Cultuurfonds. Previously she was director of the (at the time) Hermitage and the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam.

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Text: Cathelijne Broers

Sometimes you meet a maker in whom you immediately recognise: this talent has shaped itself. Not through an academy, but through a persistent way of seeing – a discipline that can be just as powerful as any formal education. In my work at the Cultuurfonds, and as an art historian, I am fascinated by how autodidactic practice is becoming increasingly visible. Not as a marginal phenomenon, but as a fully-fledged voice in the cultural field.

Take Bo Bosk (1992), an artist from Amsterdam-Zuidoost who started with graffiti and then, almost casually, mastered the oil painting palette. His work – intimate cinematic stills of friends, self-portraits and moments that seem to unfold just outside the frame – now travels from Amsterdam to cities such as London and Los Angeles. He is not ‘accidentally’ self-taught; he chooses an ongoing process of formation outside established paths, driven by curiosity and discipline.

But Bosk is not alone. In creative hubs such as Now’s the Time in Almere or at DAR Cultural Agency in Rotterdam, I see a new generation of makers emerging. Some have never had the opportunity to attend art school, others consciously chose to follow their own learning path – often because it suits their reality, rhythm or roots better.

This is an article from See All This #41, spring 2026.