Julija Mockutė

Events I curated, produced or took part in.

Awards Program honoring Karen Zeedijk and Sander van Wettum

8 November 2023

In this program, we introduced the laureates of the third edition of our awards program focused on the cultural ecosystem:

THE MAKER BEHIND THE MAKER AWARD

It is with great pleasure that we announced Karen Zeedijk, an expert in tufting, as the winner of this year's Maker behind the Maker Award. Commissioned by artists, Zeedijk makes tapestries, rugs and textile artworks in her atelier Fabrikaat in Tilburg and as part of her decades-long profession at TextielLab, part of the TextielMuseum. The textile works are exhibited all over the world. Zeedijk was nominated for this award by the Dutch visual artist Catharina van de Ven, for whom she made several rugs. Van de Ven states that Zeedijk is very dedicated to her profession as well as to the artists with whom she works, creating special working relationships in which both Zeedijk and the artist open themselves up to learning and developing by working together. The award was accompanied by a video about Zeedijk’s practice, produced by Julija Mockutė.

THE BERRY KOEDAM AWARD

We are pleased to announce that photographer Sander van Wettum is the recipient of the Berry Koedam Award. Van Wettum is a photographer and visual artist, based in Rotterdam. “Winning the Berry Koedam Award gives me the opportunity to reflect on my work as a documentation photographer,” Van Wettum shares. Van Wettum was nominated by Maziar Afrassiabi, founder of artspace Rib in Rotterdam. Afrassiabi shares “Sander has a strong photographic vision. His ability to bring that vision into the context of a commission without either compromising his artistic voice nor the purpose of the commission is unique.” The award was accompanied by a video about Van Wettum’s practice, produced by Julija Mockutė.

Each awardee received a cash gift of €5,000 and will be honored in this private awards ceremony followed by a public reception held at Kunstinstituut Melly. In 2020, Kunstinstituut Melly celebrated its 30th anniversary by launching these awards, which recognize people whose image-making, craft, and advocacy has been central to the creation, presentation, and appreciation of contemporary art. These awards are supported by the Mondriaan Fund and ramfoundation.

Tools For Demodernizing Chapbook Launch and Conversation with Naomi Beckwith, Elena Filipovic, and Grace Ndiritu at Palais de Tokyo

21 October 2023

Kunstinstituut Melly collaborated with the Palais de Tokyo in Paris in a public presentation of Tools for Demodernizing, a special initiative dedicated towards transformative, systemic and sustainable change in arts institutions. For this dynamic event we welcomed three special guests: Naomi Beckwith (Deputy Director and Jennifer and David Stockman Chief Curator of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum), Elena Filipovic (Director Kunsthalle Basel) and artist Grace Ndiritu. Through courageous initiatives, rigorous scholarship, and lucid artistic vision, each guest holds unique perspectives upon how to think and practice alternative models to the modern aesthetic canon and the museum as its vehicle. The program also included a Q&A with the speakers and members of Melly’s team: Sofía Hernández Chong Cuy, Julija Mockutė, Vivian Ziherl, and Jessy Koeiman; moderated by Nataša Petrešin-Bachelez (Cultural Programmes Manager at the Cité internationale des arts.)

With case-studies, conversations and haptic exercises, the program responded to the key question, "How might we re-tool institutional time"? This is a question that arised from the Tools for Demodernizing summer training intensive at Kunstinstituut Melly. Participating in this program were key staff from the five Tools for Demodernizing network partners: Artspace (Sydney), the Initiating Council for the Museum of Contemporary Art (ICMoCA) (Kosovo), Javett-UP (Pretoria), and Museo de Arte Moderno de Medellín (MAMM) (Medellín), and Kunstinstituut Melly (Rotterdam). The Rotterdam program addressed the legacy of ‘white-cube’ institutions, questioned in light of pressing issues regarding institutional engagement and social responsibility and in acknowledgment of colonial legacies. In this Paris program, the notion of ‘retooling’ was used to consider a practical approach to conceptual impasses; by ‘institutional time’ we undertook a critique of linear and expansionist logics while also reflecting upon temporalities of crisis.

This program takes place as a launch of the Tools for Demodernizing online chapbook that gathers documents, reflections and learnings of the summer training intensive.

84 STEPS Finissage and Silent Auction at Kunstinstituut Melly

22 September 2023

Kunstinstituut Melly was delighted to welcome guests and friends for the finissage of 84 STEPS, an exhibition, and research platform that had evolved over the past three years in our third floor galleries. With commissioned artist projects and hands-on workshops, 84 STEPS undertook a sustained and collective exploration of the relation between physical and mental architectures, as much as with interpretations of personal and social health.

The finissage of 84 STEPS celebrated the initiative and its programs together with local artists and practitioners. The event started at 6pm with a toast and launch of the Indonesian artist collective Tromarama’s Soliloquy lamp auction. From 6 to 8pm visitors could bid on the lamps and have a chance to take a piece of the exhibition home. Auction results were announced at the close of the evening, and proceeds of the auction went to the organizing of the weekend festivities of the My Oma exhibition in December.

A unique component of 84 STEPS has been its TRAININGS program of hands-on workshops, wellness sessions and haptic exercises. As part of the evening program, visitors could take part in one of two final 30-minute TRAININGS hosted by special guests Cézanne and Sekai Makoni.

REFLECTIONS (CÉZANNE)

This TRAINING was an immersive performance that invited the audience to come on a journey of self reflection. Through scent, music and meditation the artist will guide you to land in the space and in your body. The TRAINING took place in Maike Hemmers’ installation in 84 STEPS.

