NDSM Open Call | #LOOKUP! | SHELLS

NDSM Open Call
The annual NDSM Open Call supports projects that emerge from the creativity of the NDSM community. For the latest edition, the jury consisted of former winners Catarina Garcia & Jim Du Pan (2023/2024). Representing Stichting NDSM-werf were curator Petra Heck and former programmer Ewa Scheifes, while Mariska Middendorf represented Stichting Kinetisch Noord.

Shells
Shells is an interactive installation by Lyangelo Vasquez that highlights the impact of more than 110 years of the petroleum industry on the Caribbean island of Curaçao. The work centres on a modified claw machine containing seventy numbered terracotta scallop shells. The clay used to create the shells incorporates sand and soil collected from various locations across the island. An accompanying historiographical soundscape combines field recordings, archival material, samples and original compositions.

About Lyangelo Vasquez
‍Lyangelo Vasquez (1980) is a Curaçaoan documentary filmmaker, researcher and artist. He produces independent work under his own name as well as through his platform Hyper Epic. In 2020, he received the Zilveren Camera award for storytelling. His documentary practice spans a wide range of media, from documentary photography and feature films to interactive productions, installations and paper collages. His work is characterised by an experimental approach to storytelling, frequently exploring themes such as colonial legacies, community and belonging. In recent years, he has drawn inspiration from Caribbean culture and the natural landscape of his native island, Curaçao.

#LOOKUP! – Guardian Demons of the NDSM
With #LOOKUP!, the NDSM Loods gains its own guardian demons, inspired by the chimera sculptures of Notre-Dame. These symbolic guardians protect the building from decay, vandalism and oblivion, while paying tribute to the makers and craftspeople who keep this extraordinary place alive. Visitors are invited to look up and discover a world that sparks the imagination and reflects the unique spirit of NDSM.

About Renée Marcus Janssen
Renée Marcus Janssen (1976) is a Dutch sculptor specialising in three-dimensional animal portraits. She studied sculpture in both Italy and the Netherlands and learned the craft of bronze casting at Fonderia Artistica Da Prato in Pietrasanta. Since 2012, she has worked in collaboration with the bronze foundry ArtCasting in Oudenaarde, Belgium.

Her work consists of expressive animal portraits with a monumental and contemplative presence. By combining traditional Italian techniques with her own distinctive visual language, she explores the relationship between humans and animals. In an age of increasing digital acceleration, her work returns to the essentials: stillness, form and connection, cast in bronze.

About Stichting Kinetisch Noord
Stichting Kinetisch Noord (SKN) was founded in 2000 to redevelop the former NDSM Scheepsbouwloods into a centre for art, culture and craftsmanship, including the creation of a cultural incubator for artists and makers. In addition, SKN manages the Loods as a venue for public-facing activities such as presentations, workshops, exhibitions, fairs and (dance) events. More information: ndsmloods.nl.

About Stichting NDSM-werf
Stichting NDSM-werf curates and takes care of the monumental outdoor space of NDSM as a cultural wharf where public character, creative experimentation and polyphony are central. The foundation develops and presents site-specific installations and artworks by and with artists, designers and architects. More information can be found at ndsm.nl.

#LOOKUP! & SHELLS are made possible by het Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst and het Mondriaan Fonds.