Boijmans Hillevliet
From February 2020, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen is developing a programme of workshops and presentations in the former Technical School at Hillevliet 90 in Rotterdam South. The museum is doing this together with talented makers, social partners and key figures from the neighbourhood and the city at large. This new project makes a sustainable contribution to the development of culture and education in Rotterdam South, providing training for the cultural staff of the future. Hillevliet 90 will not be a museum satellite with exhibitions, but it is a first step towards a broader programme in Rotterdam South. The former school is being restored to its original function as a place for learning and making.
In recent years, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen has had many conversations with partners in the city about the needs and challenges of Rotterdam South and about possible locations where the museum can respond to them. When an earlier potential location in Rotterdam South turned out to be unfeasible, an alternative was sought. This has now been found at Hillevliet 90. The aim is to offer educational activities and to develop the museum of the future as an organisation that learns from experience. During conversations with educational partners in the city, it became clear that a museum that learns never implements a plan from A to Z, but is one that listens and remains flexible and open to change. The museum aims to offer an artistic and educational programme that combines heritage with the practice of young makers, reaches new audiences and learns how to give substance to the museum of the future. The project will begin modestly in a single classroom in the school, which will serve as a listening point and a place to eat, talk and work together. It will be a place where the needs of local residents and the educational objectives and activities of the museum meet.
Hillevliet 90 in Rotterdam South
The building at Hillevliet 90 was once a Technical School. Following a period of vacancy, in 2019 the building was developed as a community space. It is centrally located in the Feijenoord district, a densely populated part of the city, which, like the museum, is in transition. The Humanitas Foundation has been fulfilling a welfare role in the building since 2019. From the beginning of 2020, Boijmans will become active in the building together with Humanitas and other local and regional partners. With Boijmans Hillevliet, the former school will regain its function as a place for learning and making.
Sustainable contribution
In the long term, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen wishes to make a sustainable contribution to the development of culture and education in Rotterdam South by playing a role in the planned Culture Campus. In this way, the museum aims to make a concrete contribution to education and employment in the area. The museum has more than forty posts at MBO level, including art handlers, security guards, technicians, conservation staff, storage facility staff and exhibition designers. The museum provides practical training for these staff and for comparable positions in other (Rotterdam) museums. A temporary program at Hillevliet 90 provides the opportunity to conduct further conversations, elaborate ideas and test innovative approaches.