Business Station Willem de Kooning Academie

OPEN CALL for FIRST 5 YEARS

The WdKA Business Station is looking for help setting up a live event at the end of 2023.

What:
Concept development, production, promotion, decor, video.

When:
Event will take place on Thursday November 30, 2023.

Deadline sign up:
Monday October 2

We offer:
- WdKA studiepunten
- WdKA volunteer dispensation
- work experience with WdKA Business Station

FIRST 5 YEARS
is a live talkshow with creative professionals on how to make a living from art & design.
The objective is to help our audience, primarily students, with the first steps after graduation.

Please let us know you’re interested by email: [email protected]
Or just swing by at the WdKA Business Station. (BL 1.18)first5years Willem de Kooning AcademyWillem de Kooning Academy

PUSH AWARD
The PUSH AWARD, initiated by the Business Station, helps young designers transform their graduation project into a next level professional project. The PUSH AWARD promotes the potential of great graduation projects, and helps to take the next step in building a successful, sustainable practice.

Winner 1 Commercial Practice - Product Design Honours:
Moritz Liedtke & Jake Lalor Zakrzewski
Jury rapport
These emerging designers could be called modern inventors. Their project is a contemporary way to connect old crafts to modern manufacturing processes. In addition they are very aware of the designs these processes can create. For their project: “WEAV3D” they deserve a PUSH Award!



Winner 2
Autonomous Practice - Digital Craft: Bailey Mees
Jury rapport
This designer is a divers multi-talented creator. Next to being a musician, graphic designer, video producer, tour photographer, he experiments with materials like vinyl to find a position in the music industry that incorporates experimentation to clear commercial outputs. For this fun and innovative project and approach, the second PUSH AWARD goes to Project ‘Wasted Opportunity ‘.


Winner 3
Autonomous Practice - Transformation Design Lieve Postulart
Jury rapport
This graduation project is a very personal collection of prints and objects that symbolise the memories and emotions that are connected to a deceased loved one. She has discovered value through her job as a home clearer uses those insides to carefully transforms traditional practices in the funeral industry. Project: “Those who were, those who are” deserves a PUSH AWARD!


Special thanks to

Wanna know how to start your career?

Are you looking to gain a broader perspective on your professional independence and explore your career opportunities after graduation?

organises this series of events where we focus on the practice of artists and designers in the first five years after graduation. Giving you an insight on how an independent practice could look like.

With some special guests; Risk Hazekamp, Amber Rahantoknam and Werner van der Zwan. They will present their work and share their experiences on starting up their career/practice. Followed by Q&A where you can ask anything that you still want insights on.

Join us on June 7th 16:00 - 18:00!
Location: Research Station (WH 00.316)

Free entrance + Free drink

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We support this

FEAST - Financier via Eten Artistieke en Sociale Tactieken

21 april – 19.00 – Buitenplaats Brienenoord

Goed idee zoekt startkapitaal

Loop je al een tijdje rond met een idee om Rotterdam een beetje mooier, socialer, inclusiever of artistieker te maken? Maar ontbreekt het je aan startkapitaal om het uit te proberen of simpelweg te beginnen? Dan is FEAST er voor jou!

We organiseren een diner waarbij gasten allemaal € 25 inleggen. Daarvan gaat € 20 in een grote zak, de andere € 5 is voor de maaltijd. Samen gaan we aan lange tafels eten. Gasten en deelnemers lekker door elkaar heen.

Tussen het hoofdgerecht en het toetje geven we jullie, de deelnemers, allemaal 5 minuten om je plan te pitchen. Na afloop mag er uit de zaal 1 verduidelijkende vraag gesteld worden. Als de laatste deelnemer is geweest eten we een toetje en knen gasten stemmen.

Het initiatief met de meeste stemmen gaat er vandoor met het geld. De enige voorwaarde is dat je bij de volgende editie komt vertellen wat je met het geld hebt gedaan.

Heb je dus een idee, stuur een mail naar [email protected] en wie weet sta jij 21 april ’s avond te pitchen. Deadline om te reageren: 14 april.

