Non-fiction is responsible for the artistic direction and strategic development of De Verdieping. This temporary, open source, project space occupies the vast concrete basement of the Trouw-building, the former printing facility of four of the countries biggest newspapers and now home to the most Berlin-like restaurant and club in town called TrouwAmsterdam.
The New York Times devoted a blogpost to this up and coming part of Amsterdam: “The street, located on on the city’s east side, on the number 3 tram line, was once known as a newspaper row. Now one stretch of Wibautstraat is being transformed into a new kind of creative hub.”
The idea behind the space is inspired by the open source methodology, with best known examples like Mozilla Firefox and Linux. Instead of setting up a new exhibition space in the transient neighborhood along the Wibautstraat, with all the necessary startup costs and time investment, we opened the doors in March/April 2009 and invited our network to inject projects that had their own sustainable economic apparatus. We offered the space, and added our network and artistic curiosity, and they brought in the works, artists and lectures. Other sources of inspiration have been the former Palast der Republik, Palais de Tokyo and pop-up vehicles like OMA’s Prada Transformer and Raumlabor’s Spacebuster.
In its first year, De Verdieping has collaborated with the Academy of Architecture, Filmmuseum, Sandberg Institute, VPRO, VURB, Institute of Network Cultures, HvA, Amsterdam Museum Night, Stedelijk Museum, National Historical Museum, Viral Radio, Beat Dimensions, Gabriel Rolt Gallery, and many more actors in the various creative networks of Amsterdam and the Netherlands.
We are delighted and grateful for the granting of a two-year financial injection by the Amsterdam Art Fund. From 1 January 2010, De Verdieping will be able to end its experimental – ‘beta’ – phase and move into the next level. We will be working with a team of industrious students who will not only support us with the realisation of the current artistic plans, but will add to it by creating new ideas, adding fresh networks and introducing new energy into the current framework. You can follow these developments on Twitter and Facebook.
We look forward to welcoming you.
