Art in the public space

There is no city in the Netherlands with as much visual art in public space as Rotterdam.

BKOR (Visual Arts & Public Space) manages and renews the extensive city collection in collaboration with involved Rotterdammers, companies and institutions. BKOR takes care of the management and maintenance of more than 500 works of art from the Rotterdam Sculpture Collection. BKOR's project leaders advise the municipality, citizens and artists with regard to the realization, placement, relocation and remediation of public works of art. For example, BKOR mediates between the demand from the city for art and urban embellishment and the supply of (Rotterdam) artists. BKOR also functions as a knowledge and documentation center with regard to all public works of art in Rotterdam. To this end, the program Z-Files, Art and the City organized in collaboration with Sculpture International Rotterdam (SIR).

Database
The BKOR website contains a growing database and map on which approximately 500 images in Rotterdam can be found. In the book Sculptures. Urban embellishment in Rotterdam since 1940 Siebe Thissen (head of BKOR) writes about 75 years of reconstruction in Rotterdam, and outlines the origins and growth of the Rotterdam sculpture collection. With over 1.000 works of art and monuments, this collection is unique in the Netherlands. Based on various essays, Thissen explains how Rotterdam became a real visual city and how the artist has left his mark on the design and experience of the street scene since the 1940 bombing.

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Sculpture International Rotterdam (SIR) is CBK Rotterdam's international art and public space program. Sculpture International Rotterdam manages and develops the city's international collection of public artworks in support of Rotterdam's international and cultural ambitions. SIR itself develops initiatives and has the explicit task of developing a metropolitan international policy. Sculpture International Rotterdam initiates programs and works of art for specific areas in close consultation with the Urban Planning Department. We collaborate with artists of international standing who contribute with their artworks to Rotterdam as a world city. The city is changing, as are the possible functions of art for the public outdoor space.

Collection
Sculpture International Rotterdam manages the approximately 65 works of art that belong to the International Sculpture Collection of Rotterdam, including exceptional international heritage such as the Gabo, Zadkine en Henry Moore, as well as the 17th century statue of Desiderius Erasmus from Hendrick de Keyser. Sculpture International Rotterdam advises the Municipal Executive with regard to existing and new permanent artworks to be developed. The Collection is owned by the city, with the exception of the works of Naum Gabo, Henry Moore, Karel Appel and Umberto Mastroanni. On the website These works of art from the international sculpture collection can be found at Sculpture International Rotterdam.

The start of Rotterdam's International Sculpture Collection
The Rotterdam sculpture collection began in the Reconstruction with private purchases of the Gabo, the Zadkine and the Henry Moore, the three 'main characters' in the Collection. In 1960, the municipality of Rotterdam decided that the importance of international and high-profile images for the city was so great that the international policy should be implemented by the city. The Urban Embellishment Commission was established. Until the end of the 1970s she ensured the revitalization and internationalization of the public space with works of art. No fewer than 21 sculptures of art historical value were purchased. Rotterdam acquired, among other things, the Rodin and the Laurens (sculpture terrace), the Calder in Hoogvliet, the Rickey on the Binnenwegplein and the sculpture by Phillip King in the Zuiderpark. After the City Embellishment Commission died a silent death in the late 1970s, the municipal council set up several more committees. They had to uphold the international policy for art in public space. The result, among other things, is sculptures by Gunter Forg, Coop Himmelb(l)au en Richard Artschwager. After 1988, it became quiet about the metropolitan policy.

The start of Sculpture International Rotterdam
It was not until eleven years later that international policy was resumed on the occasion of Rotterdam Capital of Culture 2001. A committee was established with the task of resuming the tradition of acquiring international works of art. This committee created the famous sculpture terrace that lies on the route from Central Station to the museum quarter and which forms the start of the sculpture route via the museum quarter to the river.

Z-Files, Art and the City
The activity series Z-Files, Art and the City is about art, public space and the city. The topics are addressed through lectures, events, presentations, manifestations, guest lectures and excursions. The aim is to draw attention to the special collection of artworks in the public space of Rotterdam. Current developments in the city are also highlighted. Z-Files, Art and the City stands - with the dynamic Z (from Zadkine) in the logo - for a program of reflections on the activities of BKOR and SIR.