Kunstinstituut Melly is a contemporary art gallery located in a former school building on Witte de Withstraat, in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte (river), Rotte'') is the second largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the Prov ...

, the Netherlands. It was founded in 1990 and originally named after the street it was located on. It presents curated exhibitions, symposiums, live events, educational programs, and has a separate art literature publishing arm. In 2017, the Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art, as it was known, announced it would change its name in order to distance itself from its de facto namesake, the Dutch naval admiral

Witte de With Witte Corneliszoon de With (28 March 1599 – 8 November 1658) was a Dutch naval officer. He is noted for planning and participating in a number of naval battles during the Eighty Years War and the First Anglo-Dutch war. Early life and ch ...

, and recognise the negative impacts of

colonialism Colonialism is a practice or policy of control by one people or power over other people or areas, often by establishing colonies and generally with the aim of economic dominance. In the process of colonisation, colonisers may impose their reli ...

. Its new name, Kunstinstituut Melly, was announced in 2020, and references a sculpture by Canadian artist Ken Lum displayed on the exterior wall of the building entitled ''Melly Shum Hates Her Job'' (1989).

History

The gallery was formerly known as the Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art and was established in 1990 as a center for

contemporary art Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic ...

with a mission of curating and exhibiting international art exhibitions. It is based in a former school building, which it shares with the TENT gallery.

Chris Dercon Chris Dercon (born 1958) is a Belgian art historian, curator, and museum director born in Lier in Belgium. As a museum director, Dercon has worked and published extensively on the future of museums, working with renowned architects Rem Koolhaas, ...

was the first director from 1990 to 1996. 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 Defne Ayas (born 1976) is a curator, educator, and publisher in the field of contemporary art and its institutions. Ayas directed and advised many institutions and collaborative platforms across the world, including in China, South Korea, United S ...

was appointed director in 2012, and was succeeded by Sofía Hernández Chong Cuy in 2018.

Name change

On 17 September 2017, the center announced it would be changing its title because it was named after

, a Dutch naval officer who had worked for both the

Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...

and the

Dutch West India Company The Dutch West India Company ( nl, Geoctrooieerde Westindische Compagnie, ''WIC'' or ''GWC''; ; en, Chartered West India Company) was a chartered company of Dutch merchants as well as foreign investors. Among its founders was Willem Usselincx ...

and therefore was associated with

. 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". 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 The Dutch pavilion houses the Netherlands's national representation during the Venice Biennale arts festivals. Background Organization and building The pavilion, designed by Ferdinand Boberg, was originally built in 1912. It was later ...

at the

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

. 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". In response, the center titled its next exhibition Witte de With; What’s in a name?. The ongoing debate became a national controversy. By January 2020, questions were being asked in the mainstream media about why the center had not changed its name. 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 Delfshaven is a borough of Rotterdam, Netherlands, on the right bank of river Nieuwe Maas. It was a separate municipality until 1886. The town of Delfshaven grew around the port of the city of Delft. Delft itself was not located on a major ...

, the Pim Fortuyn memorial and the Witte de With Center, where they left handprints in red paint. 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. The centre produced a timeline to record the process.

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 including participations by Dineo Seshee Bopape, D.O.R., Simon Denny,

Yngve Holen Yngve is a Scandinavian male given name, mostly used in Sweden and Norway. It is the modern form of either Old Norse Yngvi or of Ingwin. ''Yngvi'' was the Old Norse name of the Germanic god ''Ingu-'', later identified with Freyr, or of ''Ingwian- ...

, Mark Leckey,

Patrizio di Massimo Patrizio is an Italian male personal name. It is the Italian form of Patrick. * Patrizio Bertelli (born 1946), Italian businessman * Patrizio Bianchi (born 1952), Italian economist and politician * Patrizio Buanne (born 1978), Italian baritone * ...

, Lili Reynaud-Dewar, and Jeremy Shaw. Douglas Coupland held an exhibition called ''Bit Rot'' at the center in 2016. In 2019, the center hosted a solo show by Firelei Báez about the

Haitian Revolution The Haitian Revolution (french: révolution haïtienne ; ht, revolisyon ayisyen) was a successful insurrection by self-liberated slaves against French colonial rule in Saint-Domingue, now the sovereign state of Haiti. The revolt began on ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art, Formerly Known as 1990 establishments in the Netherlands Art galleries established in 1990 Buildings and structures in Rotterdam Contemporary art galleries in the Netherlands Art in Rotterdam Museums in Rotterdam Organisations based in Rotterdam Tourist attractions in Rotterdam Rijksmonuments in Rotterdam