[Nettime-nl] Call for support

["SMART Project Space" <smartps@xs4all.nl>]

SMART PROJECT SPACE | Call for support

A NEW CULTURAL SPACE IN AMSTERDAM'S OLD WEST DISTRICT

SMART Project Space is asking for your support for its plans to save an
imposing 1960's office block in the old west of Amsterdam, and turn it into
the home for a host of cultural initiatives.

In the old west of Amsterdam, close to the Leidseplein, the Vondelpark and
the national museums on the Museum square, there is a building that stands
out: the former Jan Swammerdam Institute. It is a prime example of a
modernist, concrete, 1960's institutional architecture that has few rivals
in the historic heart of Amsterdam. It has been described as inhuman in
scale, even brutalist, and exemplifies the functionalist aesthetic that was
so out of fashion for the last twenty-odd years, but which now is making
something of a comeback.  In Amsterdam many buildings of this kind have been
torn down, and the former Jan Swammerdam Institute is destined for the same
fate by the Old West district council, in order to make way for new housing
and offices.

However, SMART Project Space has recently turned the building into its
temporary home, creating an exhibition space for contemporary art, artists'
studios and a café-restaurant. SMART Project Space Foundation has now
developed an alternative plan to preserve the building, and adapt it to
offer space to a diversity of cultural initiatives: expanding the exhibition
spaces, adding cinema spaces for a programming of art-house cinema,
art-cinema and video art, guest-studios for visiting artists, and office
spaces for cultural institutions and creative companies. SMART Project Space
has secured considerable financial backing for this purpose (amongst others
from the Municipal Government of Amsterdam), and is now campaigning for the
local district council to amend its plans and allow the building to be
preserved.

SMART Project Space Foundation has carried out an active exhibition policy
in Amsterdam since 1994, aimed at the newest developments in contemporary
art. In this context, a program of video art, art-cinema and net art has
been presented, as well as film, performances and music and other media as
the opportunity arises. Early in 2000 (part of) the former Jan Swammerdam
Institute was given as a temporary home to SMART Project Space by Mentrum
(the former Amsterdam Psychiatric Hospital). It is now housing the
exhibition spaces of SMART Project Space, almost 50 artists' studios, a
thriving café-restaurant, a film production studio and a screening space.

Under the proposals, the building will be refurbished to meet the demands of
its new functions, the facade (existing of granito and white marble) will be
cleaned up and a (transparent) extension will be added on the ground floor,
covering the current car park and bringing the front of the building out to
the public road.  The plans also include a public passageway to the area of
the former Wilhelmina Gasthuis behind the building, creating a new,
monumental entrance to this unusual part of Amsterdam.

Internally, the plans aim to accommodate the following:

Exhibition Space: circa 1000 m2
On the ground floor there will be an exhibition space where the newest
developments in contemporary art: film, photography, performances, design,
architecture and other  art forms will be given a podium. The space offers
the possibility of being able to organise different smaller exhibitions at
the same time but could also be used for larger exhibitions as the
opportunity arises. National and international art institutes will work
together on the programming (SMART Project Space reserves 400 m2 for
contemporary art exhibitions; 600 m2 will be programmed with exhibitions on
the subject of contemporary culture).

Film house: circa 900 m2
The three lecture theatres in the building (originally built by the
University of Amserdam) will be fitted out as cinemas offering a podium for
good quality art-house and experimental cinema. For programming we will work
together with the former Desmet Art-house (which was forced to close down
recently by the owners of the property) crew and the nearby Dutch Film
Museum.

Café: ca 250 m2
Also on the ground floor is a café-restaurant, annex media-café: a meeting
place for artists and art-enthusiasts. "De Ruimte" is already a phenomenon
as meeting place for the cultural circuit in Amsterdam.

Artist's studios: circa 3.600 m2
On the first three floors, there is space for around 50 artist's studios.
The artists are selected on grounds of their professional level and the
quality of the content of their work. Four guest studios will be made
available to artists from abroad.

Office space: circa 3.600 m2
The top three floors will be made available to cultural institutes and
related creative businesses.

In order to secure the co-operation of the Old West council it is important
to show the level of support that exists for the activities and the plans of
SMART Project Space; not just on a local level, but also in the
international art circuit.

Your declaration of support will show the international interest that will
be generated by a cultural space like this.  Please send your letter to:

City Council Amsterdam Oud West
C/o Hans Weevers, member of the council responsible for Housing
P.O. Box 57129
NL-1040 BA Amsterdam.

You can also send a fax to number: +31 20 5893510 or e-mail:
h.weevers@oudwest.amsterdam.nl

We would very much appreciate to receive a copy of your letter through one
of our addresses (see below).

For further information on the SMART Project Space, please check out our
website at: www.smartprojectspace.net

With kind regards,

The Board of Trustees of SMART Project Space
Thomas Peutz, director

Thomas Peutz
SMART Project Space | www.smartprojectspace.net
1e Constantijn Huygensstraat 20, NL-1054 BW Amsterdam
Home Office: Keizersgracht 720, NL-1017 EW Amsterdam
Mail to: P.O.Box 15004, NL-1001 MA Amsterdam
Phone: +31 20 427.5951/5952 | Fax: +31 20 427.5953
Phone H.O.: +31 20 4206028 | Mobile: +31 6 54765894
Email: thomas@smartprojectspace.net