FEAST is geïnspireerd op http://feastinbklyn.org/ en werd 10 jaar geleden ook al een paar keer succesvol georganiseerd in Rotterdam. Wij dachten dat het tijd was om het weer nieuw leven in te blazen.

FEAST - Funding Emerging Art with Sustainable Tactics April 21st - 19.00 - Buitenplaats Brienenoord
Good idea in search of financial aid

How to make a living from art & design?
Are you looking to gain a broader perspective on your professional independence and explore your career opportunities after graduation?

The WdKA Business Station organises this series of events where we focus on the practice of artists and designers in the first five years after graduation. Giving you an insight on how an independent practice could look like.

Three guest speakers will present their work and share their experiences on starting up their career/practice. Followed by Q&A where you can ask anything that you still want insights on.

This events guest speakers are:

Nina Valkhof (street artist, muralist)
Isa Gaastra (Illustrator)
Judith de Leeuw (Street art)
Willem Baptist (Film/ Documentary)

Join us on January 25, 16:00 - 18:00!
Location: Research Station (WH 00.316)

Free entrance

Share this with anyone you think could be interested!

.transformationdesign .gallery .productdesign

We organize in collaboration with AV and Animation 4th year coaches a presentation of the dutch FILMFONDS.
They will inform the students how the fund works and how to apply. They will also talk about some of the more accessible parts like Wildcards. Next spring there will be a Start Grants option for recent graduates they would like to bring to the attention of the students.
This will be December 19th at 16.00 at the WH.00.116 (Auditorium)
If you have students that might be interested let them make a reservation at: [email protected]
Please note: priority for 4th year AV & Animation.

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Tuesday December 13th
Pictoright presentation at the Business Station BL 1.18
At 15.00
Please sign up to gain access: [email protected]
This is due to a limited number of places.

Pictoright is the author’s rights organisation for visual creators in the Netherlands: illustrators, artists, graphic designers, photographers and other professional image creators.
Pictoright distributes collective royalties, manages copyrights for artists, provides legal assistance, offers advice and strives for a better copyright position for image creators.

It will be an informative presentation on Pictoright, what it entails, what it can do for artists and designers and then what Pictoright can do for you as a creator in that respect.
The presentation is by Joanne Zwart & Eva Kreuger.

Please sign up to gain access: [email protected] This is due to a limited number of places.
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Good reads. Recommended books purchased by the Business Station for the station visitors.

Initiative: A Proven Method to Bring Your Passions to Life

"If you've ever wanted to start a project but weren't sure how, Initiative is the missing piece. With effective, step-by-step exercises and engaging real-life stories, this book will show you how to become someone who can start projects you love from scratch."

Good reads. Recommended books purchased by the Business Station for the station visitors.

Autonomy by dissent - Autonomie door tegenspraak

Dedicated to subculture which it aims not only to document, but also to give a future to...
It portrays the OT301’s collective struggle with major questions and changes, in society as well as within their own organization, but also their militant fervor and their optimism.

New books in

Check this!

• 🗓 Op 𝘸𝘰𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘥𝘢𝘨 𝟸𝟾 𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 organiseert Art Office in samenwerking met een informatie- en netwerkmiddag over het financieren van je kunstpraktijk. De middag (15.45-18.00 uur in ) is bedoeld voor beeldend kunstenaars uit de regio Rotterdam. De voertaal is Engels.

Gili Crouwel van Fonds Kwadraat gaat in gesprek met Simon Schrikker (1973), Katharina Heil (1982) en Wille Meike Brand (1992) over hoe en waarom zij een renteloze lening bij Fonds Kwadraat aanvroegen om hun plannen te realiseren.

Toegang is gratis. Vanwege een beperkt aantal plaatsen, graag van tevoren aanmelden via [email protected]. Vermeld als onderwerp: 28 september 2022 en in de mail duidelijk je voor- en achternaam. Maandag 26 september ontvang je een definitieve bevestiging voor de informatie- en netwerkmiddag.

