Hannelore Fobo: Da Da Majakowski • Dionysus Gallery, Rotterdam, 1988 • Page 2: Dionysus, Nieuwe Weelde, and Circ

Dionysus, Nieuwe Weelde, and Circ

Da Da Majakowski brought together what we might call “alternative” or “self-organising” art groups and art-related groups of the second half of the 1980s from the East (the New Artists aka Friends of Mayakovsky) and from the West (Dionysus Gallery, Nieuwe Weelde, Circ). Here we may include the exhibition at the Young Unknowns Gallery, London, preceding Rotterdam: the Young Unknowns Gallery was also an artist-run space. We are speaking of people belonging to the same generation, those born in the decade from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s, interested in promoting their own, non-established peer group – today we would speak of “emerging” artists.

To be precise, on the Dutch side, Da DA Majakowski was the result of a cooperation between Dyonisus Gallery and Nieuwe Weelde, although indirectly, another organisation, Circ, the Culturel Bureau Rusland, also played an important role. I will shortly present these groups which were, the three of them, organised as a stichting or foundation, a Dutch legal person typically employed by not for profit art groups (although not only) to apply for public funds.

Dionysus Gallery Rotterdam, entrance door
Second half of the 1980s.
Dionysus Gallery Archive

Dionysus was the name of an artist space founded in 1985 by Arjo Rozendaal and Hans Wilschut, two students of the Academy of Fine Arts. Rozendaal and Wilschut converted a derelict workshop on Osseweistraat 6 B into a place to live and work, but also used it as an exhibition space. In 1986, they reached an agreement with the local authorities to run the place legally and were joined by Huib Boender, Esther Booi and Enno de Kroon, participants of the first exhibition. Dionysus’ main concept was to show young artists of their own generation. With an average of ten exhibitions per year, Dionysus became an important venue in Rotterdam’s art-scene, but had to close in 1991, having lost its space due to the urban regeneration of the borough. (Source: 80 Over 90, Stichting Kunstplubicaties Rotterdam, Rotterdam 2000, p. 58)

Nieuwe Weelde (“New Abundance”, 1986-1988) was an experimental magazine of eleven artists and poets. Its graphic design and lay-out was pioneering, and with a total of nine issues in the course of two years, its cultural impact was reciprocally proportional to its financial situation – which led to the cessation of the magazine after two years, with the last issue edited in September 1988. (Source: 80 Over 90, Stichting Kunstplubicaties Rotterdam, Rotterdam 2000, p. 122)

Circ, the Culturel Bureau Rusland – Circ being Russian for “Circus” – was set up in 1986 by former students of Russian who wished to establish closer cultural contacts between Gorbachev’s Soviet Union and the Netherlands through exhibitions and concerts in both countries. Members were Margot Dekker, Greetje van der Werf, Ko Winters en August Dirks, Pauline Michgelsen, and some others.

More on the website of “The History of Circart Foundation”: Geschiedenis Stichting CIRC Atelier.

Circ’s first major project was Hermitage in Holland, an exhibition presenting artists from the Moscow “Hermitage Garden” group: Sergei Bordyastov, Goshya Ostretsov, Nikolai Filatov, Sergei Shutov, Yuri Petruk, Andrei Roiter, Georgy Litichevsky, Garik Vinogradov and Sergey Volkov. The exhibition was part of a larger festival at the Technical University Eindhoven, organised by Leopold Manche (Studium Generale of the Technische Universteit van Eindhoven) in January / February 1988: “Perestrojka, de Soviet-Unie in de steigers” (Perestroika. The Soviet Union in Scaffolding). After Einhoven, the exhibition travelled to Delft, Amsterdam, Sneek and Tilburg. External link >>

See also article Sowjetkunst heet van de naald about the exhibition at Katholieke Universiteit Brabant, Tilburg 22 September 17 October. External link >>

Hermitage in Holland”. Een tentoonstelling van russische hedendaagse beeldende Kunst / An Exhibition of Contemporary Russian Visual Art,

Exhibition catalogue edited by the Nieuwe Weelde for TU Eindhoven and Circ, the Culturel Bureau Rusland. 1988.

Hermitage in Holland”.
Table of contents, p. 5

On behalf of the TU Eindhoven and Circ, the Nieuwe Weelde edited the catalogue for the exhibtion “Hermitage in Holland”, a 32-page magazine in the typical “Nieuwe Weelde” A3 format. Russian and Dutch authors gave an overview of perestroika art, fashion, film and music. The magazine also included an article about Sergey Kuryokhin and Pop Mekhanika, the most specific reference to Leningrad among the articles.

Most likely in connection with this activity, two of the editors of Nieuwe Weelde, Paul Vink and Hans Miltenberg, travelled to Leningrad, where they met with Timur Novikov and visited some studios; it must have been in late 1987 or early 1988. Vink and Miltenberg decided to show these artists in Rotterdam and suggested their idea to the team of Dionysus, where Da DA Majakowski was officially opened on 25th March 1988. At the same time, Hermitage in Holland had come to Amsterdam, to the University Museum De Agnietenkapel, where it ran until 15 April. There was also a direct link between Circ and Da Da Majakowski: Ko Winters of Circ spoke at the opening of the exhibition (see reverse of the Dionysus invitation card on page 3), and he did so in Timur Novikov’s suit, as we have noted previously.

Nieuwe Weelde, No. 7, 1988. Cover

Just like with the previous exhibition in London, none of the Leningrad artists attended the show at Rotterdam – at that time, Soviet citizens still had difficulties getting exit permits for travels to the West. But the fact that there were two parallel exhibitions of young Soviet art in Holland was an asset for the Rotterdam show and contributed to the media coverage, as most articles referred to both exhibitions.

The next edition of Nieuwe Weelde, No. 7, “Inventieve oplossing sexuele noden wereldhaven” (Inventive solution to the world port's sexual needs) presented the exhibition Da Da Majakowski with some pictures from the opening and Andrey Khlobystin’s and Alla Mitrofanova’s article about the “New Artists” from 1987.

Da Da Majakowski

Dionysus Gallery, Rotterdam, 25 March – 8 April 1988