Five Questions for Tascha Sciarone

Art Historian Tascha Sciarone in a blue dress infront of a painting of the Notre Dame by Adele du Plessis. Photo by Nicole Sciarone 2020

Five Questions for... Tascha Sciarone from Gallery Sorelle Sciarone

Five Questions for...  is an interview series for the newsletter for the Entrepreneurs Society of Voorschoten (Ondernemers Vereniging van Voorschoten). Every month Manon Vonk, a member, interviews another Entrepreneur from the society. The interview is published internally as well as in the local newspaper.

You can find the original Dutch version here.

This here an English translation of the interview.

"Entrepreneurship is continuously adapting to reality".

The Corona pandemic is also affecting the art world. Tascha Sciarone knows all about it. With her gallery, she wanted to visit international art fairs in Hong Kong, Singapore and Dubai for the sale of paintings. "Now, I focus on strengthening my network in the Netherlands, by hiring art historians, connecting with other galleries and the search for a(temporary) location in the Netherlands."

by Manon Vonk

Why did you become an entrepreneur, and how did you become what you are now?

"Being an entrepreneur was the only logical step for me. I come from an enterprising family, my partner is also an entrepreneur. It is in a way the only logical step. My grandfather in South Africa had already tried to prepare me to be an entrepreneur.  In 2007 I came to the Netherlands with my family, and studied Art History at the University of Leiden. I have a broad interest and have been involved in all kinds of things, including a premaster in anthropology, a minor in business service, some law, honours courses and all kinds of committees and boards. My grandfather's advise was to first work for someone else for seven years.  Because the art world was less like a banking environment - that's what he based his advice on - I started my own gallery in 2019 after a short and intensive process at galleries and auction houses. Partly because being a young mother, the art world was not sure what to do with me."

How do you keep yourself sharp?

"Due to all the developments that are taking place, such as the protests in Hong Kong, COVID restrictions, I have to constantly adapt myself. A week before I was due to leave for the art fair in London, we got the lockdown. So setting up a new company in this day and age requires a lot of shifting and improvisation."

What would you like to see change in Voorschoten?

"I would like to open a real gallery in Voorschoten. Many buildings are empty, but the rent is very high. A while ago, KLM approached me for a paid interview about the combination Voorschoten, gallery, museum, nice restaurants and a piece of green in the Randstad. I think it would be nice to fit into the ecosystem of Voorschoten. Now my gallery only exists online and at Art Fairs."

With which other (Voorschoten) entrepreneur do you do business the most?

"Siu Ling Wu from BIJ57. She has one of the few catering establishments where I can go for coffee with my lactose intolerance. Outside Voorschoten I work together with Mariëlle van der Net, owner of Domo Eclectica. We are going to organize our galleries together. Me with my knowledge of the European and Asian market and she with her network in the Netherlands."

What does your home situation look like and what books on the bedside table?

"I have a partner, the father of our two and five-year-old sons and a dog. On my bedside table is Eva Rodsky's "Fair Play", about a better distribution of work within the household. And also "So you want to talk about race?" By Ijeoma Oluo. I bought that book because of the fierce criticism I received on my lecture about Golden Age versus Seventeenth Century and the importance of the Black Lives Matter movement. {I hope this book will equip me to be able to talk about race issues within a small predominnantly white community.}"

Newspaper Article in Dutch

Picture of the interview in the newspaper. Tascha's young children signed the clipping.

Thank you for reading and getting to know Tascha Sciarone a little better. Please feel free to comment and share the interview with your friends, family, associates, and anyone you think will be interested in Gallery Sorelle Sciarone and the paintings we have in our collection.

Would you like to know more about: