Practical Information

Address
Level 2, Waalhaven Oostzijde 1
3087 BM Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Hours
Sundays, 13:00–18:00
Or by appointment

Email
shimmerrotterdam@gmail.com
To join our mailing list, please email us with the subject line: Mailing List Subscription

Notes on Exhibition Proposals
Shimmer does not accept unsolicited exhibition proposals, and we do not rent out our space. However, we do collaborate with a wide range of partners, institutions, museums, biennials, and peers, across local and international contexts. If you are interested in exploring a potential collaboration, we welcome your message.

Notes on Consultancy
We offer consultancy services to funders, institutions, and cultural actors navigating an increasingly complex cultural environment. Our services include ethical foresight briefs, scenario-based programming strategy, and governance tools. We specialise in high-trust consultancy, and have a combined experience of 37 years of experience in the arts, if you are interested in commissioning a brief, entering into a long-term advisory relationship, or learning more about how Shimmer can support your institutional positioning, please get in touch with the subject line: Consultancy Inquiry.

Notes on Internships
We receive more internship applications than we can accommodate. If you wish to apply, please explain clearly why you are interested in Shimmer’s model and how it resonates with your own practice. We pay particular attention to artists working curatorially, and curators actively rethinking the role and methods of curating.

Notes on Accessibility
Shimmer is located on the second floor of a former industrial building. Unfortunately, the building is not yet wheelchair accessible due to the absence of an elevator. We are actively seeking solutions to improve access. If you have specific accessibility needs, please contact us in advance so we can do our best to accommodate your visit.

Notes on Public Transport
Shimmer is easily reachable by public transport. From Rotterdam Central Station, take Metro Line D or E toward Slinge/De Akkers. Disembark at Zuidplein, then transfer to Bus 68 or 72 in the direction of Waalhaven. Get off at Waalhaven Oostzijde. The studio is a short walk from the stop. Alternatively the Bus 44 from central station to Katendrechtse Lagedijk will drop you off around 10 minute walk from the space.

Cyclists can reach us via the Maas bike tunnel; secure bike parking is available onsite.

Media and Press Inquiries
For press materials, interview requests, or media coverage, please contact us directly at shimmerrotterdam@gmail.com with the subject line: Press Inquiry. We can provide high-resolution images, exhibition texts, and institutional information upon request.

Donations
We welcome donations of any size to support Shimmer’s exhibitions, publications, and long-term vision.

For direct contributions, you can donate via PayPal:
shimmerrotterdam@gmail.com

For larger donations or potential partnerships, we’d love to speak with you in person. Please reach out, we’re always open to meaningful conversations about how your support can help shape Shimmer’s future.

About Shimmer

Shimmer is a curatorial studio located in a former public transport building at the edge of the Port of Rotterdam, positioned between oil-riggers and wind-turbine installing ships. This contradiction, sunsets born of pollution, structures our adaptive outlook on art making and curatorial discourse. We operate as both studio and exhibition space, merging artistic and administrative practice into a 40 m² space. This intimacy fosters experimentation, curatorial responsiveness, and proximity to high-quality artistic work.

Founded in 2018 by Eloise Sweetman and Jason Hendrik Hansma, Shimmer has evolved into a hybrid cultural platform working across exhibitions, publishing, pedagogy, and institutional advising. We work in the space between micro-artist-run initiatives and larger institutional centres, allowing us to remain agile and rigorous, speculative yet structurally sound.

Our approach is shaped by recursive governance: a model of institutional reflection where learning from artworks, audiences, and collaborators is folded back into our methods. We do not separate artistic production from curatorial thinking, nor public programming from internal ethics. Instead, we build Shimmer as an organisation where artworks, people, and structures co-learn together over time.

We have presented works by over 150 artists and practitioners, including Nina Canell, Bik van der Pol, Florence Bonnefous, Marcel Duchamp, Willem de Rooij, Theo van Doesburg, Liam Gillick, Ellen Gallagher, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Joseph Grigely, Ian Kiaer, Mike Kelley, Lee Kit, Liz Magor, Marina Otero Verzier, Charlotte Posenenske, Francois Piron, Anne Tallentire, and Lawrence Weiner, among others.

Our activities include expanded exhibitions, public research sessions, education, guest curatorial positions, and micro-publishing through Shimmer Press.

Our programs are supported by the Gemeente Rotterdam, CBK Rotterdam, Mondriaan Fonds, Stimuleringsfonds Creatieve Industrie, Cultuurfonds, Amarte Fonds, and Culture Ireland, along with a growing number of international and private partners. We are also sustained by our local and global community, artists, neighbours, readers, and donors, whose generosity enables Shimmer’s long-term vision.

To support Shimmer’s future and to help us build a legacy of ethical, artistic, and cultural work, consider donating or becoming a strategic partner.

Shimmer has collaborated with a range of institutional and platform partners, including the Felix Gonzalez-Torres Foundation, UNESCO, Goethe-Institut, Mondriaan Fonds, Dutch Embassy in Berlin and Tokyo, and the Australia Council for the Arts. Additional collaborations include NADA, Frame Finland, PUBLICS, Finnish Cultural Institute for the Benelux, Les Bains-Douches, The Community in Paris, ABA Alexanderplatz, Riga Contemporary, Akwa Ibom, Cookies, Wilco Art Books, Laurenz Space, CBK Rotterdam, De Appel, Sandberg Institute, Willem de Kooning Academy, Royal Academy of Art (KABK), BEAR at ArtEZ, Stichting Niemeijer Fonds, and Culture Ireland. Shimmer also works closely with DutchCulture and other transnational cultural networks.

ANBI information

• Legal Name: Stichting Shimmer
• RSIN/Fiscal Number: 859290992
• KvK (Chamber of Commerce): 72933488
• Visitors Address: Waalhaven OZ 1, 3087 BM Rotterdam
• Website: www.shimmershimmer.org
• Email: shimmerrotterdam@gmail.com

The statutory objectives of Stichting Shimmer are, in summary:

• championing art and culture in local, national, and international arenas;
• embodying a space where knowledge, practice, and ideas are tested and presented in a public manner;
• engaging with criticality and with known and lesser-known voices and practices;
• working with established and emerging practitioners and audiences.
  

The foundation does not aim to make profit. In the event of dissolution, any positive liquidation balance will be allocated to an organisation with ANBI status (algemeen nut beogende instelling) with similar objectives, or to a comparable foreign public-benefit organisation.

In practice, Shimmer realises these goals by operating as a contemporary art and curatorial platform that develops exhibitions, public programmes, and publishing projects at the intersection of artistic practice, research, and publics.

Shimmer is a stichting under Dutch law, governed by a Raad van Toezicht with current members Kris Dittel (Chair) and Sophie Mak-Schram; with the management directors Eloise Sweetman and Jason Hendrik Hansma.

Stitching Shimmer’s renumeration policy is as follows:

• The assets of the foundation may not be treated as private assets by any Supervisory Board or Management Board member.
• Remuneration must always be compatible with the public-benefit nature of the foundation and proportionate to its size and financial capacity.
• Decisions on remuneration are taken transparently and are documented in minutes or written resolutions.

The foundation aligns itself with the Fair Practice Code and relevant cultural sector guidelines where applicable.

The 2025 annual accounts will be published after year-end and adoption by the Supervisory Board.