31 january 2023, Flor Linckens
7 tips for Rotterdam Art Week
Next week marks this year's edition of Rotterdam Art Week (8 to 12 February 2023), during which the city will be devoted to art, design and architecture for six full days. More than eighty events will take place all over the city. It means you can get a unique look behind the scenes of artists' studios and in Het Nieuwe Instituut, for instance, you can attend a talk about the future of the museum in terms of architecture. In this article we offer seven tips for what you definitely don't want to miss out on during Rotterdam Art Week.
Art Rotterdam
A central event within Rotterdam Art Week is of course Art Rotterdam: the international art fair in the Van Nelle Factory, where you can view work by hundreds of artists from the Netherlands and abroad on 10,000 square meters. The nice thing about the fair is that you come into contact with the work of established artists — whose work you will also find in museums — but also of young artists who have just started their career, for example in the Prospects section of the Mondriaan Fund. You can also view work in an exciting context, for example in the new Sculpture Park (in collaboration with Stichting Droom en Daad) or in the form of a series of outdoor works. On Thursday 2 February you can view the catalog on GalleryViewer, so that you can enter the exhibition floor well prepared.
Gallery Night
The Rotterdam Art Week Gallery Night will take place on Saturday 11 February (19:00-22:00), during which thirteen top galleries will open their doors for an evening full of inspiration. Whether you're an art connoisseur or just looking for a fun evening, come along for a unique experience. The participating galleries are Chrysalid Gallery, Contour Gallery, Frank Taal Gallery, Christian Ouwens Galerie, Joey Ramone Rotterdam, NL=US Gallery, Phoebus Rotterdam, ROOF A, Root Gallery, Studio Seine, Gallery Untitled, Galerie Vivid and Zerp Galerie.
Brutus & The New Current
Looking for that raw edge that Rotterdam is so famous for? Then make sure to pay a visit to Brutus, where artists are given the opportunity to experiment. You will see, among other things, 'WO-MAN Cave', with work by artists including Hester Scheurwater, Lara Verheijden and LA Raeven. This year, The New Current will also take place in Brutus, in which young talent will show how art relates to new technologies.
Harry Markusse in H.IM
H.IM (Het Industriegebouw) is organising dedicated guided tours through the company collection during Rotterdam Art Week, that include artists talks by artists like Robert Zandvliet and Koen Vermeule. The tours, which are free of charge for visitors to Art Rotterdam, fill up very quickly, but there are still some open spots for the tour on Friday evening 10 February, led by a professional guide and accompanied by an artist talk by Harry Markusse and a cocktail at Alfredo's Taqueria.
De NewArt { collection;} in V2
In V2 you can view works from the NewArt { collection;}, formerly known as the BEEP Electronic Art Collection. The works in this collection are about the cross-fertilization between art, science and technology and the collection is considered to be one of the most important collections of electronic and digital works of art in the world. The opening will take place on 9 February (16:00-18:00) and on Friday 10 February (during De Kunstavond XL), V2 will be open late, until 21:00.
Kunstinstituut Melly
During Rotterdam Art Week, Kunstinstituut Melly presents a unique exhibition that traveled from the famous Wiener Secession in Vienna. Jennifer Tee's exhibition 'Still Shifting, Mother Field' includes ceramic sculptures, installations, performances and collages in which she explores a theme that characterizes her practice: "the soul in limbo", restless and alive and caught in an unnamed place, on the border between the present and the possible. Tee also researches contemporary life, with its cross-cultural identity and narratives, its instability and complexity, and its potential for the loss of identity, language, and kinship with original cultures.
De Huidenclub
The Huidenclub, located in a former tannery, presents the group exhibition 'Warmly', with work by Veronika Babayan, Natacha Mankowski and Natsuko Uchino. Central to the exhibition is the crux between art and craftsmanship, knowledge and know-how, the intuitive and analytical, and the material and the conceptual. The exhibition was curated by Florence Parot, co-founder and artistic director of iso amsterdam, and co-director of the Sandberg Institute's Dirty Art Department.
Tip: MULTI RESTO also hosts a pop-up restaurant during Rotterdam Art Week, with a menu that focuses on seasonal ingredients.
