From 9 to 12 October, artists, residents, and entrepreneurs meet in the Witte de With Quarter for the kick-off of engage. The launch marks the beginning of a two-year trajectory showing how makers play a crucial role in society — not as decoration, but as partners in addressing the urgent issues of our time.
Artists rolling up their sleeves
engage shows how artists actively take on social challenges. Artist and creative
producer Sarah Jawla and her team present BLQCK TENT (HipHopHuis), an immersive, interactive installation inviting visitors to experience what it feels like to break free from capitalism, hierarchy, sexism, and racism. Photographer and filmmaker Sethi Djegane Gueye from creative studio We Don’t Care presents new
work and curates a full cultural experience in the Slash Gallery at WORM.
In the Paradijskerk, Jeanne van Heeswijk and Jonas Staal join forces in creating their Anti-Fascist Church — a twelve-hour musical service against the rise of fascism, developed together with more than thirty organisations from across the Netherlands.
The neighbourhood programme: building community together
The heart of engage lies in the encounter between artists and the neighbourhood. Through audio tours, workshops, and conversations, Rotterdammers explore how they can collaborate in the years ahead. Residents create their own map of the Witte de With Quarter (Subjective Mapping), share personal stories about what the area means to them, and co-develop new plans for the community.
“We don’t want to programme over people’s heads,” says director Nancy Hoffmann.
“We ask: who wants to join in, and how can we create something meaningful together?”
Culture Convos: voices that need to be heard
Many makers don’t feel at home within the traditional cultural field. engage offers them a platform too, recognising that the meeting between grassroots city makers and established institutions is still far from natural.
At WORM, engage presents Reclaiming Cacao, a documentary by Philippe Stadler in collaboration with Stichting Modern Afriqa. House of Knowledge / Tasha Slagtand and host Jermaine Berkhoudt discuss fair pay in the arts in The Price of Passion. These Culture Convos offer space for perspectives that are too often overlooked.
Conversations that matter
Two key public debates are central to the programme.
In the Waalse Kerk, host Sander Ummelen leads Roots & Wings — a conversation developed with Stichting Boei about the future of community buildings in a changing city and the role of artists within them. At 42workspace, engage and GRAW (Groot Rotterdams Atelier Weekend) host a hackathon exploring how artists can find and claim space for their work: Radical Imagination for Creative Space.
Out in the streets and on the square
engage also leaves the indoor spaces. Weather permitting, Concrete Lions will host a 3×3 basketball tournament, and in the week leading up to engage, ALL CAPS Rotterdam collaborates with artists Sicovecas and Danny Rumbl to give two Krajicek Foundation courts a vibrant new look. Because art belongs on the street — among people, not just inside museums.
More than an event
After these four days, engage continues. For the next two years, artists will remain active in the neighbourhood, working with fair pay and time to build real relationships.
“We’re not here for a temporary festival,” say Hoffmann and the engage curatorial team. “We’re building a movement that lasts.” Read the manifesto here
Locations
The kick-off will take place across multiple sites: V2_Lab for the Unstable Media, WORM, Theater Babel, HipHopHuis, Paradijskerk, 42workspace, Kunstinstituut
Melly, ’t Landje, MaMA, and The Usual.
Practical details
When: 9–12 October 2025
Where: Witte de With Quarter, Rotterdam
Tickets: One engage pass (€6) gives access to the full programme
(reservations for workshops via the website)
More info: www.engagerotterdam.nl