Tools for Collective Learning

Tools for Collective Learning
On January 27, 2021, the institution formerly known as Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art in Rotterdam was renamed Kunstinstituut Melly. The name change was premised on the criteria that the former name impinged upon a pursuit of social inclusivity, which is vital to the relevance and contribution of cultural practice in general. The renaming was and is informed by local debates and international discussions; it is mobilized by ambitions that relate to social transformation, and by the felt responsibility in visualizing these changes, since the role as a contemporary art institution is presenting and discerning the present. 

The book Tools for Collective Learning is about the arrival at such criteria and ideas, as much as it is about the intricacies involved in our institution’s name change. As suggested by the book’s title, the aim for this publication is to be more of a toolbox than a document. It is made with the conviction that all vital change happens through collective learning; that recording oral histories and discursively articulating embedded experiences can further this cause. The name Melly was inspired by Melly Shum Hates Her Job, an artwork by Ken Lum. This artwork takes the form of a billboard, and it has been displayed on the institution’s façade since 1990.

Co-published by our institution and Jap Sam Books, Tools for Collective Learning is designed by Julie Peeters with Laura Martens, and includes contributions by Veronika Babayan, Teana Boston-Mammah, Yahaira Brito Morfe, Tayler Calister, Callum Dean, Rosa de Graaf, Boutaina Hammana, Sofía Hernández Chong Cuy, Michiel Huijben, Wooseok Jang, Stijn Kemper, Alex Klein, Jessy Koeiman, Prem Krishnamurthy, Nina Schouten, Alexander Tanazefti, Emily Turner, Rolando Vázquez Melken, Aqueene Wilson, Yan Zhihan, and Vivian Ziherl. For information about the book’s different contributors, essays and interviews, please visit our webshop.

About
Kunstinstituut Melly is the new name of the institution formerly known as Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art. Conceived as an art house in Rotterdam, our mission is to present and discuss the work created by visual artists from here and afar.

Kunstinstituut Melly is supported by the City of Rotterdam and the Ministry of Education, Culture, and Science in the Netherlands. Our activities are also supported through foundation grants, private funds, project sponsorships, individual donations, and income from admission tickets, sales, and events.

Kunstinstituut Melly’s Name Change Initiative has, over the years, been supported in part by: BankGiro Loterij Fonds | DOEN Foundation, Hartwig Art Foundation, Fonds voor Cultuurparticipatie, J.E. Jurriaanse Foundation | Volkskracht, Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds, Stichting Droom en Daad, and Stichting Elise Mathilde Fonds.