W139 is looking for volunteers!

We are looking for new volunteers to help us during our upcoming exhibitions and programming from September onwards. W139 is a special exhibition venue where we collaborate with artists on new works, exhibitions and context programmes.

Interested in volunteering at W139? Join our active volunteer community! Volunteering tasks can vary from assisting with hosting exhibitions, supporting the building of installations and exhibitions, distributing communication materials, to cooking meals and helping out with events. Extra hands are always welcome.

You can send an email to info@w139.nl with a short description of your interests and skills and we will get in touch with more information!

W139 back in Kunstenplan 2025–2028!

We are beyond excited to be able to share that we will be supported by Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst from 2025-2028!

Four years ago, W139 lost its municipal structural funding via Kunstenplan, making us realise that nothing can be taken for granted. Since then we have worked tirelessly to regain structural support.

THANK YOU for the ongoing engagement of our artists, volunteers, supporters and partner organisations.

THANK YOU to everyone who visited and participated in our programmes.

THANK YOU for the support from private and public funders.

A special shout out to:
— Everyone involved in Love for Sale, the auction organised by our community, Stampa and Dead Darlings to raise funds for W139 in 2021, with works donated by more than 170 artists, with additional support from 13 Dutch museums and The School of Life. You really made a difference.
— Stadsdeel Amsterdam Centrum who provided emergency funding from 2021-2022.
Gieskes-Strijbis Fonds for sustaining us from 2023-2024.
— And Mondriaan Fonds for their ongoing support.

We can’t wait to continue! 

The last three years have shown us the importance of creating solidarity and community within our field, and that we can only exist within our ecosystem by creating networks of support with one another.

Congratulations to our friends and colleagues who received positive funding news. And while we are incredibly happy to feel more solid ground under our feet again, our hearts go out to those that did not receive the funding they need.

The team and board of W139

PS: We hope to see you on 6 September for the opening of Remarkable Meetings with Disgusting Men by EMIRHAKIN!

Internships production and communication — from September 2024

From September 2024 we look for two students or graduates (living in or around Amsterdam) that can join our team as a communications intern or production intern. W139 is a special exhibition venue where we collaborate with artists on new presentations and public programmes. You are therefore close to the ‘fire’, which makes the internship fun and instructive, and you get to know many practices and meet many people.

W139 values diversity within its organisation. People with different backgrounds in study, origin or culture are expressly invited to apply.

Should you be interested in applying, please send your CV and motivation letter before July 24th 2024 to info@w139.nl with “Production Internship Application” or “Communication Internship Application” in the subject line.

Internship communications (M/F/X)

Who are we looking for?
We are looking for a student who wants to gain work experience within the programme for 6 months, for 3 days a week, for which we can offer an internship allowance. We have no preference for fields of study. Previous interns have come from a variety of programmes: from communication studies and philosophy to art academies. We find it valuable when you decide to gain knowledge in an art environment from a non-cultural study. We speak both English and Dutch within our team, with the artists and collaboration partners. It is preferred that you can express yourself well in both languages.

Tasks
Within your internship period, you will collaborate on the communication aspects of exhibitions and events. There are often several campaigns running at the same time, so no two days are the same. We work in a small team in which you will cooperate and think on an equal footing.

The range of tasks includes:

— Updating online platforms: updating website (WordPress), preparing and sending out newsletters (Mailchimp), minor archiving work on website;

— Social media management: updating Instagram, generating content, writing captions, selecting pictures, minor analytics;

— Promotion campaigns: helping with planning and executing promotional campaigns for exhibitions and events, graphic design assistance, printing and distribution PR material, organization, budget management;

— Writing, copyediting and translating: assisting in editing curatorial texts, writing promotional texts for online and offline outings, translating EN-NL or NL-EN (when proficient in both languages);

— In-situ production support during exhibitions and public programme: front-desk, documentation support, audience support, W139 shop, bar coordination;

— Light secretarial duties: Maintaining contact with external partners, organizing meetings, taking minutes, office management (including answering phones, answering/forwarding emails), managing communications agenda, minor archiving work.

A curious and eager-to-learn attitude is important to us, the internship will have more focus in consultation with you on the areas in which you would like to develop or explore. As an intern, we involve you in all processes and divide tasks and duties by mutual agreement. Your working hours will largely be determined by mutual agreement according to your availability and our programme. You may sometimes have to work evenings or be present at weekends.

Intership production (M/F/X)

Who are we looking for?
We are looking for a student who wants to gain work experience within the programme for 6 months, for 3 days a week, for which we can offer an internship fee. We have no preference for fields of study. Previous interns have come from a variety of programmes: from communication studies and philosophy to art academies. We find it valuable when you decide to gain knowledge in an art environment from a non-cultural study. We speak both English and Dutch within our team, with the artists and collaboration partners. It is preferred that you can express yourself well in both languages.

Tasks
You will help with everyday tasks in the office, but also stand on the floor, and sometimes at great heights in our 8-metre-high back room. We work in a small organisation where tackling and working together on an equal level is valued. Events are part of the exhibition programme you participate in, such as lectures, film and performance nights or workshops. The aim is for you to learn how to set up, run and complete productions.

