A tribute to Dieneke Ferguson: ‘a visionary, endlessly resourceful, eternally optimistic woman’

12 October 2020

Design writer Barbara Chandler celebrates the life of her friend, the founder of Hidden Art, who died last month

12 October 2020

Dieneke Ferguson. Photo: Barbara Chandler @sunnygran

'Transforming passion into products’ – this seemingly simple mantra was the guiding principle for Hidden Art, the not-for-profit enterprise which actively furthered the careers of around 3,500 British makers and designers for nearly 30 years – and inspired many more. Its founder and driving force was Dieneke Ferguson (born 25 May 1950), originally from the Netherlands, who sadly died of ovarian cancer in Homerton Hospital on the evening of Monday 21 September 2020. This visionary, endlessly resourceful, energetic, powerfully persuasive and eternally optimistic woman was my personal friend and fruitful journalistic source for over 25 years. Remembered universally for her gentle smile – approachable and unintimidating – she was loved and respected by countless people in many different fields. I sought accounts and comments from some of them to illuminate her life and achievements.

David Dewing was director of the (then) Geffrye Museum (now Museum of the Home) when he first met Dieneke in the early 1990s. ‘We discussed developing the creative sector in Hackney, which was blooming but largely out of sight and certainly not joined up. Dieneke was someone who gets things done in a determined, but also collaborative way. She was no empire builder; she believed in what she was doing and was persuasive in getting others to join her.’ He adds: ‘I am lucky to have known her over the last 30 years and will always remember her with great fondness and admiration.’

The two of them set up The Hackney Contemporaries in September 1993, initially a group of 13 artist-designer-makers, who changed their name to Hidden Art of Hackney in the following year. (Hackney was later dropped, as Dieneke extended her reach). There was a first show at the Geffrye, and an international exhibition in Belgium. Dieneke was determined from the very start to take Hackney, and later British art, craft and design to a global market.

Nowadays, open studio events are common place, but they were a new idea when Dieneke pioneered them in Hackney in 1993, consolidating them into a regular event with a classy hand-drawn map, illustrated guides, and even bus tours and trips on canal boats. I still have the huge silk scarf I bought from Cressida Bell at the outset and a charming inlaid porcelain tea cup by Susan Nemeth.

Designer Giles Miller, who exhibited with Hidden Art, and his cardboard collection

Ceramicist Kate Malone was a founding member of Hackney Contemporaries – and indeed drove the van to Belgium. She reflects: ‘We were at the start of our professional careers with the common ground of Hackney as our workplace. The famous statistic was that there were more artists per square mile in Hackney than in any other city in Europe. It was a raw borough packed with resources and talent, essentially with very cheap work spaces. We wanted to highlight our own work, and show Hackney as a place to be cherished and visited... and over the years it certainly did the trick. How lucky we were to have the guidance and calm reassurance of this wonderful woman. Her objectives were clear, altruistic, and caring.’

Fund raising was Dieneke’s forte. ‘She had great ability in marketing and communications, and in business development,’ remembers David Dewing. ‘She was adept at making complex funding applications for government and EU grants. She was at the forefront in exploiting computers and the internet, developing her website so that marketing and sales were online when all of this was still in its infancy.’

Adds Guy Begg, a long-time collaborator, and a close personal friend, in touch until the end: ‘Dieneke was the most selfless, committed person it was ever my privilege to know for over 20 years. She worked tirelessly on endless and highly-demanding funding bids on her own or in partnership with others such as my own Metropolitan Works, City Fringe Partnership, Design-Nation, Crafts Central and more, securing funding from the London Development Agency and then the European Regional Development Fund and others.’

Ash Pendant by Tom Raffield, another artist from the Hidden Art stable

Hidden Art was a regular exhibitor at 100% Design, co-founded in Chelsea first, and then Earls Court, by Ian Rudge in 1995. He writes movingly: ‘Dieneke was such a gentle soul who supported so many designers. Graciously tenacious and a true design advocate, Dieneke was totally focused on helping her designers achieve their potential. The many Hidden Art stands initiated by Dieneke over the years at 100% Design encapsulated her spirit, contributing greatly to the ethos of the show, presenting young designers with a level playing field where they could exhibit as equals. She corralled and encouraged the many talented designers who found their first commercial success at the show. She will be greatly missed by many, many people.’

Dieneke went (typically) to suss out the Milan furniture fair and design week in 2002, and soon turned the gargantuan annual event into an important platform for Hidden Art members, first in Zona Tortona and then in SaloneSatellite, where she organised group stands. The founder and creative director of SaloneSatellite, Marva Griffin, remembers the ‘interesting young designers that she launched that are today very active with their creativity.’ She added: ‘We will all miss Dieneke.’