Meer weten? www.artoffice.info

📸: Simon Schrikker, 'Dark Mountains Seeing Things', samenwerking met Brush, Hilton Art Lab, 2021

Hello everybody!

We’ve been hosting different events surrounding INITIATIVES and the questions we receive most are: How do you get started? How can you get money? How do you organise?

If you have these questions, our next event is for you! We’re happy to announce that on the 14th of June we will have our third session of INITIATIVES. This event is our first workshop, where we will learn how to start an initiative.

This workshop is open to EVERYONE (WdKA and non-WdKA peeps) and free of charge. It will be held at the Business Station in the Blaak building on Tuesday the 14th of June from 15:00 till 17:00. There will be snacks and drinks 😁 No registration is required!

During the series INITIATIVES we host different events, workshops and talks where you receive knowledge from different creatives with diverse perspectives and experiences surrounding how to start your own initiative, what are the challenges and so on.
Our aim is to inspire and empower people to start their own initiatives and to find new connections in the city to be able to do so.

We hope to see you there!

P.S We will have an end of the year open meeting to discuss our next steps for the upcoming school year and to receive input from different people so we can provide the best programme possible. This meeting will be held on the week of the 20th - 24th of June, the specific date and time will be announced soon. We would love for you to join!

Poster by

Excited to announce our fourth and final guest for our second event of the series INITIATIVES!

Sander Zweerts de Jong on behalf of the Buitenplaats Brienenoord

The Buitenplaats Brienenoord is a rehearsal space for the future, on the isle of Van Brienenoord. The building is entirely built on a circular way by a group of 50 volunteers. The Buitenplaats initiates programs about future dilemmas and challenges, and they like to do so by including people of all ages. Most of the time they combine art and nature. They have different kinds of artist programs and an educational program, where the process is more emphasized than the result. They are enjoy being a state for different kinds of artistic projects, theatre plays and so on. They are eager to work together with students and young artists. In the weekends the space transforms into a cafe/restaurant.

Come join us this Tuesday May 24th at 20:00 at Roodkapje to hear more about this magical place ✨

This event is free of charge, open to everyone (WdKA and non-WdKA peeps) and there is no registration required.

This event is a panel talk where we will explore the main differences between having a small scale or a large scale initiative, the benefits and downsides and so on.

The series INITIATIVES consists of different events, workshops and talks where you hear stories and receive knowledge from different creatives with different perspectives and experiences on what is an initiative, how to start one and what are the (possible) struggles.

For updates and more information keep an eye on and

Thank you so much and we hope to see you there!

Poster by

Here to happily announce our third guest for our second event of the series INITIATIVES!

Anne Kolbe on behalf of SCHANDE Life-style magazine

SCHANDE positions itself as the first subsidized society Life-style magazine for the Rotterdam art scene. This d-i-y glossy that revolves around the local artistic stars is a product of Jacco Werner and Anne Kolbe. Since September 2021 SCHANDE has been issued three times.

Come join us this Tuesday May 24th at 20:00 at Roodkapje to hear more about SCHANDE ✨

This event is free of charge, open to everyone (WdKA and non-WdKA peeps) and there is no registration required.

This event is a panel talk where we will explore the main differences between having a small scale or a large scale initiative, the benefits and downsides and so on.

The series INITIATIVES consists of different events, workshops and talks where you hear stories and receive knowledge from different creatives with different perspectives and experiences on what is an initiative, how to start one and what are the (possible) struggles.

For updates and more information keep an eye on and

Thank you so much and we hope to see you there!

Poster by

We’re excited to announce our second guest for our second event of the series INITIATIVES!

SERÉ .re on behalf of the EUC Collxctive .euc

The Collxctive started around 4 years ago when it got known as the “Manifesto in Process” when a couple of students got together enraged at the University’s management of a case of sexual assault and other misbehaviors. They were commuted to demanding a safer space in the university as well as working for it themselves. Since then, the group has grown and changed into a fluid body of students that strive for intentional spaces and intersectional justice within, yet also beyond, their university. They work at keeping the university apparatus in check as well as building community and spaces of alterity.

