35 Years of Minds and Matter: From the Archive of Kunstinstituut Melly

In 2025 Kunstinstituut Melly celebrates its 35 year anniversary, and in the past 10 years, the archive in its current form has come into existence. The archive was created in connection with the exhibition Were it as If of Bik Van de Pol. Their need for archival information on the institute’s relationship with Rotterdam highlighted the necessity of accessible archival resources. 35 Years of Minds and Matter is curated by Melly’s archivist marjolijn kok.

The wealth of material and stories about the artistic practices of over 1400 artists who have come through our doors cannot be grasped in one exhibition, and we should not even attempt to give a complete overview. Instead, a thematic approach is taken.

This exhibition will take as its starting point artists who have exhibited at Kunstinstituut Melly and have engaged with the concept of the archive. Their combined insights will form a thread that shapes the core of the exhibition. Education has always been a strong pillar of Kunstinstituut Melly, and deserves a space where the integral role of our educational programs can be highlighted.We have a large collection of audio tapes, particularly from the events in the early years, capturing discussions that are still relevant today. Events often have a more ephemeral character than exhibitions but have shaped the institute in their own way. Video and film have been important from the start, which is reflected in our collaborations with the International Film Festival Rotterdam and through the many television productions we have made.

We invite the public to participate in the continued development of our archive by scanning our publications, and uploading them directly to our new online archive, where photographs from the first 10 years are already available.

You may also encounter our old name at several locations, which reflects our commitment to preserving documents as they were, rather than how we might wish them to be.

Exhibition Guide: 35 Years of Minds and Matter

To accompany 35 Years of Minds and Matter, we have created an exhibition guide offering further context on the themes, archival materials, and artists featured in the show. Explore the guide to learn more about how our archive came into being, the role of education at Kunstinstituut Melly, and the many voices that have shaped our institution over the past 35 years.

ONLINE ARCHIVE: MELLY X ARCHIVAL CONSCIOUSNESS

It has always been our goal to make the archive as accessible as possible. While online accessibility is a key objective for Kunstinstituut Melly, it remains a long-term project. In collaboration with Archival Consciousness, we have taken the first step by joining their web archive, Biblio*Graph.

Photographs from our first decade (1990–2000) are now available online, and we are currently digitizing a selection of our publications. On the website, you can explore the archive through three viewing modes:

Timeline: shows scanned publications,

Grid: displays our photographs,

Graph: illustrates the relationships between exhibitions, artists, curators, and years.

All information provided on the website can be used for research and personal enjoyment; commercial use is not permitted.

Click here to discover the online archive.

For more information, please contact our archivist marjolijn kok at [email protected].