Female Voices in Art: Maya Meijer Bergmans, Art historian, Co-owner of MeyerBergman Erfgoed Groep
"Work to do! I am a feminist with a to-do-list in the Art World"
Maya Meijer-Bergmans (b. 1945, Amsterdam, The Netherlands) studied art history at Leiden University. With her husband Ton Meijer she is founder/owner of MeyerBergman Heritage Group and the driving force behind the Creative Office within the group. From 1992 to 2007 Maya was the owner and director of the Promenade Hotel Holding. And till 2018 she was owner/managing director of the Westergasfabriek events site in Amsterdam. Maya is board member of several cultural and medical institutions.
Could you tell us something about your role in the art world?
I am the initiator of The Hague Sculpture and have been its managing director for 10 years. I am an art collector, assembling an art collection in Buitenplaats Doornburgh (Exhibitions with artists in Residence, and the present exhibition Vorm aan de Vecht ). I organized some big outdoor Sculpture Exhibitions in Bordeaux, Le Havre and Paris.
What did you enjoy about being a part of this project?
Creativity, to show art for a general public not used to contemporary art. To be asked by a well-known artist like Carla van de Puttelaar, as a woman of interest in the artworld to be part of this special project. She captures your soul in her pictures, not just beauty or composition.
Do you have a favourite artist?
My favourite artists are Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud, but also young ones, such as the Korean Chae Um Rhee and Jammie Holmes
What is your earliest memory involving art?
I made several abstract paintings myself when I was 16 years old and sold them quite well.
Do you have any special thoughts about the position of women in the art world?
Work to do! I am a feminist with a to-do-list in the Art World
What are you wearing, and is there a story behind it?
I am wearing a dress from Duncan Lantink. He creates clothes made out of several old designer pieces. He won the Amsterdam Art Prize in 2020.
What impact has the health crisis had on your daily practice?
A lot, I could not visit museums or galleries, no expo’s, or only without visitors. No travelling to other countries, no Art Basel, no Frieze, no TEFAF etc.
Has it changed your views on Art?
No, not my views on art, but I was surprised in a very negative way about how governments acted on Culture and Art as ‘not important’.
Have you created new initiatives and ways of working?
I have been working like usual and my ideas and creativity have not diminished. Of course I had to work much more from home and I missed the social contacts we had before Covid.