This session is on Tuesday May 24th at 20:00 at Roodkapje

This event is free of charge, open to everyone (WdKA and non-WdKA peeps) and there is no registration required.

This event is a panel talk where we will explore the main differences between having a small scale or a large scale initiative, the benefits and downsides and so on.

The series INITIATIVES consists of different events, workshops and talks where you hear stories and receive knowledge from different creatives with different perspectives and experiences on what is an initiative, how to start one and what are the (possible) struggles.

For updates and more information keep an eye on and

Thank you so much and we hope to see you there!

Poster by

Posted • Hello people!

We’re very happy to announce our second event of the series INITIATIVES.

This session is on Tuesday May 24th at 20:00 at Roodkapje

This event is a panel talk where we will explore the main differences between having a small scale or a large scale initiative, the benefits and downsides and so on.

We have invited several speakers, them being Constança Saraiva on behalf of Conversas Rotterdam , SERÉ .re on behalf of the EUC Collective .euc , Sander Zweerts de Jong on behalf of the Buitenplaats Brienenoord and Anne Kolbe on behalf of SCHANDE .

The series INITIATIVES consists of different events, workshops and talks where you hear stories and receive knowledge from different creatives with different perspectives and experiences on what is an initiative, how to start one and what are the (possible) struggles.

Our aim is to inspire and empower people to start their own initiatives and to find new connections in the city to be able do so.

This event is free of charge, open to everyone (WdKA and non-WdKA peeps) and there is no registration required.

For updates and more information keep an eye on and

Thank you so much and we hope to see you there!

Poster by

.publicationstation .transformationdesign .wdka .wdka

We’re very happy to announce our first guest for our second event of the series INITIATIVES!

Constança Saraiva on behalf of Conversas

Conversas is a self-organized art project consisting of a series of meetings where we get to know and discuss projects and interests. Three Conversadores bring something to share with the gathered group during the event. As the title suggests, Conversas (Conversations in Portuguese) sim at an equal setup from which both the Conversadores and the group can benefit. Events are open to all, and the entrance is free. Conversas are organized in series of ten events; at the end, a small publication is edited in collaboration with a designer. The publication works as an archive of these meetings.
Since Conversas started in Lisbon, its method has been replicated in around twenty cities in different countries. In copying the format, the organizers used the original name of the project in Portuguese - Conversas - creating an international network.

This session is on Tuesday May 24th at 20:00 at Roodkapje

This event is free of charge, open to everyone (WdKA and non-WdKA peeps) and there is no registration required.

This event is a panel talk where we will explore the main differences between having a small scale or a large scale initiative, the benefits and downsides and so on.

The series INITIATIVES consists of different events, workshops and talks where you hear stories and receive knowledge from different creatives with different perspectives and experiences on what is an initiative, how to start one and what are the (possible) struggles.

For updates and more information keep an eye on and

Thank you so much and we hope to see you there!

Poster by

Hello people!

We’re very happy to announce our second event of the series INITIATIVES.

This session is on Tuesday May 24th at 20:00 at Roodkapje

This event is a panel talk where we will explore the main differences between having a small scale or a large scale initiative, the benefits and downsides and so on.

We have invited several speakers, them being Constança Saraiva on behalf of Conversas Rotterdam , SERÉ .re on behalf of the EUC Collective .euc , Sander Zweerts de Jong on behalf of the Buitenplaats Brienenoord and Anne Kolbe on behalf of SCHANDE .

The series INITIATIVES consists of different events, workshops and talks where you hear stories and receive knowledge from different creatives with different perspectives and experiences on what is an initiative, how to start one and what are the (possible) struggles.

Our aim is to inspire and empower people to start their own initiatives and to find new connections in the city to be able do so.

This event is free of charge, open to everyone (WdKA and non-WdKA peeps) and there is no registration required.

For updates and more information keep an eye on and

Thank you so much and we hope to see you there!

