2008: Radek, how did the first exhibition come about?
Radek: Actually, the first edition of Best of Graduates was in 2005, under the name of Paraat. I started the exhibition Paraat at the Veemvloer, where it was intended as a collaborative project. It was about young artists in Amsterdam so it had to have an impact, this way they could join forces. I visited all the art academies regularly before 2005 and I found it remarkable that there were so many academies spread out across the Netherlands. Everything that took place outside the big cities was not really considered interesting at the time. No one came to the graduation shows and I thought that was a shame. That’s how I came up with the idea to bring the best artists from all over the country together in Amsterdam along with the artists who graduated from the better-known art academies.
After a few editions, I thought, all nice and well, but what do these artists actually get out of it? I considered it to be much more interesting for these young artists to work with the commercial segments of the art world. I already knew Ron Mandos from Rotterdam and I approached him, because he had always been interested in young artists. So, in 2008 we made an exhibition together for the first time. In that first year of collaboration, the title was Paraat #4 (Best of Graduates). A year later I left the Veemvloer and since then the title has been Best of Graduates. The 2008 edition took place in the gallery as well as in the Veemvloer. That year we made a nice connection between the gallery on the Prinsengracht and the Veemvloer with a boat. It was a great festive displacement.