For an overview of all involved partners in 2016, we would like to refer you to The power of collaboration. The Kunsthal’s supporters programme consists of the Kunsthal Friends and the Kunsthal Circle for committed individuals. Businesses committed to the arts can get involved in the activities of the Kunsthal by joining the Business Circle or becoming a Kunsthal Ambassador.

Collaborations with sponsors

Collaborations with regard to content have the greatest impact and in 2016, the Kunsthal continued to work in mutually beneficial, passionate partnerships with a clear vision to realise important achievements. Thanks to its partners, the Kunsthal was able to reach new audiences, transport 840 pupils of Rotterdam schools with the Kunstbuzz, give 32 talented young people an opportunity to develop themselves during the All you can Art Summer School and help in getting artworks included in a corporate collection or exhibited in the public space. We had an opportunity to realise eye-catching ‘city dressing’ (which has since become our trademark) and were able to fly in international supermodels to attend a grand opening weekend to ensure that it would not pass unnoticed by the (inter)national press.

The Kunsthal considers itself to be a cultural entrepreneur with the power to react decisively and flexibly to new developments and opportunities. Companies and funds from Rotterdam and elsewhere in the Netherlands are always happy to be associated to the Kunsthal. Many funds and sponsors again supported the Kunsthal’s art projects in 2016.

The extraordinary exhibition ‘The Museum of Everything’ was made possible by a generous contribution from the Gieskes-Strijbis Fund. This exhibition of the internationally renowned collection of James Brett formed the point of departure for a wide-ranging ‘Outsider Art’ manifestation throughout the Netherlands about the eponymous art movement. It included an extensive satellite programme in collaboration with the Van Gogh Museum, Cobra Museum, Museum Dolhuys, Outsider Art Museum/Hermitage Amsterdam and Atelier Herenplaats. With this exhibition and its satellite programme, a firm foundation was laid for a sustainable platform for Outsider Art in the Netherlands.

The art project ‘All you can Art’ , in collaboration with the Instituto Buena Bista (IBB) from Curacao, was supported by a large number of funds, including the Mondriaan Fund, BankGiro Lottery Fund and the Retourschip Foundation who all contributed to a new perspective on art education. These new ideas on art education also attracted the attention of Jet Bussemaker, minister of Education, Culture and Science. She visited the art project at the Kunsthal and later also travelled to the IBB in Curacao. The artists David Bade and Tirzo Martha were commissioned by the CBK Rotterdam and ING to create sculptures to be exhibited in the public space and included in the ING corporate collection.

Thanks to a valuable substantive collaboration with Gert Schade, supported by a generous donation from the The Royal Dutch Dental Association (KNMT) and the Stichting Vrienden Tandheelkundig Erfgoed (Friends of Dentistry Heritage Foundation, SVTE), a beautiful collection of prints on the subject of dentistry could be shown to the public for the very first time.

With donations from Fonds21, VSBFonds and the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds, the Kunsthal was able to shed new light on contemporary design in Africa during the exhibition ‘Making Africa’ . The opening of the very first Kunsthal production ‘Peter Lindbergh. A Different Vision on Fashion Photography’ could be celebrated on a grand scale thanks to the excellent collaborations with partners and sponsors such as the Blockbusterfonds and the BankGiro Lottery, Swarovski and Marc O’Polo, SkyTeam and Thalys, Mainport Hotel and FCA Group (Alfa Romeo), ING, Bijenkorf and MediaCenter Rotterdam. By means of ‘city dressing’, the exhibition was brought to the attention of Rotterdam residents and visitors. Thanks to a contribution from Rotterdam Festivals, photographs from Peter Lindbergh’s photoshoot at Rotterdam harbour were used to adorn iconic landmarks.

Structural sponsoring

Main sponsor ING

With a joint mission to make art and culture accessible to a wide audience, ING committed to being the Kunsthal’s main sponsor for a period of three years (2015-2017). Together we propagate our vision of “seeing more by learning how to look better”, the most important part of the ING’s main sponsorship being the organisation of bus transportation for pupils from Rotterdam schools who would otherwise never visit the Kunsthal. In 2016, 840 students from nine different primary and secondary schools were driven to the Kunsthal with the Kunstbuzz. For the exhibition ‘Peter Lindbergh. A Different Vision on Fashion Photography’, ING provided a ‘green screen’ that was used for ‘Model for a Moment’. It gave visitors a photo opportunity and a chance to share their visit to the Kunsthal on social media. The 7,675 happy, serious and funny ‘Model for a Moment’-portraits that were posted on the Kunsthal’s Facebook page form a visual record of the diversity of Kunsthal visitors. Furthermore, David Bade and Tirzo Martha, in collaboration with the Summer School students, created a monumental sculpture for the garden of the ING Headquarters in south-east Amsterdam.

Patronage of the BankGiro Lottery

The Kunsthal’s most important patron is the BankGiro Lottery, the leading cultural lottery in the Netherlands. Since 2007, the Kunsthal has received over 2.6 million euros from the BankGiro Lottery, which is incredibly important now the government is stepping back. In the autumn, the BankGiro Lottery’s Board of Commissioners announced its wish to extend the agreement with the Kunsthal for another five years. This means that the Kunsthal can again count on a yearly contribution for the period between 2017 and 2021. In addition, recruiters are posted near the entrance of the Kunsthal on a regular basis to bring ‘earmarked participation’ in the BankGiro Lottery to the attention of visitors. It is possible for visitors who warmly support the Kunsthal to take part in an ‘earmarked’ lottery where half of the lottery ticket fee is directly transferred to the organisation. In 2016, the lottery players jointly supported the Kunsthal with a total amount of about 100,000 euros. BankGiro Lottery VIP-card holders have free access to the Kunsthal and several events are organised for BankGiro Lotery participants on a yearly basis.