AMSTERDAM.- Amsterdam Art Weekend's third edition is being held during the last weekend in November, from Thursday the 27th through Sunday the 30th. For one long weekend the city will turn into an internationally oriented meeting place for promising and renowned artists, for art enthusiasts and professionals. Once again, the emphasis lies with the discovery of young talent.

Varied program, tailored to specific interests
Amsterdam Art Weekend 2014 is an art event with a varied program, tailored to specific interests. The selection on view has been carefully geared to an audience ranging from enthusiasts and professionals to experienced collectors. Participants include galleries, museums, art institutes, theaters and artists' workplaces. Programming for the Amsterdam Art Weekend 2014 is based on a number of fundamental aspects. These roughly involve Gallery Exhibitions, Performances, Screenings, Conversations, Residencies and a Professionals Program.

Gallery Exhibitions
On Thursday evening, 27 November, each participating gallery will hold an opening for an exhibition of a young and/or established talent that has been organized specially for the Amsterdam Art Weekend. From the very start the entire city will function as an art fair for one full weekend. An art fair offering the prospect of unusual discoveries. Galerie Van Gelder, for instance, will be presenting the work of Eric Giraudet de Boudemange, fresh from the Rijksakademie and about to have an exhibition at the Centre Pompidou next year. Akinci will show work by Cevdet Erek, who was included in the last Documenta. Annet Gelink has work by Alicia Framis; Stigter Van Doesburg will show Amalia Pica; and at Fons Welters the work of David Jablanowski can be seen. All of these artists are alumni of the Rijksakademie or De Ateliers and have established their reputations internationally. But young talent isn't all there is to discover here. Upstream Gallery is exhibiting, for example, works by Marinus Boezem, and Borzo will show work by Carel Visser. In addition to exhibitions, many galleries are also holding Specials such as performances, artists' talks and guided tours by artists.

Performances
The Oude Kerk is presenting, under the title 'The Artist Speaks', a performance program that relates to its recently opened Tony Oursler exhibition. Four artists—Melanie Bonajo, Hedwig Houben, Frank Koolen and Paulien Oltheten— refer, each at a different spot in the Oude Kerk, to thematic and pictorial aspects of Oursler's work.

Screenings
Amsterdam Art Weekend and IDFA are collaborating on the program Paradocs, specially dedicated to video art. In connection with this there will be screenings, in EYE, of a number of art films that have been made available by Amsterdam galleries, the Rijksakademie and De Ateliers. The program includes work by Yael Bartana, Rebecca Digne and Erik van Lieshout.

Conversations
Stedelijk Museum Bureau Amsterdam, De Balie and Amsterdam Art Weekend will hold several debates among artists, art professionals and experts from various disciplines. The central theme: 'art and society'. Among the participants are Beatrix Ruf (as of 1 November, the Stedelijk's new director), Matthew Slotover (director of the internationally renowned art fair Frieze, held in London and New York) and Zachary Formwalt (an American artist who lives in Amsterdam). This will be Ruf's first appearance in a public debate as director of the Stedelijk. De Appel is planning a debate on differences and similarities in artistic approaches between the non-profit and commercial sectors.

Residencies
Work by resident artists and alumni of the Rijksakademie and De Ateliers will be on view throughout the entire city, in galleries, museums and institutes. One event not to miss: the 'RijksakademieOpen'. Only on Saturday and Sunday, and only during this particular weekend, will the Rijksakademie be opening its doors to the public. Those interested will have the opportunity to visit studios and meet talented young artists who have promising futures.

Professionals Program
With its Professionals Program, specially for those invited, Amsterdam Art Weekend functions as a podium for the exchange of knowledge and expansion of (international) networks. On Friday evening EYE and Amsterdam Art Weekend will present 'An Evening with Anthony McCall'. The artist, who is coming to Amsterdam specially for this occasion, will give a talk about his work. On Saturday morning at Foam, curator Claudia Küssel will provide an introduction to the exhibition 'Under Construction'. On Saturday evening at the Stedelijk Museum, the annual reception for professionals will be held; guests can use this opportunity to visit the Marlene Dumas exhibition. The reception will be opened by Kajsa Ollengren, alderwoman for Art and Culture in Amsterdam, and Beatrix Ruf. Following this, in the Stadsschouwburg, is a special Amsterdam Art Party. Hedwig Fijen, director of Manifesta will hold a dialogue with the (just-appointed) curator of Manifesta 11, to be held in Zurich in 2016.