The range of tasks includes:

— Coordinating volunteers: recruitment, selection, contact, scheduling, drafting manuals, budget management, organising meetings and coordinating and managing the volunteers during exhibitions;

— Supporting (pre)production of exhibitions and public programme: requesting tenders, production planning, material research, location research, guest list management, procurement of material and technique;

— In-situ production support during exhibitions and public programme: artist handling, audience support, box office and ticketing, bar coordination, catering coordination, runner, pick-ups etc;

— Planning and coordinating art and material transports;

— Light secretarial duties: Organising meetings, taking minutes, office management (including answering phones, answering/forwarding emails, purchasing office materials), (online) shop stocking and selling.

A curious and eager-to-learn attitude is important to us, the internship will have more focus in consultation with you on the areas in which you would like to develop or explore. As an intern, we involve you in all processes and divide tasks and duties by mutual agreement. Your working hours will largely be determined by mutual agreement according to your availability and our programme. You may sometimes have to work evenings or be present at weekends.

Open Call: Alterlife – Sonic Acts x Rupert

Sonic Acts and Rupert – centre for art, residencies and education in Vilnius, Lithuania – present ALTERLIFE, a two-part research and production residency.

Focused on collaborative responses to the compounding ecological crisis, we invite proposals that use imagination to forge alliances and create alternative narratives about our political realities.

Fully funded, the project begins with a two-month research residency at Rupert in Vilnius, Lithuania from September to October 2024. Next is a one-month research and development residency with Sonic Acts in Amsterdam in February 2025, followed by the development and production of a new commission for exhibition at Rupert in late 2025 and Sonic Acts Biennial in early 2026. The residency in Amsterdam is organised in collaboration with W139.

The deadline for applications is 1 April 2024.

For more information and the application form, you can visit the website of Sonic Acts.

Launch new website W139!

We are proud to launch our brand new W139 website!

Over the past six months we have been working intensively on a new website featuring upcoming and past events and exhibitions, and developed a new visual identity. 

For our new visual identity, we bid farewell to the logo that we have been using since 2009, and return to the original W139 logo which has welcomed our visitors above our front door for years.

The concept and design for the website was done by Anja Groten, and the web development by Heerko van der Kooij. We are very grateful for their amazing work!

Currently, projects that took place before 2021 are still unavailable. We’re working on migrating this content to our new website. Thank you for your patience! 

139 Ways to W139 T-Shirt

To raise funds for Turkey and Syria after the recent earthquake, W139 is selling screen printed t-shirts designed by the artist EMIRHAKIN. 80% of the proceeds (€20 per order) will be transferred to Artists in Solidarity, who will then donate the funds to local grass-root organisations, initiatives and collectives in Turkey and Syria.

@artistsinsolidarity_nl is a group of artists and cultural workers from Turkey who are based in the Netherlands. In response to the double earthquake that devastated large areas in Turkey and Syria, they created a solidarity group to collectively respond with greater impact than we could as individuals. Their aims are to raise awareness in the Netherlands, organise our international artist community both in the Netherlands and beyond to raise funds in solidarity and support, and establish a sustainable platform to maintain strong and trustworthy connections with local grassroots organizations, initiatives, and collectives in Turkey and Syria. Although the group is not currently registered as a legal entity, they anticipate that Artists in Solidarity-Netherlands will grow into an international community of artists committed to raising awareness and support for moments of urgency, such as the catastrophic earthquake that occurred on February 6, 2023.

For further information, please contact Artists in Solidarity at: artistsinsolidaritynl@gmail.com.

To purchase a t-shirt, click here.

Price: €25.00

W139 vecht voor haar bestaan

W139 vecht voor haar bestaan

W139 zal vanaf 2021 geen stadsfinanciering (AfK) ontvangen. Hiermee kiest de stad ervoor om één van haar laatste unieke kunstruimtes in het hart van de stad op te geven.

Dit is een oproep uit de armoe-straat… want dat wordt het als de W hier weg moet. Een oproep aan ons stadsbestuur. De binnenstad verzuurt onder de monocultuur. Echte Amsterdamse plekken verdwijnen in rap tempo. Ook het voortbestaan van W139 wordt bedreigd. En daarmee de artistieke vrijheid. Onze stad wil vrijheid bewaken en tegencultuur bescherming bieden. Maar wat is de realiteit? Voor kunstenaars van nu is hier — in de Warmoesstraat — straks géén plek. Géén plek voor de beeldende kunst, géén plek voor de scheppende kunst. En dat is een keuze.

Een keuze van Amsterdam om deze unieke kunstlocatie, relevant zowel binnen als buiten de grenzen van stad en land, niet te beschermen. Door de huidige coronacrisis loopt W139 cruciale publieke inkomsten mis, en komt het niet in aanmerking voor noodhulp omdat het niet is opgenomen in het kunstenplan: een drievoudige doodsteek.

W139 geeft al meer dan veertig jaar vrijheid, steun en ruimte aan talloze kunstenaars, zowel uit Amsterdam als internationaal, jong en oud, om mooie, urgente en wilde ideeën te realiseren. W139 is een bewuste voorstander van risico en experiment, in tegenstelling tot plannen die volledig immobiel zijn; een unieke kwaliteit die dingen onvoorspelbaar en spannend houdt voor het publiek.

Zowel kunstenaars als het publiek hebben zich uitgelaten over deze penibele situatie waarin W139 zich bevindt, alsook journalist Edo Dijksterhuis in Het Parool. Lees hier de open brief van W139 aan het stadsbestuur, gepubliceerd door Mister Motley, of bekijk hier een fragment van onze zakelijk directeur Jowon van der Peet. Er circuleert ook een petitie, opgezet door kunstenaars Su Tomesen en Serge Onnen, voel je welkom om die hier te tekenen.