Wonderful news: I will be performing at Glastonbury Festival, U.K. 2024 at the Woodsies Area – Tree Stage!
I will do 2 live performances / video projections, together with ENTITY (Steve Everitt), who will produce the live soundscapes for the shows:
Wednesday 26th June 19:30 – 20:15 THE ART OF FLYING (acoustic set)
Thursday 27th June 11:30 – 12:10 PLANKTONIUM (full immersive set)
I am very honoured to be part of the largest Festival of contempary performing arts in the world.
Through the looking glass is an exhibition by EST Art Foundation, Leiden, NL in the dark hours from December 27 2021 to February 27 2022, while still following COVID restrictions. Works shine every day from dusk to 11pm. This exhibition is for everyone to be seen while walking or cycling in Singelpark Leiden, Through the looking glass.
Artists: Jos Agasi, Jan van IJken, Mathias Krissmer, Inge Reisberman, Eefje Vaghi, Karin Rianne Westendorp, Wright & van ‘t Hoog.
Area: Energiepark
Venues:Papegaaisbolwerk 18 and 20, Portiersloge Ambachtsplein, De Sleutels Langegracht, Maresingel, all Leiden, the Netherlands.
Through the looking glass is about wonder and amazement, about awareness, research and seeing through. From outside to inside and, about light and darkness. The EST 2022 Through the Looking glass schedule will celebrate the capacity for researching the exquisite complexity of natural phenomena.
We co-operate with Leiden2022, European City of Science Leiden 2022.
Special thanks to Leiden Culture Dept., Energiepark leiden, Fields of Wonder, De Sleutels and Pronck
27 December 2021 – 27 February 2022
Beautiful publication in Dutch daily newspaper Trouw of 2019-12-27:
Vimeo Staff Picks: Best of the month for Becoming!
My film received the ‘best of’ title in the eye candy video category.
Thanks so much Vimeo!!
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Award ‘Best short documentary 2018’ for BECOMING at Innsbruck Nature Film Festival, Austria
Many thanks to the whole festival team and the jury!
The filmmaker successfully condenses 3 weeks into a few minutes, accompanied by a gently embracing sounddesign, leading spectators through the exceptional journey of birth.
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On 30th September 2018, Becoming was screened at the Dutch premiere in Utrecht, during the Nederlands Film Festival. 
BECOMING is a short film about the miraculous genesis of animal life. In great microscopic detail, we see the ‘making of’ a salamander in its transparant egg from fertilization to hatching.
The first stages of embryonic development are roughly the same for all animals, including humans. In the film, we can observe a universal process which normally is invisible: the very beginning of an animal’s life. A single cell is transformed into a complete, complex living organism with a beating heart and running bloodstream.
The salamander embryo (an Ichthyosaura Alpestris) was followed very closely in a combination of timelapse and film. All stages of embryogenesis can be seen in this film: cleavage, gastrulation, neurulation and organogenesis. Time was condensed from about 3 weeks to 6 minutes.
2018, HD video, color, 06:15
Becoming has been screened at more than 25 international film festivals and received the Award for best short documentary at the Innsbruck nature film festival 2018 and the Vision Science Award at Imagine Science Abu Dhabi 2019.
In 2019 the film went ‘viral’ on internet and has been watched by a few million people. It was published on the website of National Geographic, Aeon, Colossal, Live Science, IFLScience and numerous others. A Vimeo Staff Pick of the month was awarded to the film and the Dutch TV show De Wereld Draait Door screened the film, including an interview.
LIST OF SCREENINGS AND AWARDS BECOMING
Acknowledgements; Many thanks to:
Ben Geutskens for sharing his knowledge about the biology and life cycles of salamanders: http://www.semperinmotus.nl/
My friends at the Dutch microscopy club NGVM: http://www.ngvm.nl
Alex Kenter salamander breeder with endless patience in providing eggs.
Huibert Boon for the audimix and foley http://www.boonbooy.nl/
Jan van IJken is a filmmaker and photographer from the Netherlands, working at the interface of art and science.
His work is about the secrets of nature, microscopy, embryology and human-animal relationships.
Click on the filmposter for Vimeo On Demand, where you can rent or buy my films:
Jan van IJken is a filmmaker and photographer in Leiden, the Netherlands, working on the interface of art and science. In his latest works, he reveals secrets in nature like the murmurations of starlings, the genesis of life and the unseen world of microscopic plankton. He is interested in microscopy, nature, biology, evolution, and embryology. His award-winning work has been published in numerous international media, e.g. National Geographic and BBC Planet Earth III.
In earlier years he published three photobooks on social-documentary subjects like devotion in Eastern Europe and the relationship of man and animal. He developed a keen eye for light and composition and specializes on autonomous long-term projects.
Projects
Planktonium – short film (2021, 4K Video, colour, 15:23) and photobook
Planktonium is a short film and photobook about the unseen world of living microscopic plankton. The film includes a sound composition by Jana Winderen. It is a voyage into a secret universe, inhabited by alien-like creatures
Planktonium had its world premiere at Ji.hlava Documentary Film Festival, CZ and was screened at many international film festivals and art galleries.
