The institution formerly known as Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art (FKA WDW) extends an open invitation to attend a public review of its Name Change Initiative. This program will be held on Saturday, 26 September 2020 at 3 pm, 5 pm, and 7:30 pm; it takes place at Witte de Withstraat 50 in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. These programs have limited seating; admission is free; prior reservation required: sign-up here.

At this Public Review, FKA WDW’s director Sofía Hernández Chong Cuy will present the findings of the name change initiative and the three name options under consideration for the institution. This program will be an occasion to ask questions and to share thoughts.

Before the Public Review, a meeting with our name change initiative’s advisory committee will take place on Wednesday 23 September 2020. The Advisory Committee includes respected figures in the field of culture and emerging leaders in the arts: Jannelieke Aalstein, Leal Arazzi van Herwaarden, Clara Balaguer, Liesbeth Bik, Yahaira Brito Morfe, Willem de Rooij, Sasha Huber, Stijn Kemper, Iris Kensmil, Louise Mitchell, Tumelo Mosaka, Willem Philipse­n, and, Kees Weeda. (Biographies are available here.) This group is uniquely placed to guide FKA WDW in its process of institutional transformation and consult on the new name. The advice of this commission will also be presented at the Public Review.

Announced in 2018, the Name Change Initiative involves making FKA WDW a more welcoming institution, and its agenda includes: to diversify the institution from within, in respect to staff hires and trainings, board recruitment, research perspectives, and program offer; to engage communities and create stakeholders that are inclusive and representative of the cultural diversity in this city, Rotterdam; to produce and share new knowledge about the artistic ecosystems the institution is embedded, locally and globally; to endorse and promote anti-racism in the art field, and; to rename the institution.

On 30 September 2020, Hernández Chong Cuy will take the findings and report of the Public Review to the institution’s Supervisory Board: Fariba Derakhshani, Timme Geerlof, Stijn Huijts, Annet Lekkerkerker (chair), Gabriel Lester, Annuska Pronkhorst, and Katarina Zdjelar. A new name for the institution will be ratified at their meeting and come into effect on 27 January 2021. The name change was sparked in 2017, through an ‘Open Letter to Witte de With’.

Detailed information, including transformation timelines, are available online at: change.wdw.nl.