Gerrit turns 50, Willem only 28

Gerrit Rietveld Academie (1968) & Sandberg Instituut (1990)
2018 marks 50 years since the renaming of Amsterdam’s School of Applied Arts (Instituut voor Kunstnijverheidsonderwijs) in honour of Gerrit Rietveld. It also happens to be 28 years since the Sandberg Instituut was established. A homecoming for some, a first introduction for others, the exhibition and public programme, Gerrit turns 50, Willem only 28, takes place in and around the three buildings on the joint campus site in Amsterdam.

Rather than a singular narrative, the exhibition Gerrit turns 50, Willem only 28 is based on fragments from the histories and communities of both the Gerrit Rietveld Academie and the Sandberg Instituut. A series of curated capsules include archival artefacts and a variety of works by students, alumni, tutors, directors and staff from the period 1968 to 2018, from Liesbeth Abbenes to Ton Zwerver.

Like the first pencil strokes on a blank canvas, the exhibition instigates an intricate portrayal of both educational institutes of fine arts, design and interior architecture. A series of provoking cross-sections are made, through surveys and the gathering of information about remarkable initiatives, important events, memorable people, misfits, protests, projects and works. The fragmented inventory of the exhibition consists of a large number of different items, ranging from sculptures, paintings, furniture, drawings and films to documents such as books, magazines, plans, posters and certificates. Loans from museums and public institutions, private attics and artists’ studios, as well as the institutes’ archives have been compiled and structured within 18 curated capsules by chief curator Moritz Küng, in collaboration with guest curators affiliated to the Rietveld and Sandberg.

A range of spatial containers and their contents depict the many histories and ever changing communities of the Gerrit Rietveld Academie and the Sandberg Instituut while providing meta-perspectives on themes in the works gathered. Each curated capsule includes an eclectic selection of items, with no distinction drawn between the alleged famous or unknown, the established or up-and-coming, the young or old, the brilliant or unsettling. Gerrit turns 50, Willem only 28 brings the past and present of the Bachelor’s at Gerrit Rietveld Academie and Master’s at Sandberg Instituut to the public, providing insights into progressive education and the pluriform collective of makers, writers and thinkers to which it gives rise.

The recently finished FedLev building, a collective workspace for the current Rietvelders and Sandbergers, is the main venue of the exhibition. 

Hours: Wednesday–Sunday 1–7pm