BoerenzijNL

Rotterdam has been the organisational home of Myvillages since 2003. It is also the home of Wapke, her studio and the archive of Myvillages.

In 2003 we officially launched Myvillages (then called myvillages.org) as a shared cultural space for opening up the rural as a working place for artists. Fed up with the ubiquity of urban cultural hegemony, we self-organised ways of thinking together, working within and publishing about the rural as a particularity without any urge to define it.

20 years later and numerous and invaluable encounters, relationships and projects later, we want to celebrate rural realities and imaginaries with you, in the manner of our work: close to the ground, together with others, curious, critical and tangible.

We cordially invite you to join us for one day of Rural Rotterdam on Friday 17th November 2023.
Dear colleagues, friends, supporters and comrades of Myvillages

In 2003 we officially launched Myvillages (then called myvillages.org) as a shared cultural space for opening up the rural as a working place for artists. Fed up with the ubiquity of urban cultural hegemony, we self-organised ways of thinking together, working within and publishing about the rural as a particularity without any urge to define it.

20 years later and numerous and invaluable encounters, relationships and projects later, we want to celebrate rural realities and imaginaries with you, in the manner of our work: close to the ground, together with others, curious, critical and tangible.

We cordially invite you to join us for one day of Rural Rotterdam on Friday 17th November 2023.

11am – 3pm Rural Rotterdam Trip
Keywords: former farmland, rural undercurrents, colonial histories and trans-local knowledge.

Meeting Point: Myvillages Studio and Archive, Ericastraat 8, Rotterdam
NOTE: This walk is unfortunately fully booked.

4pm – 6pm Books, Coffee and Cake at TENT
A relaxed gathering to connect and reconnect, sharing publications on and about the rural, with slices of home-made cake and coffee. Please bring books and fanzines others should know about.
Where: TENT, Witte de Withstraat 50, Rotterdam

6pm – 7.30pm De-urbanising the Museum
A call to acknowledge the urban trajectory of museums/contemporary art spaces and possible rural roles. With reflective Introduction from Charles Esche, Director, Van Abbemuseum, indhoven and Franziska Zólyom, Director, GfZK Leipzig, followed by a panel with Jane Scarth, curator public programs Whitechapel Gallery London, Renan Laru-an, artistic director SAVVY contemporary Berlin, Alina Dzeravianka, cultural manager and activist based in Brest, Belarus and Aria Spinelli, an Italian curator/researcher at ASCA, Universiteit van Amsterdam.
The session is moderated by Meta Knol.
Where: TENT, Witte de Withstraat 50, Rotterdam

8pm Dinner, Music and Party
On the Boerenzij aka South Rotterdam - with DJ Reza Afisina (ruangrupa) and good food. Please send us an email at mail@myvillages.org to get more information.

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A timeline of how Wapke from Myvillages worked in Rotterdam over the last two decades will be uploaded soon.