ACTIVE LISTENING WORKSHOP TASTER (SEKAI MAKONI)

This TRAINING guided participants through exercises and reflections to think more deeply about how we listen, individually and collectively. The session delved into questions such as; What does it feel like to be heard and really listened to? How do we listen across differences? And, how is active listening relevant in the art world? The TRAINING took place in Raja’a Khalid’s installation in 84 STEPS.

The event was curated and produced by Julija Mockutė.

Awards Program honoring Struktuur 68, Jannes Linders, and Linda Malherbe

16 March 2023

In this program we introduced the laureates of the second edition of our awards program focused on the cultural ecosystem:

The Maker behind the Maker Award

Studio for ceramics Struktuur 68 is the recipient of the Maker behind the Maker Award. This award honors creators whose impeccable craftsmanship and supportive collaboration have been indispensable for a visual artist to best materialize their work. Co-founded by Henk Trumpie (1937) and Jacques van Gaalen (1941), Struktuur 68 is an experimental ceramics company in The Hague. The Maker behind the Maker Award is created by Kunstinstituut Melly in collaboration with Mondriaan Fund, the public fund for visual art and cultural heritage in the Netherlands.

The Berry Koedam Award

The photographer Jannes Linders (1955) is the recipient of the Berry Koedam Award. Since 1981, he has been commissioned by numerous artists and institutions to document art and exhibitions. This award honors creators whose visual documentation of artworks and exhibitions, as well as of art events and artistic communities in the Netherlands. The Berry Koedam Award is made possible by Koedam’s ramfoundation.

The Visionary Award

Linda Malherbe (1969) is the recipient of the Visionary Award. This award honors people who are improving the artistic environment and culture sector in Rotterdam. Malherbe is most known for her work at Verhalenhuis Belvédère in Katendrecht, an institution she co-founded, and where she is a curator and member of the board of directors. The Visionary Award is made possible through a partnership between Kunstinstituut Melly and Stichting Droom en Daad.

Each awardee receives a cash gift of €5,000 and was honored in this awards ceremony followed by a reception held at Kunstinstituut Melly. In 2020, Kunstinstituut Melly celebrated its 30th anniversary by launching these awards, which recognize people whose image-making, craft, and advocacy has been central to the creation, presentation, and appreciation of contemporary art. These awards are supported by the Mondriaan Fund, ramfoundation, and Stichting Droom en Daad. Additionally, this event marked the start of the third edition of this awards program, which involves one open call, two nomination processes, and the selection of laureates by an independent jury. The event and the following open call and juries were all organised by Julija Mockutė.

Light grey blue folds me open like a book

4 June 2022

In this afternoon event, participating artist of 84 STEPS Maike Hemmers launched her newest publication Light grey blue folds me open like a book. This artist’s book stems from Hemmers’ artistic practice involving mental body scans. In such a process, colors are felt in the body, and the artist interprets these through drawing and writing. She also used this process when creating her large-scale art installation This deep becomes palpable included in 84 STEPS. Hemmer’s book is published by Bored Wolves, the book is designed and edited by Yin Yin Wong.

The book launch included a conversation with Hemmers and the public, moderated by Julija Mockutė from Kunstinstituut Melly. This took place within the exhibtion 84 STEPS. Following this, the public was welcomed to enjoy an edible installation by artists Sara Hamadeh and Pitchaya Ngamcharoen in MELLY Cantina. In creating this, Hamadeh and Ngamcharoen take inspiration from how Hemmers approaches feelings and colors. Their installation drew a parallel with their approach to senses and flavors.

Fundraiser for Ukrainian artists and cultural workers

25 March 2022

In support of the community of artists and cultural workers in Ukraine, Kunstinstituut Melly hosted a borscht fundraiser on Friday 25 March. Visitors could come have a bowl of Borscht made by our Armenian, Georgian, and Lithuanian team members, for a donation of your choice. All donations went to the fundraiser, co-initiated by WET Film to support sister collective Freefilmers and their community of artists and cultural workers in Ukraine for relocation to safer places, medical help, and basic needs.

WET is a Rotterdam-based film and video collective focusing on collaborative forms of production and programming. In October 2021 they hosted Freefilmers for a residency in Rotterdam, where the two collectives exchanged ideas about self-organizing and radical forms of production. Freefilmers are a union of like-minded filmmakers; they promote independent filmmaking in Ukraine, especially in its eastern part, and work towards the decentralization of cultural processes.

Dutch Nurses

18 March 2022

Iris Kensmil's drawing installation Dutch Nurses (2015) portrays several Surinamese nurses that came to the Netherlands in the mid-twentieth century. A nurse, Kensmil’s mother, is featured in the installation. The installation was informed by the book Zusters Uit Suriname (2003), where the late author Annemarie Cottaar describes the policy and programs for training, recruiting, and immigrating Suriname nurses to the post-war Netherlands.

Inspired by this art installation and by the history book, and with an interest to learn more about the current healthcare context in the Netherlands and Suriname, at Kunstinstituut Melly Julija Mockutė organized a dynamic program to be held within Kensmil’s current solo exhibition, Some of My Souls.

The program took place on 18 March at 6 pm, in the second-floor gallery. It began with a piano concert with Djuwa Mroivili, performing music by overlooked Black female composers. This was followed by a brief artist’s talk about Dutch Nurses in the auditorium. The event continued with a conversation between Herman Jintie, general director at Medical Mission Primary Health Care Suriname, a non-profit organization that provides primary care in predominantly rural areas and a nurse practitioner, and healthcare researchers from Erasmus University, Pauline Meurs, Oemar van der Woerd, and Iris Wallenburg. At 8 pm, we hosted a wine reception at MELLY Bookshop and Cantina for the artist, speakers, and general public.

The exhibition Iris Kensmil: Some of My Souls (2022) at Kunstinstituut Melly was curated by director Sofía Hernández Chong Cuy with the assistance of Julija Mockutė.