Amsterdam has a new art temple
It happens on rare occasions. Exceptional are the times -in this long season of digital narcissism- in which the inexorable world of art licenses newcomers.
Just over a month ago, the most avant-garde sector in the 'always one step ahead' dutch capital held his breath, and cheers, during the opening of HEM , a new artistic landmark of industrial invoice, excessive dimensions and supreme aspirations.
bathed by him North Sea Canal , this old ammunition warehouse from the first half of the 20th century "produces" today another kind of heavy artillery, without concessions to modesty, and in an unprecedented artistic display -it clearly is-.
Het HEM is housed in a former ammunition depot
With an extension that touches the 10,000 square meters , this huge hangar for the creation and exhibition of new artistic speeds brings together all the ballots to mark a before and after in this unstoppable global drift of recovery of industrial cemeteries.
amsterdam She does not give up her desire to improve herself. He has rope, and above all meters of creativity, for a while.
To the delirious cultural microcosm of the monumental Het HEM, encompassing the visual, musical, performing and performing arts , is added a prodigious range of spaces designed to take you away from reality for a good season:
An author(s) restaurant,** a bar halfway between a Berlin club and a New York speakeasy, a room to invoke the muses,** creative studios and artists' residences in a venue dotted with a selection of works of art, ** unique installations and artist rarities** of the world scene.
Like the Dutch capital, the new Het HEM is exemplary and modern without claiming it. It's the gentrifying therapy every Western suburb would want for itself. An architectural wonder that throws a beam of light in the gloom of the franchise empire.
The Het HEM summons the traveler's spirit without prejudice to enter a playground without an instruction manual. Come, stop by and discover why Het HEM has become the last crush of the prophets of the avant-garde.
You can enjoy unique facilities
IN THE FIRST CHAPTER…
As a projector of contemporary society, Het HEM tries to bring the latest artistic currents to a wide range of communities, betting on diversity and antagonistic forms of expression. The cultural program has been arranged by "seasonal chapters".
Each of the commissioners of the 'chapters' , supported by experts from Het HEM, will draw a unique story inspired by their own experience to act as an interlocutor between the public and the exhibition. The artistic proposal is exhibited in a physical and intellectual space where disciplines such as science, politics and the visual, sound and performing arts come into play.
Deeply inspired by hip-hop and street art culture, Edson Sabajo and Guillaume Schmidt, creators of the Dutch firm Patta in 2004 , are the reference of avant-garde and urban fashion for a whole generation.
For this reason and for their transformative aesthetic discourse, the duo was chosen to curate the gallery's first exhibition: ' Chapter 1NE' . Both curators dialogue with the public through social criticism, fashion and contemporary art to publicize the cultural reality of hip-hop.
From this starting point, they place the focus (and the loudspeaker) on those cultural minorities traditionally relegated to the periphery of public opinion.
Chapter 1NE
ZAANDAM, EMBLEM OF THE PAST ARTILLERY
From 1895 to 2003, the hemrug factory , at the southern end of the town of Zaandam, manufactured much of the Dutch army's arms production.
Suspended activities in the 21st century, the first creators dropped by the mammoth and already abandoned hangar.
For some time now, and as is happening on the margins of mature European capitals, Zaandam reinforces its legend as a 'classical Dutch' destination thanks to incunabula such as the Zaanse Schans, the 'instagrammable' labyrinth of windmills, wooden houses and artisan workshops.
And, at the same time, it accounts for an unquestionable cultural metamorphosis whose social transcendence, in a city like amsterdam , translates into a stimulating incentive for the proliferation of new modes of coexistence.
To check it, you can go to Lab 44 , a very modern restaurant five minutes from Het HEM which daily summons a large group of self-employed artists, designers and young people committed to the bone with the amazing transformation of the district.
If you want a space on your terrace, you will have to work hard from spring until the end of the Dutch summer. of course always you can walk six minutes to bind .
“In the same space where art is exhibited, it should also be created”
familiarly known for the "living room" of the new residents of Hembrugterrein , this previously nondescript warehouse was recovered by a group of volunteers in 2017 as a laboratory of ideas and as a bold setting for poetry, music and creativity usually.
A few steps away, **artisans, local producers, designers and artists of the Yada Yada Market** modulate the tastes of a neighborhood eager for bohemia with an industrial aftertaste.
WHERE THE MUSES RESIDE
"In the same space where art is exhibited, it should also be created." Such a slogan illustrates the genuine ambition of Het HEM: to create the right atmosphere for thought, debate, creation and the subsequent exhibition of talent.
