{{Short description|Dutch writer and art collector}}
{{More citations needed|date=February 2025}}
'''Han Nefkens''' (born 1954) is a Dutch writer and art collector. Nefkens purchases and commissions international contemporary art for the specific purpose to give it on long-term loan or donate it to museums.
Born in Rotterdam in 1954, Nefkens studied journalism in France and the United States. He worked as a radio correspondent in Mexico for eleven years. He discovered in 1987 he was HIV-positive.
In 2001 he started the H+F Collection of contemporary art, which consists of photographs, videos, installations and paintings by – among others – Jeff Wall, Sam Taylor-Wood, Bill Viola, Shirin Neshat and Felix Gonzalez-Torres. Nefkens places them on long-term loan to museums in the Netherlands and abroad, including the Centraal Museum in Utrecht, Rotterdam’s Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen and FRAC Nord-Pas de Calais in Dunkirk.
In 2006, Nefkens set up ArtAids, a foundation that uses art in order to increase awareness of HIV/AIDS and improve the lives of people living with HIV.
In addition to being a collector and patron of the arts, Nefkens is also a writer. His first book, ''{{lang|nl|Bloedverwanten}}'' ("Blood Brothers"; 1995), is a semi-autobiographical novel about two brothers who are both infected with the AIDS virus. This was followed by a collection of short pieces,''{{lang|nl|Twee lege stoelen}}'' ("Two Empty Chairs"; 2005). The book ''{{lang|nl|De Gevlogen Vogel notities over een herwonnen leven}}'' ("Borrowed Time: Notes on a Recovered Life"), which was published in 2008 and has been translated into Spanish, is a report of the lengthy recovery process of Nefkens' HIV induced encephalitis.
"Giving is one of the most underrated values in society", Nefkens says. "By setting up something that I can share with others, I become part of the world. Sharing is the antidote to loneliness, when you share you are not alone."<ref name="Ref 2">{{cite news|last=Nefkens|first=Han|title=Han Nefkens donates a work by Pipilotti Rist to the Fundació Joan Miró-La Vanguardia - 2010-06-12|url=http://hemeroteca.lavanguardia.com/preview/2010/06/12/pagina-42/82210039/pdf.html}}</ref>
Nefkens is also the founder of an organisation named after him (Han Nefkens Foundation) and is also a long-time partner with Ilham Gallery of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Joy of Sharing |url=http://www.ilhamgallery.com/programmes/boom-boom-bang-p/ |website=Ilham Gallery |quote=ILHAM is delighted to be hosting this conversation with our long-term partner and friend Han Nefkens, the Founder of the Han Nefkens Foundation with Malaysian author and playwright Faisal Tehrani in conjunction with Han's publication The Joy of Sharing.}}</ref>
==Bibliography== {| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;" ! Year ! Dutch Title ! English Title ! Editorial |- | 1995 | ''{{lang|nl|Bloedverwanten}}'' | ''Blood Brothers'' | Wereldbibliotheek
|- | 2005 | ''{{lang|nl|Twee lege stoelen}}'' | ''Two Empty Chairs'' | Van der Graff |- | 2008 | ''{{lang|nl|De Gevlogen Vogel notities over een herwonnen leven}}'' | ''Borrowed Time: Notes on a Recovered Life'' | Atlas |- | 2011 | ''{{lang|nl|Han Nefkens. De eerste tien jaar}}'' | ''Han Nefkens. The first ten years'' | Atlas |}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [https://www.hnfoundation.com Han Nefkens Foundation] * [http://artaids.com Art Aids] * [http://www.hannefkens.nl/overview/ Han Nefkens work] * [http://hemeroteca.lavanguardia.com/preview/2010/05/17/pagina-64/77969894/pdf.html?search=han%20nefkens/ Interview with Han Nefkens: “I am surviving AIDS, and art certifies that I am still alive”- La Vanguardia - 21 May, 2009] * [http://hemeroteca.lavanguardia.com/preview/2010/05/17/pagina-25/81151780/pdf.html?search=han%20nefkens/ Interview with Han Nefkens:“It awakened in me the desire to share” - La Vanguardia - 15 March, 2010] * [http://www.elpais.com/articulo/portada/Soy/guardian/coleccionista/elpepuculbab/20100814elpbabpor_28/Tes Interview with Han Nefkens: Han Nefkens: “I’m more of a guardian than a collector” - El País - 14 August, 2010] * [http://www.trouw.nl/tr/nl/4324/nieuws/article/detail/1812601/2010/10/30/Han-Nefkens.dhtml Henny de Lange interview with Han Nefkens: "Art is an enrichment of life" - Trouw - 30 October, 2010]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Nefkens, Han}} Category:1954 births Category:Living people Category:Writers from Rotterdam Category:Dutch art collectors