CITY RESIDENT: LUCAS DE MAN
Lucas De Man (1982) is artistic director at Stichting Nieuwe Helden and host of the AVRO-Tros programme Kunstuur (Art Hour) on NPO2. Having been city artist of Den Bosch (2013-2016), Lucas remains connected to Den Bosch as maker in residence(?) at the Verkadefabriek. Lucas lives in Amsterdam and Ghent, where he has been doing a city residency from 2018.
Lucas obtained his MA Literature in Leuven and then went on to follow the directing course at the Theatre School in Amsterdam (2008). After his education as a theatre director he further developed himself as a cultural entrepreneur with an innovative method.
With his Stichting Nieuwe Helden, Lucas creates artistic projects and urban actions for public spaces; projects which reflect his artistic vision. The aim is to make public space into a meeting place by creating moments in which you encounter yourself, others and the world, moments in which you are together in not knowing. The creation of these meetings and connection with the community is not only a goal, it also informs the method of Nieuwe Helden. Each project entails an active search for companies, organisations and people. Telling stories with a sense of urgency, finding an appropriate form for them and starting a dialogue with the right audience. In this way, diverse projects emerge: from, for instance, the production Bejaarden en Begeerte (The Aged and Lust), where audience members can only enter when accompanied by someone over 65, to performance installations like SKETCH, which toured through European cities and asked ordinary city dwellers to sketch their ideal city.
Lucas often speaks at and hosts, amongst others, Naked Song Festival, De Grote Kunstshow, Geen Daden Maar Woorden, Jacques De Leeuw Prijs, The Creative Underclass?!, Bevrijdingsfestival, Museum Congres.
