Holiday Passport 2026 - Doing as Drawing

Holiday Passport 2026 runs from 18 July to 30 August inclusive. The programme can be visited during our regular opening hours: Wednesday to Sunday, from 11:00 to 18:00.

Doing as Drawing

Join us this summer at Kunstinstituut Melly and discover the many possibilities of thinking through drawing. From 18 July to 30 August, children aged 4 to 12 can take part, free of charge, alongside their parents or carers, in an adventurous art programme full of play, imagination and discovery.

Be inspired by the exhibition Draw Withdraw Redraw, where drawing is so much more than just a pencil line on paper. Pick a card, follow a trail, build a story or discover how small choices can spark new ideas.

A world full of surprises awaits in the Space for Education and Participation. Help build a giant tent where you can explore, play and withdraw for a while. Create a secret garden for yourself or for someone else. Bring your drawings to life, invent new stories and discover what’s hidden in the many drawers, cupboards and secret nooks of the space. Behind every drawer lies a new task, question or surprise.

There’s no set route and no right or wrong answer. Follow your curiosity, try things out and respond to what others have left behind. Our art mediators will help you get started and invite you to explore the exhibition too.

WORKSHOP SERIES – DISTORTING IMPROVEMENT | JULY 2026

In July, Conform Cox will host a series of three free Saturday workshops where we’ll draw, imagine, and rethink the world around us, taking inspiration from the exhibition Draw Withdraw Redraw. Each workshop explores a question related to improving our everyday lives. In the first workshop, we’ll reimagine the human form; in the second, we’ll rethink our own living spaces; and in the third, we’ll turn our attention to Rotterdam.

The first workshop will be during the Festive Opening: Holiday Passport.

Workshop Programme July 2026

Workshop #1 — Distorting Improvement with Conform Cox: 18 July 2026

In this workshop, participants are invited to imagine how changing the human form could improve the world. Through drawing, posing, and playful experimentation, they will create unique characters that give shape to qualities, traits, and possibilities that are often difficult to see, but easy to imagine.

Workshop #2 — Distorting Improvement with Conform Cox: 25 July 2026

Participants are invited to rethink their living spaces by imagining what would make their room feel better, more exciting, or more inspiring. Through drawing and collage, they will transform familiar interiors into spaces that reflect their wishes, needs, and imagination.

Workshop #3 — Distorting Improvement with Conform Cox: 1 August 2026

How would you change Rotterdam to make it an even more beautiful place? Participants will transform parts of the city through drawing and imagination, creating new perspectives on familiar places and sharing their ideas for the future.

WORKSHOP SERIES – EMOTIONAL TREES IN A COLLECTIVE FOREST | AUGUST 2026

The second Free Saturday Workshop series of Holiday Passport 2026 – Doing as Drawing – will be hosted by Carmen José this August. In Emotional Trees in a Collective Forest, we will explore drawing beyond the academic canons of control and violence over the course of two Saturdays. Together, we will create a vibrant forest on large textiles, culminating in a collective installation hanging from the ceiling.

Workshop Programme August 2026

Workshop #1 — Emotional Trees in a Collective Forest with Carmen José: 8 August 2026

You are invited to draw a large, imaginary tree on textile—inspired by a tree from your window, a childhood memory, or your dreams. What is its name, and how is it feeling today? Together, we will build it from the ground up: starting with deep, entangled roots, moving up to a sturdy trunk, and expanding into branches and leaves that reach out and cross paths with others.

Workshop #2 — Emotional Trees in a Collective Forest with Carmen José: 15 August 2026

Next to the tree, you are invited to draw an imaginary person on textile, rooted in your memories or surroundings. Who are they, and what is their story? We will guide you from the feet up to the body, arms, and head. Are they barefoot or dressed for the cold? How do they move, and what expression do they wear on their face?

WORKSHOP SERIES - CULTIVATING ACTS OF COURAGE | AUGUST

The final free Saturday workshops as part of Holiday Passport 2026 – Doing as Drawing will be led by Elina Charinti. Cultivating Acts of Courage is a series that explores courage as a way to move forward, to refuse to conform and to find new paths. Using felt, drawings and natural materials, participants reflect on memories, values and communities, and create tangible objects that embody courage, resilience, care and hope. Courage becomes something that can be made, seen and touched!

WORKSHOP PROGRAMME AUGUST 2026

Workshop #1 — Cultivating Acts of Courage with Elina Charinti: 22 August 2026

In the first workshop, we will work with felt, natural materials, and drawing to reflect on the people, ideas, values, memories, smells, and flavours that sustain us. We will explore through making what keeps us moving and helps us navigate uncertainty and change, creating tactile pieces that celebrate the things that help us keep going and find our way through challenges.

Workshop #2 — Cultivating Acts of Courage with Elina Charinti: 29 August 2026

What helps us feel trust, safe enough to take a chance, try something new, or face uncertainty? In this workshop, we will create small "safety blankets" using needle-felting techniques. Inspired by the people, places, objects, and memories that offer comfort and support, these pieces will become personal reminders of trust, strength, and resilience.