In this poster diptych, the artist contrasts two kinds of environments that can be visualized as shelters. A wall of vegetation, and a make-shift construction built by the artist with the group of youngsters that participated in the work-study program at Witte de With. He asked them to bring a personal belonging that each associated with Melly Shum. One youngster brought her mother; someone else brought work clothing; others brought art, literature, and household items.
Inaugurating on 7 April 2019 at Witte de With’s ground-floor gallery space is An exhibition of posters by Maja Bekan, Kévin Bray, Chloë Delanghe, Baldvin Einarsson, Priscila Fernandes, Vera Gulikers, An Onghena, Kevin Osepa, Josie Perry, Rory Pilgrim, Tramaine de Senna and Edward Clydesdale Thomson.
The twelve visual artists, who live in the Netherlands and the surrounding region, were commissioned these posters as part of Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art’s collective learning initiative, with a focus on community building. This initiative entails many activities, including a work/study program designed for Rotterdam youth. The program includes art history courses as well as business workshops, and engages the program participants in skill-building activities to gain skills that range from hospitality to creating collaborative partnerships.
During the first edition nine participants enrolled: Gizem Adanur, Chloé Blansjaar, Tayler Calister , Mohamed Chajid, Sjoerd van Kampen, Stijn Kemper, Eva Langstraat, Joy Ravenswaaij and Sytze van der Wolk. They are either still enrolled in school or are already pursuing a career in the arts. For a period of six months, these young Rotterdammers met, discussed ideas, and organized public programs together with Witte de With’s Curator of Collective Learning, Jessy Koeiman.
The participants learned and worked in the ground floor gallery space of Witte de With from September 2018 until February 2019. This space has provisionally been called Untitled, and is designed as a site for art displays and public convening, as well as the primary location for the institution’s public programs. At the exhibition opening on Sunday, April 7, the collective learning participants will announce a new identity for Untitled, which they conceptualized and developed during their work/study program.