SHIMMER
SHIMMER

Shimmer x Amarte

Shimmer x Amarte seek proposals by a Dutch artist or artist based in The Netherlands to revisit an existing artwork for the stairwell of the building in which Shimmer is housed.

What is it?

Shimmer is a curatorial studio and exhibition space invested in thinking through the expansiveness of material and curatorial discourse. How are exhibitions informed by material, how does the material find a resonance within the exhibition? What are the reciprocal relations between the show and the audience, between the seen and the unseen.

How can one small hook in the ceiling inform the discussion of an artwork, how can we think of the weight of a work as, distributed throughout the entirety of a building. What is weighty? What is urgent, how does a material unfold, what is a memory, what is the space between?

In this artwork call out, we ask, how can a ‘material unfolding’ originate from a point in space? And seek for one proposal meeting the following criteria:

  • The work can be made of any material
  • The work is light enough to hang from a small hook in a ceiling
  • The work needs to be safe
  • The work can move, but does not have to.
  • The work does not have loud sound in order to respect the other offices in the building

The building that houses Shimmer, was designed in 1941 by the architects A. van der Steur, W.A.C. Herman de Groot and K.I. Ruige on behalf of the N.V. Handelscompagnie. Adrianus van der Steur (1893-1953) was city architect of the municipality of Rotterdam between 1931 and 1939. He designed, among other things, the Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum (1928-1935), the Maastunnel Complex (1935-1940) and the Eye Hospital (1941-1949). The RET-building was designed directly after the bombing of Rotterdam and construction was completed in 1946. In 1953, the west side was expanded.

- Why existing work or ideas?

Shimmer encourages artists to propose old ideas or existing works that can be modified for this exhibition. For Shimmer, we want this exhibition to be a site of reflection for the artist to return to the not yet complete idea on the tip of the tongue. We also encourage artists of all ages to apply to rework and revisit ideas that might have been set aside in the studio.

- For whom?

The call out is open to visual artists working with installation, textile, sculpture, audiovisual, and performance.

- What can you expect?

The selected artist will work with Shimmer to rework an existing artwork for this space to be exhibited from September 2024 until January 2025.

The final work will be suspended from the third-floor landing of the building, extending downwards to the second-floor landing where Shimmer is located. It will then continue to the first floor, with the possibility of extending all the way down to the ground floor. It is a work that greets the audience when they arrive on the first floor and walks the audience to and from the Shimmer landing. We see the commissioned artwork as part of our ‘welcoming committee’.

Specifically you will receive:

  • 5192 euros to produce a modified work
  • 500 euro production budget to make a prototype 
  • 2000 euro production budget to make the final piece
  • 4 studio visits with Shimmer
  • Installation support from Shimmer
  • Documentation
  • A short exhibition text written by Shimmer translated into English

- Judgment

The proposals will be assessed by Shimmer and Amarte Fonds. The selected artist will be contacted in July.

- To make a request

You can register for the open call until June 23, 2024, 11:59 PM. Click on this link and use the form to submit a request. The proposals portal will close on 21 June.

- Attachments

  • A project plan (max. 2 pages)
  • A portfolio (max. 3 pages)

About Shimmer

On the edge of Rotterdam's port, Shimmer is a curatorial studio that operates with an ever-changing studio-like mentality where knowledge arises through participation and experimentation. The studio is influenced by anthropologist and feminist theorist Deborah Bird Rose's talk 'Shimmer when all you love is being trashed.' Alongside expanded and durational exhibitions are the events program Sunday Mornings and the mixtapes On the Waves, as a means to move through personal and public space. Shimmer is co-initiated by Eloise Sweetman and Jason Hendrik Hansma.

SHIMMER

Heman Chong, Everything (Wikipedia), 2019 in Shimmer’s stairwell. Photo credit Alexander Wolf. Courtesy of Shimmer, Rotterdam.

Shimmer x Amarte

Shimmer x Amarte seek proposals by a Dutch artist or artist based in The Netherlands to revisit an existing artwork for the stairwell of the building in which Shimmer is housed.

What is it?

Shimmer is a curatorial studio and exhibition space invested in thinking through the expansiveness of material and curatorial discourse. How are exhibitions informed by material, how does the material find a resonance within the exhibition? What are the reciprocal relations between the show and the audience, between the seen and the unseen.

How can one small hook in the ceiling inform the discussion of an artwork, how can we think of the weight of a work as, distributed throughout the entirety of a building. What is weighty? What is urgent, how does a material unfold, what is a memory, what is the space between?

In this artwork call out, we ask, how can a ‘material unfolding’ originate from a point in space? And seek for one proposal meeting the following criteria:

  • The work can be made of any material
  • The work is light enough to hang from a small hook in a ceiling
  • The work needs to be safe
  • The work can move, but does not have to.
  • The work does not have loud sound in order to respect the other offices in the building

The building that houses Shimmer, was designed in 1941 by the architects A. van der Steur, W.A.C. Herman de Groot and K.I. Ruige on behalf of the N.V. Handelscompagnie. Adrianus van der Steur (1893-1953) was city architect of the municipality of Rotterdam between 1931 and 1939. He designed, among other things, the Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum (1928-1935), the Maastunnel Complex (1935-1940) and the Eye Hospital (1941-1949). The RET-building was designed directly after the bombing of Rotterdam and construction was completed in 1946. In 1953, the west side was expanded.

- Why existing work or ideas?

Shimmer encourages artists to propose old ideas or existing works that can be modified for this exhibition. For Shimmer, we want this exhibition to be a site of reflection for the artist to return to the not yet complete idea on the tip of the tongue. We also encourage artists of all ages to apply to rework and revisit ideas that might have been set aside in the studio.

- For whom?

The call out is open to visual artists working with installation, textile, sculpture, audiovisual, and performance.

- What can you expect?

The selected artist will work with Shimmer to rework an existing artwork for this space to be exhibited from September 2024 until January 2025.

The final work will be suspended from the third-floor landing of the building, extending downwards to the second-floor landing where Shimmer is located. It will then continue to the first floor, with the possibility of extending all the way down to the ground floor. It is a work that greets the audience when they arrive on the first floor and walks the audience to and from the Shimmer landing. We see the commissioned artwork as part of our ‘welcoming committee’.

Specifically you will receive:

  • 5192 euros to produce a modified work
  • 500 euro production budget to make a prototype 
  • 2000 euro production budget to make the final piece
  • 4 studio visits with Shimmer
  • Installation support from Shimmer
  • Documentation
  • A short exhibition text written by Shimmer translated into English

- Judgment

The proposals will be assessed by Shimmer and Amarte Fonds. The selected artist will be contacted in July.

- To make a request

You can register for the open call until June 23, 2024, 11:59 PM. Click on this link and use the form to submit a request. The proposals portal will close on 21 June.

- Attachments

  • A project plan (max. 2 pages)
  • A portfolio (max. 3 pages)

About Shimmer

On the edge of Rotterdam's port, Shimmer is a curatorial studio that operates with an ever-changing studio-like mentality where knowledge arises through participation and experimentation. The studio is influenced by anthropologist and feminist theorist Deborah Bird Rose's talk 'Shimmer when all you love is being trashed.' Alongside expanded and durational exhibitions are the events program Sunday Mornings and the mixtapes On the Waves, as a means to move through personal and public space. Shimmer is co-initiated by Eloise Sweetman and Jason Hendrik Hansma.