HELVOIRT.- The 27th PAN Amsterdam runs from 24 November to 1 December in the RAI. Every year the fair produces surprises in art, antiques and design. Studio Job and Pieter Henket have chosen PAN as the platform for the presentation of their very latest projects. The current generation of Dutch artists, they have international appeal and an international clientele, just like the old masters whose works are also represented at the fair. The VHOK – The Royal Association of Fine Art Dealers in the Netherlands – and Thijs Murré take a progressive stance on the trade in old art.

During the preview for the press and invited guests on Saturday 23 November, Job Smeets and Nynke Tynagel – Studio Job – unveiled their very latest project, the Art Defender. Although it was made to celebrate the 65th birthday of the Land Rover Defender, the result looks nothing like a concept car you might see in a showroom. Wholly in the style of this internationally famous artistic duo, it is a life-sized tribute and at the same time a protest against everything that in Studio Job’s view the Defender stands for. From 24 November until 1 December this unique and spectacular car will be exhibited in the foyer of PAN. After the fair the Art Defender will travel to Brussels, Milan and other centres.

Pieter Henket is one of photography’s fastest rising stars on the international scene. The preview of PAN on 23 November at the Flatland Gallery stand saw the launch of his ‘Stars to the Sun’ a photo book about a gigantic South American spectacle. Every year thousands of Brazilian actors, artists and passista dancers travel to San Luís in Argentina where they take part in a huge carnival with the delirious Argentinians. Pieter Henket’s book contains 127 photos of the grandeur of the surrounding Sierras Grandes and the boundless energy of the passista dancers. At the heart of the book is a series of introspective portraits Henket was able to make during this sensational event in a studio he managed to construct from a couple of poles and white sheets. A limited number of signed copies of the book are on sale during the fair. ‘The Wait’ is being shown on the same stand. An unusual installation of eight films in which Henket made a two-hour stationary image of well-known actors and actresses who were their own directors. Willeke van Ammelrooy, Halina Reijn, Arjan Ederveen, Gijs Scholten van Aschat, Tygo Gernandt, Robert de Hoog, Sigrid ten Napel and Marwan Kenzari collaborated on ‘The Wait’.

The Royal VHOK - The Association of Fine Art Dealers in the Netherlands – is again proving to be an active and progressive advocate for the trade in old art in the Netherlands with an imaginative stand designed by Thijs Murré. This interior designer’s work can be seen in restaurants and clubs like Jimmy Woo, Lion Noir and, very recently, Rose’s Cantina. ‘Thijs has a distinctly individual opinion about art and antiques,’ says Robert Aronson, chairman of the VHOK. ‘I’ll leave everyone to judge for themselves whether it is better, but the fact is that it is spectacularly different from how we are used to seeing old art presented. I shall be fascinated to see the result and hear the reactions.’

This year, for the first time, there will be an extensive programme of master classes and guided tours at the fair entitled ‘Meet the Masters’ organized in collaboration with Residence. Interior designers and artists will share their knowledge, insight, inspiration and personal preferences with visitors in sessions lasting about one hour. Among the names already announced are Marcel Wolterink, Edward van Vliet, Kate Hume, Ted Noten, Carli Hermès, Chris Berens and Jan des Bouvrie. You can find the full list and how to sign up for ‘Meet the Masters’ on www.residence.nl/pan .

Over 125 dealers will be showing more than 15,000 objects at PAN Amsterdam. They are all vetted for quality, authenticity and condition by independent committees made up of eighty 80 experts in all, who examine everything from objects from classical antiquity to contemporary art, and from jewellery to twentieth-century designer furniture. Around forty per cent of the exhibitors show modern and contemporary art. The other sixty per cent bring old art; they include four specialist dealers in Tribal Art and five in vintage design.