Who we are

OpenArtExchange is an independent international art center that aims to stimulate and connect promising contemporary visual artists from non-Western countries (particularly Africa, South America and Asia) with the western world of arts and culture. We do this through our online platform, participation in international art fairs and festivals, cooperation with partners and our exchange programs, exhibitions and other activities in our local art center at the museum quarter of Schiedam (Rotterdam region).

International, Quality, Diversity, Fun and contributing to a social and sustainable world.

OpenArtExchange explicitly seeks to collaborate with others in various areas. If you are interested, please get in touch with us. We will respond to you as soon as possible.

Artists(collectives)

OpenArtExchange seeks collaboration with contemporary visual artists (collectives), particularly within the Rotterdam region, to shape its cultural exchange activities. This collaboration can vary from working with our affiliated artists on art projects, providing or participating in workshops, participating in our art and culture debates or other events, to renting studio space at our center.

Corporate agents

OpenArtExchange would like to explore collaboration with corporates and art collectors who professionally manage and build art collections. In addition, OpenArtExchange is open to all companies that are interested in art and creativity and would like to make a contribution. This can vary from making their own building available for exhibiting art, sponsoring specific art events in kind, to taking creatively oriented culture and leadership training courses or renting appealing art spaces in our center for holding conferences and meetings (with or without catering by OpenArt Cafe).

Cultural institutions

OpenArtExchange seeks to collaborate with art and cultural institutions, both in the Netherlands, and the countries of origin of our artists and wider Europe. This can vary from aligning artistic programming around themes, joint programming of expositions or other community events, jointly developing a vision, to hiring guest curators, exchanging information, making use of each other’s platform and / or facilitating each other’s activities.

Educational institutions

OpenArtExchange seeks to collaborate with educational institutions, including art colleges and universities, to shape cultural exchange, research and education activities. This can vary from jointly exchanging, developing or (mutually) providing master classes, facilitating research, providing learning and work experience places, having studio spaces available, or collaborating on art projects or other community events.

(Social) employment

With its mode of operation, OpenArtExhange aims to strengthen the local community and, where suitable, deploy local employees or offer opportunities to people with a disadvantage in the labour market. As such, OpenArtExchange actively seeks cooperation with relevant local agencies.

What we do

OpenArtExchange would like to showcase art forms, ideas and stories from promising non-Western artists in the Western art scene next to and in dialogue with Western artists. Although we focus on visual art, curious as we are, we do not shy away from cross-overs to other art disciplines like dance, music or poetry. Through our activities, we aim to let people experience, contemplate and appreciate a wide range of artistic expressions and new ideas about art, values and society in different communities. But above all, we aim to have people from different backgrounds share the joy and magic of art in all its rich diversity.

Upcoming Events

List of Events

Artist in residence IV

May 4 – May 31

Mumpasi Meso

Exhibition OpenArtExchange

May 25 – July 7

Art Fair Laren

June 14 – June 16

+ Export Events

Leadership

Have a vision, be authentic, be socially involved, have courage, but also deliver quality, be the best, be professional, have a consistent track record.

Diversity

Live cultural exchange and collaboration between different cultures by actually doing, grant each other freedom, have mutual respect, be open minded, communicate, stack ideas, accept a certain friction and / or other opinions without necessarily losing your own vision or ending up in a tunnel vision.

Development

Be willing to learn and let others learn, be open-minded, give and receive feedback, research and develop vision, reflect on art, society and leadership.

Community

Be interested in the communities you are part of, know where you stand in the world and your local context, actively contribute to these communities, as artist-in-residence actively participate in the activities of the center, art develop (projects) that matter.

Commitment

Balance mutually commitment, whether long-term and more exclusively driven (affiliated artists) or project driven (up-and-coming talent), have an eye for and act in each other’s interests, act based on openness and trust, be positively driven , have ownership for the bigger picture, be loyal to each other and / or the project.

Reasonability

Base behaviour on fairness and reasonableness, apply common sense whilst considering the human dimension, clarify mutual expectations in advance, say what you do and do what you say, have a transparent and fair remuneration structure for artists, employees and OpenArt Exchange as a whole (including profit-sharing scheme).

Fun

Make it fun and inspiring to work for or with OpenArtExhange, be an active part of OpenArtExchange community, facilitate a free flow of minds, foster openness and safety to experiment, be stimulating, be innovative, let new things happen, create something out of nothing, push boundaries, realize development as an individual and together.

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“Everything you can imagine is real”

Pablo Picasso