Poster by

That was a great night last night!
Thanks for everything WORM] Always a pleasure ❤️
Big thanks to our panel:
Laura from .rotterdam, Joana from .rotterdam, Daan den Houter from & and Kamiel Verschuren from all these initiatives in Charlois like .a.d_rotterdam

The great insights Janpier Brands heahhoncho of WORM] shared on initiatives and being so helpful!

Thnx and for moderating the night
for our technique
for the summary, the help and all the other things ❤️

Thanks all the wonderful people that showed up, joined the conversation 🥰

We will be back soon with more till then ✌️

A reminder that Tuesday April 12th we have our first INITIATIVES event at

Join us, admission free

Daan den Houter on behalf of &
Kamiel Verschuren on behalf of .a.d_rotterdam ao.,
Laura of .rotterdam
Joana from .rotterdam
Janpier Brandt of Worm

Moderated by Sadie & Carlota

.publicationstation .transformationdesign .wdka

topic INITIATIVES.
This series will consist of different events, workshops and talks where you will hear stories and receive knowledge from different creatives with different perspectives and experiences.
Our aim is to inspire and empower people to start their own initiatives and to find new connections in the city to be able do so.
This will be an ongoing series that will have its kick-off on Tuesday April 12th at 20:00 at WORM.
The first session is a panel talk to define what an initiative can be, share some of the history of initiatives and different insights on how to start an initiative.
This event is free of charge, open to everyone and there is no registration required.

For the past 2 years we have advised several students to set up an initiative. This has varied from partnerships and exhibition collectives to setting up studios. We have delved into the history of initiatives in Rotterdam surrounding the academy. Since the late 1970s, a large number of Rotterdam initiatives have been developed/set up by (former) students. We have a tradition. From Marxist DIY punk groups to more commercial agencies, artists’ initiatives, galleries to stages.

So we want to make this into a program serie at the WDKA

Join us this Tuesday at the Business Station

💪🏼💫
Second photo illustrates the books we used so far for research

Posted • .first5years An online broadcast on starting up your career in art & design.

Luuk Bode lives and works in Rotterdam. He works with different media on different scales, such as murals, monumental paintings, collages, meticulous pencil drawings. He also makes designs for interior and fashion, and works both autonomously and on commission. Yet in all this diversity there is a clear common thread: a powerful, clear visual language that has undergone the necessary developments over the years, but is still very recognizable. The metropolitan environment, with angular skylines, road markings, and (half-decayed) street art has become an increasingly important part of his work, next to the pop-culture references from his earlier, figurative art.

Website: www.luukbode.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/luukbode/

FIRST 5 YEARS
Live on ZOOM
Thursday November 18th 16:00-16:30

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/9181762302?pwd=ZkkrQ1lBQjlZbjBWY0oybHBUU2J6QT09

Meeting ID: 918 176 2302
Passcode: F5Ymeetup

.transformationdesign .community.wdka

Thursday a new First 5 Years. This time:

'In my practice as a performance artist I research endurance, physical limits and awareness. To investigate these topics, I create movement scores, workshops, online platforms and stage-productions that are carried out together with various participants, ranging from performers to audience members.’

F5Y is an online broadcast on starting up your career in Art & Design.
.community.wdka .transformationdesign .transformationdesign

.first5years with
・・・
Next Thursday a new First 5 Years. This time: Anne Wenzel works on a strong and distinctive oeuvre of monumental ceramic sculptures and installations that are often placed in an accurately orchestrated setting. Wenzel takes a more subversive position between tradition and modernity. Departing from historical iconography, she tackles contemporary and often political themes by using a consciously chosen traditional medium: clay.

F5Y is an online broadcast on starting up your career in Art & Design.
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.first5years with
・・・
Next Thursday a new First 5 Years. This time: aka Thomas de Rijk a former student. Thomas de Rijk is an Amsterdam based 3D artist, director and musician who has worked with clients such as MTV, Adult Swim and de Jeugd van Tegenwoordig. Remember the Barkie video 👌🏽

F5Y is an online broadcast on starting up your career in Art & Design.
.community.wdka .transformationdesign .first5years

Repost!!!🗓📍📢💭

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