About Non-fiction
Wouter van Veldhoven and Machinefabriek performing live on the occasion of the Night of Duivenvoorde Castle, organized by Michiel van Iersel and Juha van ‘t Zelfde.-
Non-fiction is an Amsterdam based and internationally operating innovation agency working at the intersection of the arts, heritage, media and architecture. It was founded by Michiel van Iersel and Juha van ‘t Zelfde in 2008.
We work for and with a growing number of public institutions, museums, universities, design agencies, cities, real estate developers, artists, architects and musicians. Amongst them are the Stedelijk Museum, Bimhuis, Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ, Ives Ensemble, Stadsherstel, Meurkens&Meurkens, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, A Perfect Day, North Sea Jazz Festival and Netherlands Institute of Cultural Heritage. We operate within an extensive international network of innovative organizations and individuals.
We conceive, organize and communicate custom-made activities and services by combining artistic, economic and social forces. We help organizations and individuals to transform, accelerate, connect and create in a world in flux. Our activities adapt themselves to ever changing circumstances, moving from inner-city museums and concert halls to vacant buildings in the urban periphery and beyond, always manifesting themselves online, via ubiquitous digital networking technologies and social media.
We connect past and future, off- and online.
In addition to our daily practice, we initiate unsolicited research projects, such as Failed Architecture and Visible Cities. Furthermore, we are involved with the temporary cultural project space De Verdieping in Amsterdam, which we co-founded.
Our office is situated in the former office of the Netherlands Institute of Cultural Heritage, right in the heart of Amsterdam’s museum quarter overlooking Museumplein.
Michiel van Iersel (left) and Juha van ‘t Zelfde (right), Photo by Matt Cottam
Michiel van Iersel (1978)
Is an urbanist and cultural producer who studied Business and Cultural Studies at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam and Metropolitan Studies at the Humboldt-Universität in Berlin. After an internship at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, he started his professional career at Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam as an organizer of public and interdisciplinary programmes. In subsequent years he was responsible for a wide range of public events at a.o. the Venice Biennale and Art Rotterdam and worked as an advisor working with LAgroup for numerous cultural institutions. In 2008 he co-founded Non-fiction, an Amsterdam based office for cultural innovation. Besides he is the co-founder (with Juha van ‘t Zelfde) of De Verdieping, a temporary project space in an abandonded printing plant focusing on experimental culture. He talks and writes about the arts, heritage and architecture on a regular basis and (co-)hosted various conferences, including McMuseum (2002), Open Museum (2008), Curating the City (2009) and Urban Heritage Inc (2011). He is a member of several cultural (advisory) boards, amongst which the Amsterdam Foundation for the Arts (AFK), Stad-Forum, the Netherlands Media Arts Institute/Montevideo and the Advisory Board of the Nieuwe Kerk Foundation in Amsterdam. He is a frequent speaker at seminars and conferences, and writes about arts, urbanism and heritage on a regular basis.
Juha van ‘t Zelfde (1979)
Is a writer, musician and researcher on the edges of sound art, experimental music and network culture. He has worked for Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ, Bimhuis, Stedelijk Museum and other international arts institutions. He has a strong interest in innovation in the arts, both on the individual level of the artist as on the aggregated level of the institution. He was previously one of the directors of the n8 foundation, a collaborative research and development organisation founded by the collective Amsterdam museums, focussing on young audience engagement through employing information technologies and cutting-edge programming. From 2007 until 2010 he presented a regular radio programme for Dutch public radio NPS and VPRO on contemporary electronic dance music. He is a member of the supervisory board of Binger Filmlab, an Amsterdam based international post academic feature-film development centre, and co-founder of VURB, a European framework for policy and design research concerning urban computational systems. He is the founder of Viral Radio, a network for experimental sound and music. As DJ he performs throughout Europe on festivals and club nights of innovative electronic dance music.
Adéla Foldynová (1986)
Is originally from the Czech Republic. She studied Humanities and Liberal Arts at Charles University in Prague and just finished a Master’s degree at Maastricht University in the field of Arts & Heritage. In Prague she worked for several art institutions like the National Gallery, DOX Centre for Contemporary Art or Kampa Museum, primarily for their education departments with a focus on audience development. In 2011 she did an internship at Non-fiction. During this period she developed a weblog showing extra-muros projects of (art) museums, together with the Stedelijk Museum. She joined the team in October 2011 and immediately doubled the number of IQ points at the office.
Radna Rumping (1983)
Works as an independent adviser and curator in different fields of art, music culture and media. She enjoys engaging new audiences with arts and culture, without underestimating these audiences. With the right content, creative programming, an open way of communicating and taking some risks. Besides, she hosts her own radio programme ‘Future Vintage’ (Red Light Radio) and organizes a regular film night (Seeing Sounds) at De Verdieping (Trouw). Radna used to work at NPS as a producer for different radioshows, where she developed the online radioplatform Lijn5.com. Radna studied journalism, collects records and likes to be part of the digital revolution, without losing her analog self. Energy yes.
Boris van Hoytema (1988)
Optimist, enthusiast and one-man social network (Boris currently divides his time between Non-fiction and VPRO Dorst).
Radna Rumping (left), Adéla Foldynová (center), Boris van Hoytema (right)