ROTTERDAM.- Situated in a repurposed industrial building in the Diepenveen Building, the Huidenclub is a new experimental space dedicated to contemporary culture. The Huidenclub, holding its name from its original function as a tannery, is conceived as a platform to express a variety of voices and narratives within the framework of biannual themes addressing urgent contemporary topics. The platform will launch on 30 June 2021 with a first theme Self-Assemble, addressing how as a bottom-up non-institution it can self-assemble and strategically address societal and ecological justice. Three exhibitions, focussed on both art and on design, the two main axes of the Huidenclub, will be hosted in two cubes built for the purpose. Visitors are welcome from 30 June to 4 July.

Art and Design exhibitions from 30 June to 4 July

The art exhibition 'Shaking the Habitual' highlights the Huidenclub's mission to research how art can have a political and social significance at its own scale. The show investigates different ways artists are creating and shaping new social norms. Artists invited include: Pauline Boudry + Renate Lorenz, Pauline Curnier Jardin, Andrea Eva Györi, Patricia Kaersenhout, Janis Rafa, Evelyn Taocheng Wang, Jennifer Tee and Kubilay Mert Ural. The design shows 'The Design Deviants' will present the best of the current design scene of Rotterdam. As a testimony to the city's boom over the last few years in the creative scene of the design discipline the exhibition foresees a showcase of local design talents through a carefully curated selection of cutting-edge contemporary designs with works of Laurids Gallée, Sabine Marcelis, Tim Mastik and Phil Procter. The design show is made in collaboration with Victor Hunt. Dealer. (Brussels). Works by designers Anna Aagard Jensen, Théophile Blandet, Jonas Lutz, Supertoys Supertoys and Johan Viladrich in collaboration with Lauriane Heim and design photographer Pim Top will also be shown outside the exhibition rooms in a show entitled 'Scattered Practices' . All designers will be making bespoke furniture for the future workspace. Following this opening week, the Huidenclub will close for further construction and will reopen in September.

Public Programme: from the fall 2021

Every six month, the Huidenclub will launch an Open Call around a different societal theme that will shape the active programme. A multidisciplinary curatorial board will select and guide the proposals to shape them into an exciting and stimulating programme including exhibitions, performances, talks, and screenings.




Membership and facilities

From the fall onwards, the Huidenclub will host studios and creative facilities as well as cowork spaces for artists, designers and anyone with affinities with its mission. The offer ranges from simple memberships to flex and fix desks as well as studios. The interior will be developed in collaboration with renown and up-and-coming designers and artists. To sum up Huidenclub offers:

• An inclusive public space accessible to members, guests, and friends where you can enjoy a sustainable local restaurant, open workspaces, a bookshop and an active programme of exhibitions, workshops, screenings, talks, and performances.

• A series of creative facilities workshop spaces accessible to our members and guests.

• A workspace where selected residents have their own studios or access to fixed desks or flexible co-work desks and communal tables while gaining opportunities to present their work and network with other art and design professionals.

Behind the Huidenclub

Huidenclub was co-founded by Chantal Schoenmakers and Liv Vaisberg. Chantal Schoenmakers, creative director and architect, started her career at MVRDV after which she co-founded the Rotterdam bureau IWT together with Bastiaan Kalmeyer. Her expertise lies in the transformation of buildings, spaces and places to enable long term connections through open and experimental initiatives. Liv Vaisberg, artistic director and cultural entrepreneur, is the initiator of POPPOSITIONS - a fair dedicated to emerging art located in Brussels and A Performance Affair, the first fair dedicated to performance art and the former co-director of Independent Brussels, the Brussels' edition of the avant-garde art fair in New York. She also co-launched COLLECTIBLE, the first global fair dedicated to contemporary collectible design. She is also in charge of the international relations and strategy of Art Rotterdam and Unseen.