News — May 19, 2016

Amsterdam, 19 May 2016
In 2016, the Stedelijk Museum and Ammodo will begin searching for a new contemporary art venue in Amsterdam. The institute will be a repositioning of Stedelijk Museum Bureau Amsterdam (SMBA). Launched 23 years ago, SMBA was founded to offer young artists and curators a platform in Amsterdam. For the new institution, an approach and format will be sought that can provide what is currently lacking, and needed, in the city.

International curators Sophie Goltz, Eungie Joo, and Emily Pethick have been appointed to conduct the survey. The process will draw on the expertise of art professionals from Amsterdam, as well as others from the Netherlands and the international art world, and take the form of public and closed debates. The kickoff of the survey year takes place the weekend of 17–19 June at the Stedelijk. During this gathering, topical themes in Amsterdam’s contemporary art world will be explored. The weekend’s participants include Barbara Visser (artist, chair Akademie van Kunsten, KNAW), Annet Zondervan (director CBK Zuidoost), Sander Breure and Witte van Hulzen (artists), and Vincent van Velsen (writer, researcher, and curator).

By the end of 2016, the survey aims to determine recommendations for a new art institute that complements the current artistic developments and needs of the city, the nation, and the rest of the world.

As previously announced, on 1 July the Rozenstraat premises that SMBA has occupied since 1996 will close its doors. The search for a new location is currently underway, pending the results of the search.

Beatrix Ruf, director of Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam: “We feel it is vital to have a location in Amsterdam that augments our own program and acts as a bridge between major institutions like the Stedelijk and the contemporary field of art. It must also enhance the city’s current program. The venue needs to reflect the city’s culturally diverse and international context, and connect with global art movements. Together with Ammodo, we look forward to investigating ways of creating an inspiring place that offers compelling artistic encounters in Amsterdam and contributes to city’s thriving artistic climate.”

Juliette de Wijkerslooth, director of Ammodo: “Ammodo works closely with art institutions to identify how best to stimulate the development of art and artists. Important trends that we identify are the globalization of the art field, the blurring of disciplines, and the increasing influence of digitization. In the context of these developments, we encourage taking a fresh look at existing approaches to presenting contemporary art, to ensure they tie in with the needs of today’s artists and audiences. We are looking forward to working with the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam in exploring these approaches in greater depth and discovering what the field of art, both in Amsterdam and internationally, needs right now.”

Among other topics, Goltz, Joo, and Pethick will consider the legitimacy of a new institution, how to integrate local and international art production, how art can reflect sociopolitical developments, and how an institution in Amsterdam can contribute to the global debate on art. The Stedelijk and Ammodo have selected an international investigative team in collaboration with other (local) art professionals and experts.

About the team

Sophie Goltz (DE) was initiator of the Stadtkuratorin in Hamburg, where since 2013 she has headed a program for public art that reflects global and social issues. She also works as curator for Neuer Berliner Kunstverein (since 2008), lectures at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste Hamburg, and writes for journals such as Texte zur Kunst, Springerin, and Art Agenda. Her previous roles include freelance curator and “art educator” for Documenta 11 (2002), the 3rd Berlin Biennale (2004), Projekt Migration, Cologne (2004–06), and Documenta 12 (2007).

Eungie Joo (US) is artistic director of the 5th Anyang Public Art Project (October 2016) in Anyang, Korea. She was curator of the 12th Sharjah Biennial in the United Arab Emirates (2015), Director of Art and Cultural Programs at Instituto Inhotim in Brumadinho, Brazil (2012-2014), and Keith Haring Director and Curator of Education and Public Programs at the New Museum, New York (2007-2012). At the New Museum, Joo published Rethinking Contemporary Art and Multicultural Education (Routledge and New Museum, 2009) and the Art Spaces Directory (ArtAsiaPacific and New Museum, 2012), and curated The Ungovernables, the 2012 New Museum Generational Triennial. Joo presented Condensation by Haegue Yang at the Korean Pavilion as part of the 53rd Venice Biennale (2009) and was founding Director of the Gallery at REDCAT, Los Angeles (2003–2007).

Emily Pethick (UK) is director of The Showroom, London. From 2005–2008 she was director of Casco, Office for Art Design and Theory, in Utrecht. Between 2003 and 2004, she was curator of Cubitt, London. She has contributed to numerous catalogs and journals, including Frieze, dot dot dot, GAS, Texte zur Kunst, Artforum, and Untitled, and has published a number of books. For the Dutch Art Institut (DAI) she will be devising the curatorial program Curating Positions in 2016-2017.

Ammodo
Ammodo initiates and supports projects that stimulate the development of art and science. Since its founding in 2011, Ammodo has been involved in a number of projects and exhibitions at the Stedelijk Museum, including: Ed Atkins: Recent Ouija, A year at the Stedelijk: Tino Sehgal, and Global Collaborations. Ammodo has generously supported Stedelijk Contemporary, the dynamic series of solo exhibitions by a new generation of artists at the Stedelijk, since the beginning of 2016. In recent years, Ammodo has also contributed to a large number of projects organized by institutions such as Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Van Abbemuseum, Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, If I Can’t Dance I Don’t Want To Be Part Of Your Revolution, P/////AKT, and the Koninklijke Nederlandse Academie van Wetenschappen.

For more information, see:

www.ammodo.org
www.ammodo-knaw-award.org

Note for the editor:
For more information, please contact Annematt Ruseler at the Press Office of the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 020 – 5732 660, pressoffice@stedelijk.nl, or Ammodo, 020 – 79 44 522, info@ammodo.org.