The Dutch Museum De Lakenhal in Leiden acquired one copy of the short film Planktonium for its collection and the film has been part of Leiden European City of Science 2022 program.
The film received the J. B. CZECZ AWARD FOR BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY at Włodzimierz Puchalski International Nature Film Festival, Łódź, PL 2022
A short sequence of plankton footage was featured in Planet Earth III, Ocean Episode, narrated by Sir David Attenborough.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/5mkz46vC74JXyMq4F1rMsP7/plankton-an-unseen-universe
Planktonium Live Performances
In these live performances, I am screening plankton videos, improvising with musicians and sound artists.
2025 Inscience Film Festival, Nijmegen, NL (2 performances, with John van Oostrum)
2025 Mu Hybrid Art House, Eindhoven, NL (with John van Oostrum)
2024 IDFA on Stage, Eye Filmmuseum Cinema 1 (with Jana Winderen)
2024 Kunstroute, Auditorium Museum De Lakenhal (with John van Oostrum)
2024 Glastonbury Festival, Tree Stage, UK (with Steve Everitt / Entity)
2024 International Film Festival Rotterdam, Art Directions program, Worm, NL (with Vitja Pauwels)
2023 ‘O’ / Videodroom for Viernulvier & Film Fest Gent, De Vooruit, Gent, BE
(with musicians Naima Joris, Niels van Heertum and Vitja Pauwels)
Photobook Planktonium
English edition by Terra Publishers
German edition by Tecklenborg Verlag
Six photos were nominated for a Wildscreen Panda Award 2022, category Photo Story, and in the Nikon Small World competition two photos were awarded 9th place / honourable mention, plus one honourable mention for a videoclip from Planktonium.
The photo series was published in National Geographic Magazine NL, New Scientist, Oceanographic Magazine, NRC Handelsblad, Algemeen Dagblad, Süddeutsche Zeitung among many others.
Radio and TV interviews by Vroege Vogels and M in the Netherlands
Becoming – short film (2018, HD Video, colour, 06:15)
BECOMING is a short film about the miraculous genesis of animal life. In great microscopic detail, we see the ‘making of’ a salamander in its transparent egg from fertilization to hatching.
Becoming has been screened at more than 25 international film festivals and received the Award for best short documentary at the Innsbruck nature film festival 2018, the Visual Science Award at Imagine Science Abu Dhabi 2019 and a honorary mention at Academia Film, Olomouc, CZ. The film was awarded Vimeo Staff Pick of the Month and was nominated for Vimeo Best of 2019 (top 10 experimental films).
In 2019 the film went ‘viral’ on internet and has been watched by millions of people. It was published on the website of National Geographic, Aeon, Colossal, Live Science, IFLScience and numerous others. The Dutch TV show De Wereld Draait Door screened the film, including an interview.
The art of flying – short film (2015, HD Video, black&white, 06:52) and photo series
Short film about “murmurations”: the mysterious flights of the Common Starling
The film has been screened at more than 50 international film festivals, galleries, biennales, etc. and was awarded ‘Best art film’ at Pärnu Film Festival, Estonia, selected for National Geographic Short Film showcase and awarded a Vimeo Staff Pick.
Nevermore – short film (2013 HD Video, colour, 03:37)
Film about the fast and almost instinctive creative process of action painting
Facing Animals – short film (2012, HD Video, colour, 29:31)
Debut film about the complex and often bizarre relationship between man and animal
Grand prix short films at Split Film festival, Croatia and screenings at international film festivals.
Dierbaar (Precious animals) – photobook (2005) about the relationship between man and animal
Precious Animals (2005) is a photo-project about the relationship between animals and humans, focusing on animals as manufactured consumer products on the one hand, with efficiency playing the leading role, and these very consumers and their habit of pampering their own pets and other cuddly two and four-legged creatures, on the other hand.
Precious Animals was commissioned by the Rijksmuseum and NRC Handelsblad as part of their series ‘Document Nederland’. The photos were exhibited in photo museum Huis Marseille, Amsterdam from Nov 2005 – Feb 2006, along with a special supplement of NRC Handelsblad and the publication of the photobook Dierbaar.
The series was published in many international newspapers and magazines (e.g. De Morgen, Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, El Mundo Magazine, Eight, Mother Jones Magazine and Days Japan) and received a Humanity Photo Award, an International Photography Award and was selected for American Photography. The series was screened at photo festival Visa pour l’image, Perpignan, France
Awards: Humanity Photo Award, China, 3rd prize Daily Life 2006, International Photography Awards, 3rd prize Photo Essays 2006, Black and White Spider Awards, Nomination Fine Arts 2007
Collections: Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, John Cleary Gallery Houston USA, Museum of Fine Arts Houston USA
Radio interviews (Dutch only): Vroege Vogels, 2 hour special / interview 2005 and Kunststof Radio, 1 hour interview 2005
New Neighbours – photobook (2004) about the enlargement of the E.U.
A touch of Divinity – photobook (2001) about religion in Eastern Europe
The publication of the book was followed by travelling exhibition in monumental churches in the Netherlands. The project received a Humanity Photo Award, China, 2nd prize Daily Life in 2002
