EURES’ advice results in photographer’s exhibition

05 May 2015

The creative and cultural sector accounts for 4.2% of EU's GDP and employs around seven million people, mainly in small businesses, according to a report published in 2014. But the need for someone's creative or artistic work is not as evident as it is within other sectors, recruitment does not follow the same pattern. So EURES advisors need to take a different approach when it comes to matching artists with opportunities.

When the Stunning Staircases exhibition opened on 18 March one of the keenest visitors was EURES adviser Pieter van der Valk, who is based at Utrecht. ‘It was wonderful. His pictures fitted so well in in the setting of that old house on the Canal. It was an opportunity to look behind the façades and see these wonderful structures in a new way.'

Pieter's interest isn't only aesthetic: his advice was instrumental in getting Silvio to where he is today. Silvio approached EURES Utrecht wondering whether to try and build up a career as a photographer or look for a regular job. He was also looking for more commercial opportunities in the Netherlands. But where to start? Silvio takes up the story, ‘Pieter advised me to get all I could out of the internet through my website and social media.'

Silvio realised Pieter was right, he needed to harness the potential of networking. So he did what Pieter suggested, he created a professional web site to showcase his work and got active on Facebook and LinkedIn. Doing all he could to get his photos into the public eye paid off, an exhibition in the Photography Gallery in Utrecht was followed by another in Tilburg.

‘In Italy, information on the web is nothing more than contact details. In the Netherlands, online possibilities are used much more extensively. Pieter van der Valk made me aware of this and that, in turn, helped me get started in the Netherlands. He also told me I should build up my accounts base by visiting fairs and openings. That worked for me as well,' Silvio explains.

It wasn't long before the Eduard Planting Gallery took notice of him and showed his works at several major art fairs, including the KunstRAI and the PAN. Silvio has also established contacts with other Italian artists in the Netherlands, with whom he organised a group exhibition in Amsterdam.

‘EURES has helped, advised and motivated me for the last two years and the fact that I am established here is in great part due to the insight offered by the advisers,' says Silvio.

The Stunning Staircases exhibition runs from March 19th to June 21st, 2015 and combines different perspectives with modern photographic techniques.

Related links:

The Stunning Staircases exhibition

Living and working in the Netherlands

Video – Destination Netherlands: living and working in Europe

Creating growth – Measuring cultural and creative markets in the EU

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