Opening Weekend Day 1

Welcome to the Opening Weekend!

Join us for an exciting weekend as we unveil six new exhibitions at Kunstinstituut Melly. This is an exceptional opportunity to engage with new and reconfigured works from local and international artists and engage in inspiring conversations. We will also inaugurate our new edition of Tools for Conviviality at the Melly ground floor café, bookstore, and event space, created in collaboration with our new neighbours, Hiphophuis.

Special Opening Program

Friday 20 September, 6 - 9 pm

Around 7 pm, our director, Gabi Ngcobo will introduce the 2024 program and the artists present. From 7 - 10 pm we will co-host a RollerSkate Jam together with our new neighbors, Hiphophuis. Enjoy refreshments, with a selection of drinks and light bites available throughout the evening.

Our special opening weekend continues on Saturday, 21 September. Visit this page for more details!

————————

Pickup Notes

Pickup Notes is a group exhibition that features work by Liz Johnson Artur, Madiha Sikander and Zara Julius. The title refers to notes that occur before the first downbeat of a piece of music. Pickup Notes create a sense of motion and anticipation and are used to establish a tone delivered in rhythmic waves in a musical piece. Liz will show a series of cyanotype prints drawn from her Black Balloon Archive developed over 30 years. Madiha will present Majmuā, a large ‘curtain’ assembled with cloves, beads and monofilaments and Zara will present a video titled Maroon Time.

First Double 1 & 2

Five solo exhibitions framed under the title First Double 1 & 2 will feature solo projects by Cihad Caner, Jabu Arnell, Luana Vitra, Nolan Oswald Dennis, and Sara Sejin Chang (Sara van der Heide). These exhibitions will be on view across three floors at Kunstinstituut Melly until Sunday, April 27 2025.

Cihad Caner, (Re)membering the riots in Afrikaanderwijk in 1972 or guest, host, ghos-ti

Jabu Arnell, Turn off the Lights: Disco Ball #13 A Kind of Black

Luana Vitra, The beads of my rosary are artillery bullets

Nolan Oswald Dennis, geo-logics

Sara Sejin Chang (Sara van der Heide), Dismemberment

————————

Tools for Conviviality: Common Ground

The second edition of the Tools for Conviviality series continues our ongoing work to transform the bookstore/café/event space on the ground floor into a dynamic environment that engages audiences through varied forms of public engagement; gathering, reading, listening, dancing, conversing, and enjoying refreshments, among other things. For this edition, we are collaborating with Hiphophuis, our new neighbours. This partnership has been developed through a working group composed of members from both institutions, with discussions centered around the theme of creating 'common ground.'

The collaboration focuses on shared interests and how these can be leveraged to create a space that welcomes and engages the communities of both Kunstinstituut Melly and Hiphophuis while supporting Hiphophuis to “land” both in the building and within the Cool district. The new MELLY environment features contributions by Dimitri Madimin, Lara Silva Santos, Thato Toeba and Philip Powell. For 12 months, the space will be activated with a series of programs in collaboration with cultural workers from Rotterdam and beyond.