Press Release ROOF-A: A New Cultural Venture

ROOF-A: A new cultural initiative will soon open its doors to provide a cultural boost for Rotterdam’s Scheepvaartkwartier – and with it, the entire city. With the capital A of Art, ROOF-A will be an international meeting place: a safe space, crossroads and departure point for artists and photographers, collectors, the public, and anyone else who’s curious about a world full of imagination. With three solo exhibitions by Gijs Assmann, Tania Franco Klein, Marjan Teeuwen, three previews with Kalliopi Lemos, Marc Mulders, Diana Scherer and a Rooftop Installation by Atelier Van Lieshout, ROOF-A will open its multidisciplinary programme on Friday 5 November 2021. Visually appealing, diverse, and challenging.

ROOF-A offers space for museum exhibitions and cultural encounters, but also for entrepreneurship and stimulating lively networks between and with artists, museums, galleries, companies, and individuals. “Connection is what we’re all about. There’s still so much to be gained by connecting cultural, public, and private networks,” says Lobke Broos.

Lobke Broos is the face of ROOF-A, and she has also created the concept. With a charming smile and eyes sparkling with adventure, she says: “ROOF-A opens doors, offers inspiration, and invites discovery. Being near the Veerhaven harbour in green surroundings with a view of the ships, the location at Westplein 9 in Rotterdam is itself an exciting place to explore. There is little art to be found in the neighbourhood surrounding it, so ROOF-A really adds value. The building is a true gem from the 1950s – it housed the former club of the Nedlloyd shipping company and has an open, welcoming atmosphere. This has been the guiding principle in the renovation of the building. ROOF-A will be a dynamic cultural venture. I like to think of it as a bird soaring on thermals. It just fits my way of working: moving along with time and space, always looking for new possibilities.”

A welcoming, open spirit
ROOF-A Gallery and ROOF-A Development
With ROOF-A, Lobke Broos, who previously worked at the Nederlands Fotomuseum and Stedelijk Museum Schiedam, synthesises 20 years of experience in the public art sector based on content and quality. The concept of ROOF-A has two wings: ROOF-A Gallery and ROOF-A Development. It will be a platform for art, with adventurous exhibitions, but also a starting point for combining cultural forces. ROOF-A Development focuses on artistic projects, organises cultural programmes for companies in ROOF-A Gallery, and provides strategic advice to cultural institutions in the field of development and relationship management.

Lobke Broos has sensed a need for the ROOF-A concept on various fronts. “I believe we meet the current demand for connection. How can artists, businesses, galleries, patrons and museums strengthen their social embedding? That’s the main motivation: connecting people and culture through offering an inspiring meeting place and opening doors. After the lockdown, everyone is looking forward to cultural connection, regardless of all the connections we’ve continued to make digitally. That’s why this is the perfect time for new initiatives.”

Artists provide reflections of the world
Their work is a gift, but it’s also a profession
ROOF-A adds art to the Scheepvaartkwartier in a unique way. An Installation by Atelier Van Lieshout, who is pioneering the Rotterdam harbour area M4H, will be placed on the roof of the new cultural venture. Lobke Broos: “The installation will be a landmark for ROOF-A and a symbol of the artistic connection across the districts of Rotterdam.”

With three solo exhibitions and three previews, ROOF-A Gallery will open its international programme with well-known and up-and-coming artists. Gijs Assmann, Tania Franco Klein, and Marjan Teeuwen will be the first three solo exhibitors. Additionally, ROOF-A is showing a preview of Kalliopi Lemos, Marc Mulders, and Diana Scherer. Together, they give shape to the policy of ROOF-A, providing meaning to the crossroads of photography, visual arts, fashion, and design.

“Our concept is guided by crossovers,” says Lobke Broos. “ROOF-A enriches people and becomes a space that brings joy. Artists create a reflection of the world: through wit or a critical look, with panoramas or a closer look at our lives.” Tania Franco Klein (1990), an artist from Mexico, will be making her Dutch debut with her cinematic photo installations and first extensive solo show in Europe. Broos met her in Santa Monica (CA), thanks to filmmaker and photography collector Jan de Bont. ROOF-A was able to make agreements with the artist and her American gallery ROSEGALLERY for an international exchange. “In this way, we will be able to offer one of our Dutch artists a platform in the US as well.”

In everything, ROOF-A strives to make boundaries more flexible – by collaborating with galleries, by commissioning artists together with individuals or companies, and through sales from its own museum exhibitions. Every exhibition will be on display for three months, in order to do justice to their quality, and to be able to activate the network fully. As a cultural venture, ROOF-A has both a social and a commercial responsibility. On the one hand, it will be an artistic space full of adventure. On the other hand, fair practice is essential. “Art is more than a gift – it’s a profession. That also has a commercial side.” ROOF-A Gallery and ROOF-A Development complement each other in this respect with an innovative mix of partnerships and memberships, coaching, investing and presenting. The Young Talent programme will start in early 2022: an annual collaboration with a company or private individuals. The AkzoNobel Art Foundation is the first business partner in this programme.

Strengthening each other’s mission and vision with the adventurous, social DNA of art
When she left the Nederlands Fotomuseum in early 2021 and ROOF-A was first announced, former mayor Bram Peper sent Lobke Broos an e-mail, which she has kept as a token of success. “I admire your move into the private sector and that you’ve chosen to become an entrepreneur in these difficult times. By doing so, you’re showing that this city’s DNA is an integral part of who you are.”

For the realisation of ROOF-A, Lobke Broos works together with Henk Roskamp, co-initiator and ambassador for the cultural venture. He owns Westplein 9 and was looking for a cultural destination. Broos was looking for a building that suited her concept. Now they are working towards the opening. Behind the scenes, ROOF-A is already in full swing and within three to five years, Broos expects it to be a healthy, independent venture.

She is relying both on her experience and on the need for an inspiring meeting place with high-quality multidisciplinary programming and knowledge of cultural development. “Connecting artists, the public, collectors, galleries, museums, and companies always involves a combination of creativity, knowledge, strength, and quality. We reinforce each other’s mission and vision through the artistic and social value of art.”

Text: Wilma Sütö