Z-Files #23: Boijmans in the war. Art in the destroyed city

In cooperation with Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen you can for the last time on Sunday 27 January together with Sandra Smets the exhibition 'Boijmans in the war. View art in the destroyed city '. In advance there is a lecture by Dees Linders about the monument to Ossip Zadkine The destroyed city (1953).

Click here for tickets

Programme:
11.00 Starting
11.30 - 12.30 Lecture Dees Linders | Old Library
12.45 - 13.45 Tour Sandra Smets | Exhibition
Register for the lecture via the 'ticket' button, then you can select the tour as an additional article, a limited number of places are available for this.

Z-Files #23: Boijmans in the war. Art in the destroyed city
Between the two world wars, Rotterdam is a modern port city with a vibrant cultural life and artists embrace the international avant-garde. Museum Boymans opens a beautiful new museum building in 1935, thanks to the young ambitious director Dirk Hannema. Everything changes to 1940 with the bombing.

The museum is not affected and Hannema keeps the museum open throughout the war. For artists, reconstruction offers opportunities in the form of art commissions, also in public space. The occupier has a great interest in art and cultural life is flourishing. But, at what cost? Hannema makes choices for which he is later arrested for collaboration. Artists are also faced with dilemmas. Resistance, collaboration, the gray area in between and of course the accompanying art can be seen in the exhibition.

The destroyed city, the monument by Ossip Zadkine from 1953, forms the subtitle of this exhibition and the scale model forms the final piece of the exhibition. The large Zadkine exhibition in Scheveningen (until March 2019) is also a reason for the artwork and monument The destroyed city can be viewed from all sides again. The destroyed city together with the sculptures of Naum Gabo and Henry Moore in Rotterdam is the start of what would become the international collection of Rotterdam, now called Sculpture International Rotterdam. These are the three figureheads. Their impact and much discussion connects the now sixty pieces in this constantly expanding collection and keeps these modern classics up to date.

Reading Dees Linders
The lecture by Dees Linders (artistic director of SIR) digs into the meaning and the riddles of this work of art, which has grown from Rotterdam to a national to international monument. It is special to live in a city where a work of art became the great symbol of the city. It represents the city of Rotterdam, not only the destruction, but also the reconstruction, and even the future of this city. Is this because of the persuasiveness of urban marketing that likes to use icons, is this because of the artistic power of the image itself? Many have tried over the years to close the 'hole' in the image to show 'that the city is whole and healed again'. These and many more questions and riddles come up.

After the lecture by Dees Linders, a tour follows Sandra Smets, guest curator 'Art in the destroyed city' through this exhibition. Due to limited capacity you can register via the 'ticket'button.