The following artists participated in recent projects of SMART Project
Space:
Margherita Abbozzo, Liesbeth Abbenes, Marina Abramoviç, Carlos Aguirre
Morales, Babak Afrassiabi, Doug Aitken, Hanspeter Ammann, Justin Anderson,
Tiong Ang, Janine Antoni, Ben d'Armanac, Rodolphe Astier, Attwell &
Affourtit, Clint Bagwell, Bank of Reality, George Barber, Miguel Barreda,
Marcus Bastel, Robert Beck, Hans op de Beeck, Sanne Beeren, Sadie Benning,
Malek Bensmaďl, Otto Berchem, Roberto Berliner, Liz Bischof, David Blair,
John Blake, Joachim Blank, Blind.Spot, Anneke de Boer, Diane Bonder, Natalie
Bookchin, Zouibida el Bouzidi & Zaid el Haqq, Joan Braderman, Nina
Brudermann, Bureau of Inverse Technology, Christian Burns, Neus Buira,
Victoria Campillo Grau, Captain Video,  Simonetta Cargioli, Shane Carn,
Monica Castiglioni, Olga Chernysheva, Abigail Child, Jason Coburn, Loďc
Connanski, Claudio Corsello, Pia Cseri-Briones, Monica Cuoghi, Donigan
Cumming, Alan Currall, Michael Curran, Renata Czajor, JBN Dawra, Koen de
Decker, Cor Dera, Gustav Deutsch, Anita DiBianco, Elspeth Diederix, Lisa
DiLillo, Fleur van Dissel, Herbert Distel, Paul Donker Duyvis, Delphine
Doukhan, Smadar Dreyfus, Yvonne Dröge-Wendel, Justin van Duurling, Tilmann
Eberwein, Benni Efrat, Tracey Emin, Zush Evrugo, Eyegasm, Harun Farocki,
Alicia Framis, Paco Freire, Stuart Gazzard, Patrick de Geetere, Mariska van
Gelder, Bart Gorter, Dan Graham, Valerie Grancher, Johan Grimonprez, Arjan
Groot, Group Z, Eva Grubinger, Robin van 't Haar, Hein Hage, David Haines,
Ellert Haitjema, Hiroyuki Hakamada, Halflifers (Torsten Z. Burns & Antonio
Discenza), Hĺvard Haugseth Jensen, Karl Heinz, Faye Heller, Úna Henry,
Liselot van der Heijden, Jozef van der Heyden, Jenny Holtzer, Alexander
Honory, Mark Hosking, Judith Huemer & Tom André Skullerud, Harada Ippei,
Ingrid Jejina, Aletta de Jong, Gerald van der Kaap, Asao Kako, Takako
Kanagawa, Nobuhiro Kawanaka, Emma Kay, Susan Kealy, Arthur Kleinjan, Pim
Komen & Karen Murphy, Renée Kool, Jeroen Kooijmans, Jodi, Jolanda Kooijmans,
George Kuchar, Quirijn Kuchlein, Andreja Kuluncic, Carter Kustera, Thomas
Kutschker, Peter Land, Leptomania*Art*Movement, Olia Lialina & Michael
Samyn, Marieke van der Lippe, Ardele Lister, Ida Lohman, Eve Luckring,
Veronica Majano, Jun Manjume, Javier Marchan, Pia Marais, Janet Merewether,
Anne McGuire, Dylan McNeil, Niels 'Shoe' Meulman, Junko Miura, Frédéric
Moffet, Sabine Mooibroek, Fumitake Mori, Mouchette, Matthias Müller, Begońa
Muńoz, Kenji Murakami, Lisa Muskat, Carlos Nader, Luan Nel, Diane Nerwen,
Mark Neville, Hayley Newman, Kojima Noriaki, Takumi Obitani, Atsushi Ogata,
Tsuyoshi Okubo, Dan Oki (Slobodan Jokic), Hiroyuki Oki, Lennaart van
Oldenborgh, Kenji Onishi, Owen Oppenheimer, Vivian Ostrovski, Jésus
Palomino, Helen Paris, Linda Pollack, Lisl Ponger, Liza May Post, Walid
Raad, Ilya Rabinowich, Jennifer Reeder, Oder Reifenberg, Steve Reinke,
Hunter Reynolds, Michelle Remy, David Rimmer, Pipilotti Rist, Alex Rivera,
Pablo Rodriguez Jáuregui, Adi Rosenblum & Markus Muntean, Nelli Rothvee,
Hiromi Saiki, Anke Schäfer, Julia Scher, Andy Seklir, Toni Serra, Stuart
Sherman, Mark Schaperkötter, Claudia Schmacke, Cornelia Schmidt-Bleek,
Trebor Scholz, Oliver Schwabe, Marcel Schwierin, Ross Sinclair, Joshua
Singer, Florian Schneider, Debra Solomon, Simon Starling, Peter Stel, Tim
Stoner, Annika Ström, Annegret Suaudeau, Robert Suermondt, Shiroyasu Suzuki,
Cordelia Swann, Tomoko Take, Kayo Takefuji, Fiona Tan, Christine Tauber,
Philippe Terrier-Herman, Marianne Theunissen, Frank Thiel, Tony Thijssen,
Koen Timmermans, Annie Toop, Graziella Tomasi, Muriël Toulemonde, Karin
Trenkel, Peter Tscherkassky, Wanda Tuerlinckx, Atsuko Uda, Gitte Villesen,
Barbara Visser, Junko Wada, Cathy Wagner, Walter Russ, Erik Wesselo, Peter
Westenberg, Olav Westphalen, Hartmuth Wilkening, Luuk Wilmering, Florian
Wüst,  Sonja Wyss, Mikio Yamazaki, Jaka Zeleznika, Jodi Zellen, Edwin
Zwakman.

If this e-mail was forwarded to you by way of someone other then SMART
Project Space, and you would appreciate to receive further mailings
announcing broadcasts of ALMANAC, Art on Television and ALMANAC, Special
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