In an open and commitment-free regime, the art center makes available to creators spaces to fix your residence here , well a few days, well a few months.
One of the first to arrive Aukje Dekker , and who has been involved in the exemplary program of the neighboring ** NDSM Wharf **, coordinates the management of the spaces.
Others are Marilyn Sonneveld, Sam Andrea, Susanna Inglada or Jan Steenman. And as an addition, the ** Het HEM ** offers an apartment exclusively for artists residents or for the acting curator of each of the "chapters" of the season allowing them a total immersion in the life of the artistic center.
'Hem' in German means 'home'.
One of the first has been Steven van Lummel, artist from ** The Hague ** with a unique perspective on reality and author of 200 Photographs of a Bullet Factory and 200 Photographs of Something Else.
And like Steven, many other creators will be seduced by the ** Living Room **, one of the stars of Het HEM: a living room delimited by designer furniture and a bookcase , devoid of any architectural parapet that prevents isolation.
And it is that between these cold industrial walls, the gezellig is not at odds with the diaphanous profusion of square meters. In its name, one of the keys emerges: 'hem', which in German means 'home'.
And if there is a heart in that particular home _(het hem) _ it is the Living Room, where the books live -carefully chosen according to season and chapter: Soul of a Nation, exhibition catalog Tate Modern; Dana Lixenberg; Tupac & Biggie; The autobiography of Malcolm X …-, design magazines, some art documentaries and, of course, the muses in the heat of a fireplace.
DEVOUR EUROPE IN EIGHT DISHES
This is not a common place, nor is it a delusion of grandeur. Eat at the ** Europa restaurant **, on the ground floor of Het HEM, It is a creative journey in eight phases.
Commanded by five chefs established in the local scene and **trained in temples such as the Goudfazant hotel or BAK **, this tiny gastronomic hall is visible to any passerby.
Het HEM also has gastronomic proposals
With a two-year license, those in charge have the challenge of conquering their guests without curtains, without barriers.
The restaurant itself boils down to a modest structure armed with some induction panels , an adjoining table to cut and another to finish assembling on the tableware from The Bird Tsang.
A show that looks face to face at a tiny audience of diners seated in a long and single continuous bar. One of the partners, Dimitri Mathis, emphasizes: “This is a theater and the curtain opens every day at 7:00 p.m. ”. And the show gives for many applause.
Under the precepts of sustainability, the menu displays the charm of the creativity of its chefs without neglecting its firm commitment to the local and seasonal product.
The eight passes of his proposal equally excite meat lovers , to those who go crazy for the sea and those consecrated to the Dutch orchard.
In the same agreement, his cellar opts for natural references, as well as a ** wild fermentation beer.**
Sculpture of Chapter 1NE
And taking advantage of this condition free of architectural obstacles, diners can contemplate, between delight and delight, unique works such as the pieces of marvelous person (2019-present), by Menno Kok , the gigantic sculpture of Anxiety Rabbit Part Two (2018) by Piet Parra , at the main entrance, or the extraordinary mobile installation , and a nod to the recent past of ** Het HEM , Still Life (2019), by the creative studio RAAAF.**
Still Life (2019), by creative studio RAAAF
NEXT CHAPTER… NICOLAS JAAR
It is nothing new, nor is it a secret that The art of music it has crossed its own limits to become an object (of desire) in museum spaces. Y Nicholas Jaar has a lot to tell -or touch- the world.
From time to time, the artistic sights of the Chilean artist and composer have expanded beyond his "electric" sessions to the decks . He has taken them to the next level, and without moving from the same disciplinary cosmos.
For all this and because of his deep-rooted attachment to experimentation, Nicolas Jaar will be in charge of curating the "second chapter" of the young career of HEM .
For ten weeks, and hand in hand with the collective Shock Forest Group (a team of multidisciplinary researchers dedicated to sound experimentation in permanent search for a "resonance instrument"), the musician will direct a study where historical, sociological, archaeological and geographical metadata come into play that will be fundamental in the creation of a sound piece inspired from the architectural context.
Video art inside a box? Wonderful!
Using Het HEM as a metonym for the set of problems facing the world today, Jaar's team will produce a musical work of art from which data and sensations will emerge in a new way of listening.
Here music comes into play as a means of communication, because sound art itself constitutes an emotional and universal language above the words. 'Chapter 2' will open to the public on September 20 , and will be on the bill until December.
If you travel to Amsterdam, do not hesitate to visit Het HEM