TEFAF Maastricht

Cancer is one of the most common causes of death. The tide can be reversed only by scientific cooperation on an international scale. Since 2005 TEFAF is therefore supporting research and international collaboration by means of a special Chair of Oncology at Maastricht UMC+ (Maastricht University Medical Centre).

Researchers at Maastricht UMC+ are continually searching for new possibilities to treat cancer patients, and their work is proving successful. For instance, Dr. Manon van Engeland and her team at the pathology department have recently been performing research into biomarkers. This research demonstrates the effect of a new biomarker for colon cancer. The biomarker shows in faeces the inactivation of the candidate tumour suppressor gene NDGR4. Tumour suppressor genes monitor the growth rate, mobility and malignancy of cells. Inactivation of a suppressor gene is an important link in the development of cancer. By demonstrating cancer-specific gene inactivation, colon cancer can be detected at an early stage, as a result of which fatalities may be decreased by 15 to 30%.

TEFAF is supporting a project of the Prince Claus Fund’s Cultural Emergency Response program by donating €10,000. This contribution will enable the restoration of the library and archives of the Nesin Foundation in Istanbul, which were flooded in September 2009. This has also made it possible for the Foundation to embark on the digitalisation of important cultural-historical archives. The Nesin Foundation’s collection is of great significance for the literary and political history of Turkey.

The library of the Nesin Foundation was severely damaged by floods resulting from heavy rainfall on 9 September 2009. The more than 30,000 books and 300,000 pages of records are of cultural-historical importance because they document the literary and political history of Turkey between 1946 and 1995. Restoration work began in November 2009 and is progressing successfully. These repairs are expected to be completed in 2010.

The Nesin Foundation was set up in 1973 by the Turkish writer and satirist Aziz Nesin (1915-1995). His Foundation serves as a home and an educational centre for homeless orphans and young people. It also houses the library and Aziz Nesin’s private archives.

This is the second occasion on which TEFAF has supported the Cultural Emergency Response (CER) program with a donation of €10,000. CER enables the provision of rapid and effective aid for cultural heritage that has been affected by man-made or natural disasters.

The Prince Claus Fund believes that rescuing cultural heritage can bring hope and consolation, and can therefore help to restore human dignity, continuity and a sense of identity. Through its support of the Nesin Foundation, TEFAF underscores the importance of works on paper as important purveyors of cultural expression and identity. This will also be communicated at this year’s fair through the introduction of a new section, TEFAF on Paper, which will be completely devoted to art forms on paper such as drawings, prints, photos, watercolours and manuscripts.

The TEFAF Applied Art Memorial Chair at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands was established in 2007. It was financed by TEFAF and over the last eighteen months has been occupied by three prominent visiting professors, Dr Reinier Baarsen (Amsterdam), Dr Christian Witt-Dörring (Vienna/New York) and Dr Deon Viljoen (Cape Town). The core values of the rotating professorship and the fair are the broadening of knowledge and quality in the field of applied art—around half of what is on offer at the fair is applied art. The chair was dedicated to the late Dave Aronson, former chairman of TEFAF’s Executive Committee.