The Nxt Museum is set to open in Amsterdam, the first Dutch museum entirely dedicated to the New Media Art. We are speaking of space about over two thousand square meters located in the heart of the city, that on August 29, 2020 will open its door to the visitors. Also good news from the side of museums, with a macro project that seems to put itself as one of the principal city's cultural center.
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Designed and directed by Merel van Helsdingen, the museum will be housed in a former production studio into the creative district of Amsterdam Noord. The space is combined with a bar-restaurant and a large terrace. To inaugurate the future museum, is a collective exhibition focused on the universe of interactive installations. Moreover, the goal of the architectural project is to promote the technological arts in the form of installations and live performances that favor the public the multisensory aspect and the involvement of arts.
Entitled Shifting Proximities, the large inaugural collective curated by Bogomir Doringer and Jesse Damiani will explore the theme of experience and interaction in an era of great technological and social changes. A large and current theme chosen specifically to frame a series of large installations (many site-specific) designed by international artists and collectives, including Heleen Blanken with Naivi and Stijn van Beek, Roelof Knol, Lucy McRae with Niels Wouters. The inaugural show also includes the London-based multimedia collectives United Visual Artists and Marshmallow Laser Feast, along with a five-year commission signed by the ecological artist Thijs Biersteker in collaboration with the Italian plant neurobiologist Stefano Mancuso.
Born on a startup private initiative, the museum according to its founder and managing director, Merel Van Helsdingen will aim to fill "a certain gap in the cultural field". Again, by following the statements made for The Art Newspaper, Van Helsdingen saw an opportunity to create a "more permanent space" dedicated to the multi-sensory, interactive art experiences.
Van Helsdingen has also declared to the magazine that with an income expected to come from an estimated 120,000 annual visitors (adult tickets are priced at € 24.50 and concessions, including local residents, at € 14.50) and the restaurant, "we want to stay agile and self-sufficient ". A huge project that sees a female signature. In fact, Natasha Greenhalgh (co-funder) will co-direct the museum together with Van Helsdingen. The duo has declared that is aware of a time when curtail institutions and artists are facing serious financial losses due to coronavirus, the launch of new space for them this summer represents a declaration of support for the artists. Van Helsdingen says, citing Nxt Museum's "focus on hyperlocal" in Amsterdam and the Netherlands. "The advantage of opening [now] is stimulating creativity," Greenhalgh adds. "We are seeing new types of creativity emerging as a result of the corona. That's the beauty of opening in a challenging time."