Welcome to Amsterdam Art 21 Welcome to Amsterdam Art 21 Welcome to Amsterdam Art 21

About Het HEM

Situated in a former munitions factory, Het HEM is a new home for contemporary culture.

Together with today’s visionaries, we develop multidisciplinary art programmes that shed new light on the world around us. Central to this is a playful and open approach in both creating and experiencing art. In addition to our exhibition spaces, Het HEM has a living room with a library, a café restaurant with a library and a terrace on the waterfront, and a hi-fi music bar. On top of that, Het HEM houses Restaurant Zanini.

‘Culture happens in communities.’

We present a new Chapter once a year, taking you into the world of today’s creative makers and thinkers: individuals who broaden our horizons through their personal stories, professional practice and perspectives. With them as our discussion partners, we develop a unique programme based on their philosophy, as a guide for new directions of thought. In addition, we offer a platform to various disciplines such as the visual arts, dance, music, light and sound art, theatre and film, as well as science, politics and philosophy.

Exhibiton Chapter 4our: ABundance, 5 Jun-1 Nov

“We must bring about the end of the world as we know it.” — Denise Ferreira da Silva

Chapter 4OUR: Abundance refuses the current structures of reality and opposes the idea of identity stasis. Abundance refutes the notion that you can be knowable and that you must show yourself visibly, that you have to come out proud and sound coherent. It assumes that everything already exists; no existing form is obligated to defend or prove itself. Thinking from abundance is a philosophical attempt that recognizes current identity frames, but also encourages us to refuse and surpass them. Abundance is the wealth of presence.

The artworks and public program that create Chapter 4OUR: Abundance defy the mentality of scarcity that dominates society, normalizing hierarchical differentiation, comparison and competition. Our motto – “We must bring about the end of the world as we know it.” – follows philosopher Denise Ferreira da Silva’s emphasis on knowledge. We strongly believe in exclusion in order to include, selection and classification, categorization to claim inclusivity. Instead of centralizing one way of being, one way of knowing, one way of storytelling, Da Silva challenges us to think the impossible; to approach the world and each other radically different.

What if everything has a right to exist without any proof of purpose, goal, distinct characteristic, hierarchy, priority, or profit? That is abundance. And what else it might be? That’s the infinite imagination ‘Abundance’ demands.