The supervisory board of Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art unanimously agreed that a change needs to be made to the part of the name of the center that refers to the Dutch naval officer Witte Corneliszoon de With (1599-1658). The board came to this agreement at its quarterly meeting that took place on September 5, 2017.
Chairman of the board Kees Weeda stated: “In light of recent national and global developments we have come to realize that the reference in our name to Witte Corneliszoon de With, and its connotations, are in conflict with the values we stand for as an institute for contemporary art and culture.”
“Prompted by the project Cinema Olanda: Platform we hosted this summer at our institution, Witte de With has recently come to examine the origins of its name. This endorsement of the board is an important and necessary step in acknowledging a blindspot in our institutional history and self-awareness. We do not anticipate further decisions regarding the details of the changes to be made to our name until 2018, when my successor's tenure starts.” added Director Defne Ayas.