Announcement // Art Rotterdam 2017

Article by Brigid Cara // Jan. 26, 2017

The 18th edition of Art Rotterdam will be opening for four art-filled days starting Thursday, February 9th until Sunday, February 12th. Located once again within the modernist factory Van Nellefabriek, a UNESCO World Heritage Listed site, Art Rotterdam boasts an impressive program for 2017.

Art Rotterdam at the Van Nellefabriek

Focussing on young art, the Main Section of the fair will showcase the latest developments in the contemporary art world presented by some of the leading Dutch galleries such as Juliette Jongma and GRIMM. Alongside this will be the New Art Section, highlighting young international galleries with solo presentations by up-and-coming artists. This dynamic space will engage visitors and collectors alike, featuring galleries such as Neumeister Bar-Am from Berlin, who will be presenting post-internet artist Harm van den Dorpel, and Space In Between from London, exhibiting the work of Felicity Hammond, whose immersive dioramas cross photography and sculpture.

Felicity Hammond: ‘Show Room: The Language of Living’, 2016, installation view // Courtesy of the artist

The large, five-meter-wide projection wall inside Van Nellefabriek will be showing a selection of twelve works within the video art and film genre. In addition to this, the entry of Rotterdam Central Station will display ‘Establishing Eden’ by the artist duo Broersen & Lukács. This video film was screened at both International Film Festival Rotterdam and Art Rotterdam in 2016, and shows the grey area between experimental film and video art.

The Reflections Room will hold free daily talks and discussions on current themes in contemporary art. In addition to this Alexander Ramselaar will be teaching a masterclass in art collection. Attendees will discover the dos and don’ts, and what to pay attention to, when collecting art.

David Jablonowski, ’Blue Greens’, installation view at Westfälischer Kunstverein, Münster, 2012 // Courtesy artist and Galerie Fons Welters

For the first time, this year there will be an Open Air Section. Here, you can sip mulled wine while viewing the installation and sculpture work presented in the fair’s garden space. The pop-up restaurant L’invité will be providing classic French cuisine prepared with local Dutch produce, for all the sustenance you’ll need for further art viewing.

Cultural organisation Artifex will offer fairgoers the daily opportunity to partake in a guided tour, which will provide an overview of the program by a professional Art Rotterdam invigilator. This may be a useful tool for visitors to orient themselves before embarking on their viewing experience.

Tabor Robak: ‘A*’, 2014, 14-channel HD video, installation view at De Kunsthal Rotterdam // Brown Family Collection

In addition to the fair, visitors of Art Rotterdam can also enjoy some of Rotterdam’s best museums and exhibition spaces including private collections, open studios, performances and pop-up shows happening across the city. There will be free shuttle busses available between the different locations. Highlights include Kunsthal Rotterdam, which will be exhibiting ‘Human / Digital: a symbiotic love affair’, a show providing an intriguing overview of Post-internet Art. The installation ‘the wet wet wanderer’ by Laure Prouvost at the Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art will transform the first floor of the institution into “a strange mutated sub-aqueous bar, laced with squid ink and dotted with vodka fountains.” TENT will be exhibiting the Dolf Henkes Award nominees, as well as hosting the award ceremony with live performances on Thursday evening. Het Nieuwe Instituut will be presenting ‘Sleep Mode,’ a solo exhibition from internet artist Rafaël Rozendaal.

Art Rotterdam has established itself as an exciting annual art event, showcasing a diversity of talent within the international contemporary art world. It’s not to be missed.