Boijmans Hillevliet

An incredible amount is happening in the fields of art, culture and education in Rotterdam-Zuid, the part of the city south of the River Maas. The area is home to numerous artists and makers, it supports a vibrant cultural life, and its schools are working on the future of the city. At our listening post in the area, Boijmans Hillevliet, we are fostering an ongoing conversation about what Rotterdam-Zuid has to teach us. Everyone is welcome at this meeting place where residents, students and talented makers come together, participate in activities or organise their own. Here we are working together with talented makers, social partners and key figures from the neighbourhood. Our location in Hillevliet is not a museum satellite with exhibitions but is a first step in a broader programme in Rotterdam-Zuid.

Programmes

Boijmans is currently developing three programmes in Rotterdam-Zuid. These have emerged from conversations that have been held in the neighbourhood. The first programme, starting this school year, offers extra art classes three days a week for pupils from the Savornin Lohman School, the Willem van Oranje School and the Bogerman School. The second programme arises from discussions with local residents about communal eating and explores connections between Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen’s historical art and design collections and the city’s contemporary food cultures. The third programme is a partnership with young makers, providing a podium for their work and helping them to find opportunities for their professional development in Rotterdam-Zuid.

The former Technical School

Boijmans Hillevliet is based in a former technical school at Hillevliet 90, in the heart of Feyenoord. Here, we are working with partners such as the Expertise Centre for Social Innovation (EMI op Zuid) and Humanitas and entrepreneurs from the neighbourhood on a new interconnective public concept at the interface between culture, welfare and education. Offering desk space, presentation facilities or large spaces, there is room to work, to meet and to help build a new community that will have a positive impact on the city. The former school is taking back its function as a place for learning and for making.

Print&Play X Boijmans Hillevliet

An exhibition that you can print and hang yourself! Last March, when all museums, galleries and exhibition spaces had to close, Thieu and Marieke created their Print & Play Exhibition: a freely downloadable and printable exhibition. Together with Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, this autumn's edition will focus on Rotterdam South and the young talents around Boijmans Hillevliet. Take part in Print & Play X Boijmans Hillevliet and create an exhibition in your own living room.

Extra lessons

Primary school students undertake a voyage of discovery through the worlds of art and culture, guided by professional artists and museum docents, while simultaneously getting to know their own neighbourhood better. The extra lessons are available to all pupils in the Children’s Zone, which comprises Rotterdam-Zuid’s focus areas. Our museum docents provide lessons for pupils from primary schools in and around Hillevliet. We are working together with the Savornin Lohmanschool, de Willem van Oranjeschool and the Bogermanschool. For Boijmans, this is a great opportunity to team up with the Sports and Culture Club and thus get to know the neighbourhood better.

The Utopian

Food brings us together, with the tableware as a silent witness. Boijmans has collected these objects for decades as part of the design collection, shedding light on centuries-old food cultures. In the context of Rotterdam as a world city, we are exploring the connections between Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen’s historical collections of art and design and the city’s contemporary food cultures. For centuries, we have used parlour games to tell each other a new, shared stories. In partnership with the writer, maker and presenter Abdelkader Benali and the theatre maker and actress Gabby Bakker, we have developed a series of workshops for a group of pupils. Together the group is working on a theatrical Parlour Game, a form of entertainment that dates back to the time of Erasmus (Rotterdam 1466 – Basel 1536).

Talent development

Every three months, we invite a different young artist for a talent-development process, including a mentorship with a more experienced artist. As part of the process, the young artist is asked to create a wall painting at Boijmans Hillevliet inspired by the collection of Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in response to a particular theme. They are also asked to organise a programme of workshops and masterclasses. In addition, in consultation with the neighbourhood, we identify the needs of young talent to help them with their professional development.

Kimberly Vicente, programme Talent development, vicente@boijmans.nl

Karen de Moor, programme Extra Lessons, moor@boijmans.nl

Lies Brilleman, programme Extra Lessons, moor@boijmans.nl

Birgit van Beek, programme Talent development, beek@boijmans.nl

Daniël Bouw, head of Marketing & Communications, bouw@boijmans.nl

Alexandra van Dongen, curator for programme The Utopian, dongen@boijmans.nl

Yoeri Meessen, head of Education, meessen@boijmans.nl

Anne Sikma, communication, sikma@boijmans.nl

Stijn Kemper, programme The Utopian, mail@stijnkemper.nl

Lotte van Diggelen, project leader, Diggelen@boijmans.nl

'I Never Knew About Fauvism' by Vince Blok

I Never Knew About Fauvism is a wall painting by Vince Blok, a painter and sculptor based in Rotterdam-Zuid. Working with the theme of ‘water’, he depicted a boat on the water, painted from the viewer’s perspective. He took inspiration from Rotterdam-Zuid’s diversity, the reflection of the water as a (distorted) mirror of reality, and the importance of the River Maas for the city.

Although Blok has received large-scale commissions previously, these two walls are the largest canvas on which he has worked with a paint brush. He worked for more than a month on this painting, in which figures and ideas were added and then often disappeared again. Blok works with oil paint, clay and digital design media. As an artist, he wants to give each material its own voice, employing chance processes and cross-pollination between media.

Every three months, we invite a different artist to create a wall painting at Boijmans Hillevliet. I Never Knew About Fauvism is on view until 30 November 2020, after which another local artist will use the wall as their canvas.