WHERE DOES CULTURE HAPPEN?

With their roots in hip hop and a 'for us by us' mentality, various groups of makers and creatives in Rotterdam are building new social and cultural connections. In addition to, and sometimes in collaboration with, existing institutions, they develop events and ways of working in which they can be themselves and find each other. With an exhibition, publication, performances, workshops and keen debate, TENT responds to the shifts they are bringing about in the cultural landscape of today.

Guest curator Damoon Foroutanian invites three young makers to zoom in on the club scene and the parallel city of the night. With sparkling images, Steve Sondag and Crystal Doorjé from BRF show how many who do not feel represented by the established order find their home on the dance floor and the community around it. At the same time, with an interactive installation, Charles Mensach sharpened the mechanisms with which, also within this community, doors are opened for some that remain closed for others.

Foroutanian and Malique Mohamud van Concrete Blossom initiate a debate on Sunday 31 March at 15.00 hour about the gap between Rotterdam's current cultural profile and the actual cultural needs. Grassroots initiatives are organically linked to various target groups that are out of reach for established cultural institutions, but are hardly recognized as valid culture makers. What kind of changes in policy, funding and thinking are necessary for the sustainable development of culture and social cohesion in this city?
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