Dieneke took ‘her’ designers to many other international trade fairs, including New York, Shanghai and Paris. She also helped numerous countries set up their own design networks - China, Kenya, Vietnam, Azerbaijan and more. And the Hidden Art Schools Project had an exchange programme with St Petersburg. Hidden Art Cornwall was set up in 2005, run by University College Falmouth, with Cornish Design Fairs taking place between 2006 and 2014.

‘She had a gift for building networks,’ says Natalie Melton, creative director at the Crafts Council...’and she was a tireless cheerleader for others.’ Adds Isobel Dennis, former director of New Designers and now director of Collect art fair: ‘She was dedicated to the support of young talent. She set an example to us all.’

Designer-maker and Hidden Art exhibitor Snowden Flood

Sadly, however, funding ceased in 2011, and officially Hidden Art came to an end. ‘But Dieneke kept Hidden Art going against all the odds,’ says David Dewing. ‘She moved further out and supported her designer-makers almost entirely online. But there was less personal interaction and by 2018 her own health was failing. She never once lost her enthusiasm for life and for her work – she was always cheerful and hopeful, and my goodness, was she a fighter!’

As design writer for the Evening Standard’s Homes & Property, I was often involved with Hidden Art. We eagerly reported on the open studios, and on stands at 100% Design and Milan and so on. I profiled Dieneke in her own home – we smuggled in a few extra pieces for a great Hidden Art photo-op. As a photographer, I also exhibited with Hidden Art, notably at Broadway Market in 1999 and 2000. My show of street photography, Hidden Heart of Hackney, was centred around a little graffiti heart photographed on an early tour with Dieneke – ‘It’s a bit of mascot for us now,’ she remarked.

Later Dieneke asked me to photograph Hidden Art members in a pitch for a photography exhibition at Europa House and then City Hall organised by The European Programmes Management Unit. We were thrilled that Snowden Flood was selected.

Dieneke surprised me over and over again. Like the time I suddenly saw her on a huge poster on the tube. ‘My home funds my ceramics collection,’ said the slogan. The poster was advertising Airbnb in its infancy, when being a ‘host’ was a totally new idea – which Dieneke of course had enthusiastically adopted. Naturally the ceramics included those by Hidden Art members. Dieneke, a pioneering London host, was later chosen to represent Airbnb as a torch carrier at the Rio Olympics in 2016. By then she was suffering from myeloma, but she stabilised her condition by taking large and concentrated doses of curcumin, an alternative remedy which she researched herself. Although initially sceptical in the extreme, her haematologist at Barts finally acknowledged her success with a report in the British Medical Journal, and the news percolated into newspapers and blogs and onto TV and radio all over the world. Yes, there she was on BBC News in my living room....

Barbara Orton from Glasgow, now an independent TV and film producer, shared many trips and jaunts, professional and personal, with Dieneke including an initial bonding in Cuba (at Dieneke's invitation to be a speaker) for a Crafts Conference. She chatted with her in hospital the day before she died, and speaks for the many, many friends and colleagues who have been sending messages and sharing memories. ‘She was determined to continue her life despite illness right to the very end, and was a very special person in so many special ways.’

Indeed, when Dieneke was in hospital, I put an earlier portrait I had taken of her onto Instagram and asked for messages of good will. Well over 100 poured in. Do please scroll through the whole feed – @sunnygran – and add another tribute if you wish. We hope to hold a memorial for Dieneke when COVID-19 eases its grip.

Please also explore Hiddenart.co.uk, painstakingly updated by Dieneke to the very end of her life. It’s a full chronicle of a game-changing organisation and a wonderful woman. One of the last images Dieneke saw on her iPad were four new purchases for the Hidden Art eShop which she curated/administered with no personal profit.

David Dewing assesses Dieneke’s effect on East London: ‘Hidden Art had a strong impact on its regeneration. The creative industries had moved into Hackney and surrounding boroughs because both domestic and industrial property was available and cheap to rent, and because Hackney in particular has its own charm – it’s on the edge, a place where people of all ethnicities and backgrounds could live and work without too much interference from authority, and develop new art, theatre, music, and design. The Geffrye provided for Hidden Art not only a platform but also a degree of mainstream endorsement. Later, of course, developers moved in, property prices increased and many of the creative industries have struggled to stay or have moved to cheaper areas.’

Let the last word go to Manuel Ruiz-Adame, Dieneke’s business partner and much cherished friend for 45 years, who came with her to London in 1978 – he Mexican, she Dutch. They were married and later divorced, but Manuel remained Dieneke’s unfailing support system, particularly as her health failed. Manuel was keeping vigil in hospital when she died, along with her brother Paul, who came from Holland. ‘Dieneke may have physically gone. But her modest and humble legacy is here ever present. You are here, and you will continue to be here for all the rest of the time which I may remain alive.’