My Oma

Kunstinstituut Melly is delighted to announce its upcoming project My Oma, which opens during a festive opening weekend, December 8–10, 2023. 

During its five-month time period, the project involves a group exhibition, concerts, performance, public programs and education activities. Conceptually interlaced throughout these formats are the figure of the grandmother, queries on ancestral knowledge, and ideas of cultural heritage.

The exhibition includes artworks and projects created from 2000 to date, with several specially commissioned for the occasion. As it pertains to existing artworks, most of these will be experienced for the first time in the Netherlands. The exhibition and its special initiatives aim to promote historical learning, as well as to strengthen intergenerational bonds through artistic and cultural exchange.

My Oma is the closing exhibition and public engagement project of Sofía Hernández Chong Cuy’s tenure as the director of Kunstinstituut Melly. It marks the culmination of her six years of transformational institutional work at the institution.

About the project
The figure of the grandmother is the protagonist of My Oma. This female elder is approached as a real figure in some instances. At times, the grandmother is an imaginary character; a latent and already sentient figure; a specific position in time. The figure of the grandmother allows for various approaches to traditions, ancestry, and diaspora. It also welcomes the reconsideration of gendered and ageist determinations surrounding cultural and material legacy.

The exhibition will feature drawing, painting, textiles, video, and installation art. My Oma also includes a series of performances and event-based activities specially commissioned for the project. The bilingual title—with the English my and the Dutch oma for grandmother—is meant to communicate this personal approach.

Participants
My Oma includes works by: A Maior (Portugal), Funda Baysal (Turkey), Yto Barrada (France), Meriem Bennani (Morocco), Nurul Ain Binti Nor Halim (Malaysia), Lia Dostlieva and Andrii Dostliev (Ukraine), Shardenia Felicia (Curaçao), Susanne Khalil Yusef (Germany), Charlie Koolhaas (The Netherlands), Liedeke Kruk (The Netherlands), Marcos Kueh (Malaysia), Berette S Macaulay (Sierra Leone), Silvia Martes (Curaçao), Hana Miletić (Croatia), Jota Mombaça (Brazil), Sheelasha Rajbhandari (Nepal), Anri Sala (Albania), Stacii Samidin (Netherlands), Kateřina Šedá (Czech Republic), Buhlebezwe Siwani (South Africa), Judy Watson (Australia), and Sawangwongse Yawnghwe (Shan State of Burma).

During the opening weekend, artist talks, lectures, and performances take place with invited guests under the heading of “Show and Tell”. In partnership with the Amarte Foundation, we present the “Music for My Oma”program, a line-up of concerts and sound performances. For the full program, please visit myoma.nl.

Curators
My Oma is organized by Kunstinstituut Melly and curated by Sofía Hernández Chong Cuy, Rosa de Graaf, Jessy Koeiman, Julija Mockutė, and Vivian Ziherl. Its key producers are Shana Lewis, Pilar Mata Dupont, and Wendy van Slagmaat-Bos. Advisors to the research and planning process of My Oma include Diana Campbell (chief curator, Dhaka Art Summit, Dhaka, Bangladesh), Edward Gillman (director, Auto Italia, London, UK), Sun A Moon (director, Space AfroAsia, Dongducheon, South Korea), and Manuela Moscoso (director, CARA, New York).

About Kunstinstituut Melly
Kunstinstituut Melly’s mission is to organize activities on the latest developments in contemporary art and theory. It creates exhibitions, publications, and educational programs of artistic merit and cultural significance. It also commissions new art, supports innovative research, and advocates for cultural partnerships. Kunstinstituut Melly welcomes audiences year-round in its +3,500m2 nineteenth-century building, located at Witte de Withstraat 50 in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

Kunstinstituut Melly is supported by the City of Rotterdam and the Ministry of Education, Culture, and Science in The Netherlands. Project support is earned through fundraising activities, individual donations, and foundation grants. In 2023, additional support was provided by grants from Droom en Daad and the Hartwig Foundation. My Oma has received support from Amarte Foundation, AMMODO, Creative Australia, Czech Centre Rotterdam, Fonds 21, Mondriaan Fund, SAHA Association, Stichting DOEN / Vriendenloterij Fonds, and Teiger Foundation.