Afrikaanderwijk: gentrification and colonial heritage in Rotterdam Zuid

Join us at 1.00 pm on Saturday 28 June for a panel discussion moderated by curator and cultural programmer Leana Boven, where Cihad Caner will be joined by his collaborator Hannah Dawn Henderson and curator and writer Tirdad Zolghadr to discuss the colonial history of Afrikaanderwijk, its ties to Afrikaans colonization in South Africa and the gentrification processes afflicting the neighborhood.

Cihad Caner’s solo exhibition brings attention to a largely forgotten event in Dutch history: the 1972 riots in Rotterdam’s Afrikaanderwijk neighborhood, where guest workers were targeted. With the riots as a focal point, Cihad expands his exploration to include how the neighborhood was named in commemoration of the Anglo-Boer War in South Africa, as well as the particular challenges of gentrification it faces today.

In recent decades, numerous urban development projects have been established across Rotterdam South, causing drastic changes to the area’s layout and demographics. Among these changes, has been the arrival of a growing number of artist residencies, studios, collectives and centers in traditionally working class and immigrant neighborhoods such as Afrikaanderwijk. Having become gradually more desirable for real estate developers, and in light of mounting rental prices and living costs, the area’s original inhabitants – the same immigrant families targeted by the 1972 Afrikaanderwijk riots – are being pushed even further away from the city’s center.

How do these changes reflect the colonial ties embedded in the built environment of Rotterdam? What relevance does the colonial history of Afrikaanderwijk hold in contemporary discourse? How can art institutions contribute to community resilience rather than displacement?

Taking place within the exhibition space, this event marks the closing weekend of Cihad’s solo, on view at Kunstinstituut Melly until Sunday 29 June.