Kunstinstituut Melly

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Kunstinstituut Melly
Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art.TIF
The centre in Rotterdam
Kunstinstituut Melly is located in Northern and Central Europe
Kunstinstituut Melly
Location within Northern and Central Europe
Former name
Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art
Established1990[1]
Location50 Witte de Withstraat, 3012 BR
Rotterdam the Netherlands
TypeContemporary art gallery
DirectorSofía Hernández Chong Cuy[2]
CuratorSamuel Saelemakers
Natasha Hoare
Websitewww.kunstinstituutmelly.nl

Kunstinstituut Melly[3][4][5] is a contemporary art gallery located in a former school building on Witte de Withstraat, in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The center was founded in 1990. It presents curated exhibitions, symposiums, live events, educational programs, and has a separate art literature publishing arm.

On 7 September 2017, the Centre announced it would change its name over a number of years to separate it from the Dutch naval agent, Witte de With and to recognise the negative impacts of colonialism. From 27 June 2020 onwards, the Centre entered a period of "namelessness", removing all branding, forming renaming committees and engaging online surveys and roundtables to decide on a new name to come into effect on 27 January 2021.[6] The new name Kunstinstituut Melly, was announced in October 2020,[7][8] in reference to an art piece displayed on an outside wall of the building called Melly Shum Hates Her Job.

History[]

The project formerly known as the Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art was established in 1990 as a center for contemporary art with the mission of curating and exhibiting international art exhibitions. It is based in a former school building, sharing it with the TENT gallery.[9] It presents curated exhibitions, symposiums, live events, educational programs, and has a separate art literature publishing arm.[10]

Witte de With celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2015.[11] Chris Dercon was the first director of Witte de With from 1990 to 1996.[12] He was followed by Bartomeu Marí (1996–2001), Catherine David (2002–2004), Hans Maarten van den Brink (2004–2006) and Nicolaus Schafhausen (2006–2011). Defne Ayas was appointed director in 2012, and was succeeded by Sofía Hernández Chong Cuy in 2018.[2][12]

Name change[]

On 17 September 2017, the center announced it would be changing its title because it was named after Witte de With, a Dutch naval officer who had worked for both the Dutch East India Company and the Dutch West India Company and therefore was associated with colonialism.[13][14] Then director Defne Ayas commented "We were named after our location in 1990, the street in which we are situated is named after. Naming art institutions after locations in a bid to affirm neutrality was a trend in those days".[13] The problem with the name was highlighted by critic Egbert Alejandro Martina during preparatory meetings for the exhibition Cinema Olanda: Platform, which ran alongside the Dutch pavilion at the Venice Biennale. An open letter from Martina and others then stated that "Witte de With has 'failed' to come to terms with its own internal contradictions, and has yet to reckon with the historical figure it symbolically embodies".[13][15]

In response, the center titled its next exhibition Witte de With; What’s in a name?.[13] The ongoing debate became a national controversy.[16] By January 2020, questions were being asked in the mainstream media about why the center had not changed its name.[17] In June 2020, as part of the George Floyd protests in the Netherlands, activists vandalized symbols of colonialism in Rotterdam. These included the Piet Hein statue in Delfshaven, the Pim Fortuyn memorial and the Witte de With Center, where they left handprints in red paint.[18] In response, the center immediately took down its name board from the building and director Sofia Hernandez Chong Cuy announced that there would be a consultation period and then a new name would be announced on January 27 2021.[19] The centre produced a timeline to record the process.[6][20]

Selected exhibitions[]

In 2009 a year-long program at Witte de With was structured as a series of group shows, presentations, performances, screenings and debates [21] including participations by Dineo Seshee Bopape, , Simon Denny, , Mark Leckey, , Lili Reynaud-Dewar, and Jeremy Shaw.[22]

Douglas Coupland held an exhibition called Bit Rot at the center in 2016.[23]

In 2019, the center hosted a solo show by Firelei Báez about the Haitian Revolution.[24]

References[]

  1. ^ Lorente, J. Pedro (2011). The Museums of Contemporary Art: Notion and Development. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. p. 7. ISBN 9781409405863.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b "Sofía Hernández Chong Cuy". Archived from the original on 2018-01-08. Retrieved 2018-01-08.
  3. ^ "Kunstinstelling Witte de With in Rotterdam heet voortaan Melly". nos.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  4. ^ "New name, new identity: An interview with Sofía Hernández Chong Cuy, the director of Kunstinstituut Melly". Art Index Rotterdam. 2021-01-27. Retrieved 2021-01-27.
  5. ^ "Who Is Melly Shum? On FKA Witte de With's Name Change". Ocula. 2020-10-27. Retrieved 2021-01-27.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b "Timeline". WdW Name Change. 19 June 2020. Archived from the original on 5 September 2020. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  7. ^ "Verslag van de directeur en de raad van toezicht 30 september 2020". Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  8. ^ "Noem ons voortaan Kunstinstituut Melly". Kunstinstituut Melly. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  9. ^ "Witte de With, Center for Contemporary Art". Rotterdam: Rotterdam Tourist Information. Archived from the original on 5 September 2020. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
  10. ^ "Formerly known as Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art". E-flux. Archived from the original on 2020-09-05. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  11. ^ "In Light Of 25 Years". Archived from the original on 2018-04-28. Retrieved 2016-08-19.
  12. ^ Jump up to: a b "About us". Retrieved 2018-11-16.
  13. ^ Jump up to: a b c d "Witte de With art museum decolonizes name". Archived from the original on 2020-07-22. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  14. ^ "About". WdW Name Change. Archived from the original on 30 June 2020. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  15. ^ "Open letter to Witte de With". Archived from the original on 2020-07-05. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  16. ^ "De aangekondigde dood van Witte de With [Death of Witte de With announced]". Archived from the original on 2020-07-22. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  17. ^ "The protracted renaming of Witte de With and the capability of doing better". Archived from the original on 2020-08-07. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  18. ^ "ANTI-RACISM GRAFFITI ON ROTTERDAM STATUES, ART CENTER". Archived from the original on 2020-09-05. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  19. ^ "ROTTERDAM MUSEUM DROPS NAME LINKED TO 17TH CENTURY NAVAL OFFICER". Archived from the original on 2020-09-05. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  20. ^ "Who Is Melly Shum? On FKA Witte de With's Name Change". ocula.com. 2020-11-25. Retrieved 2020-11-25.
  21. ^ "Morality". Archived from the original on 2018-04-28. Retrieved 2018-11-16.
  22. ^ "Act IX". Archived from the original on 2018-11-05. Retrieved 2018-11-16.
  23. ^ "Douglas Coupland, Raimundas Malašauskas and "Art in the Age of… Asymmetrical Warfare?" at Witte de With, Rotterdam". Archived from the original on 2018-09-22. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  24. ^ "Firelei Báez at Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam". Art News. Archived from the original on 2020-09-05. Retrieved 2020-09-02.

External links[]

Coordinates: 51°54′55″N 4°28′38″E / 51.9154°N 4.4771°E / 51.9154; 4.4771

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