From 24 April to 3 June 2018, the Jan van der Togt Museum exhibited an exhibition of the three nominated artists for the Bernardine de Neeveprijs 2018. The three contenders were Joost Bicker Caarten, Jan Doms and Arnout Visser. They were nominated by an expert jury during the presentation of their work in the exhibition room of the Institute for Art and Craft (IKA) in Mechelen in 2017.

The Bernardine de Neeveprijs was established by the Association of Friends of Modern Glass and is a tribute to the first chief curator of the arts and crafts at Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam, Mrs. Bernardine de Neeve (1915-1996). The prize was created in 1990 for the artistic development of glass artists from the Netherlands and Belgium and will be awarded in 2018 to an artist who has an innovative and surprising view of glass and promotes this on an artistic basis, with glass as a visual material an essential part of the entire oeuvre. Important criteria for the jury were diversity in expressions and techniques in glass.

The jury said the following about the nominees:

Joost Bicker Caarten Surprising by simplicity and material combinations. Signs in the space that show the tension between form and material to their best advantage. Glass is used as a material for sculptors, giving it its own logic. Characters in the room, light as a feather and well presented. "

Jan Doms (winner) A fascinating combination of glass and sound. An arsenal of resources is used to create space-filling installations that cannot be missing to make them exciting. Although the jury was not entirely convinced of the visual quality of this work, she was charmed by the "different way of handling" the glass material. A fact that answered the call. "

Arnout Visser "Original, playful, authentic. From a very basic approach, Visser comes up with convincing functional objects. Not dogmatic but intuitive and usually without a plan. He delves into something and creates his designs on the spot with local artisans. The work creates a sunny smile.