A Breath of Fresh Air

We met Marta Vallvé in the Aurora building where they were setting up a small exhibition to showcase Wageningen’s new art magazine, Uitwaaien. We were very excited to interview Marta about this fantastic new publication which recently launched:

Uitwaaien is a first-of-its-kind art magazine showcasing Wageningen’s local artists. How did this idea come to you?

Ed and Fernando came up with the idea one evening while having beers at one of Wageningen’s local pubs. They were curious to know what our local artists were making and discovered that there was no medium which showcased our city’s local artists. So after many months of discussions, planning and finding the right people we formed a board of editors and published our very first edition at the end of last year (2022). We received funding from the municipality of Wageningen and from Wageningen University for printing 2000 copies of the first edition, these are freely available on WUR campus and around the city.

What is the role of Uitwaaien?

The most important role of Uitwaaien is to connect the university and the city’s community through art. We believe there are a lot of art lovers and artists in Wageningen and through Uitwaaien we want to spread that excitement for art!

Which forms of art does Uitwaaien showcase?

We want to showcase everything and anything our local artists are working on! There is a mix of professional artists and amateurs that submit their art. Of course, we are limited by the printed format of the magazine, so for now we feature visual and written art. We also have QR codes for audio-visual art.

How frequently do you aim to publish Uitwaaien?

For now we are aiming to publish twice a year. There is both a Dutch and English version available so we can reach as many people as possible.

For your first edition you did not specify themes for the artist, could you tell us a bit more about that?

For our first edition we wanted to leave the artists to their own inspiration. We should have expected it, but there certainly was a lot of science-inspired art in our first edition.

Did any animals feature in the artist’s work?

Yes! We had multiple animal-inspired artworks which included fish, birds, rodents and sheep just to name a few. Animals and nature inspires some of the best art out there!

Uitwaaien is available for free. You can find it in your university building and in several locations all over Wageningen. You can now also read it in the hall of Zodiac.

If you (or someone you know) would like to exhibit your art in the next edition of Uitwaaien there is an open call for submissions until the 15^th of April 2023 under the theme “Silence”. Submit your art on the website: uitwaaienmagazine.nl. You can contact the editorial board at Uitwaaien.magazine@gmail.com, or through @uitwaainemag on Instagram.