Our House
About Us
Veem House for Performance is an internationally oriented theatre and production house rooted in Amsterdam West. We are a home for performance, mime, dance and disciplines yet to be named, where artists are given space to experiment, develop and present. Our focus is on movement, whether it be physical or social – from startling performances by upcoming artists to discursive evenings and vibrant Veem House dinners.
By working collaboratively with partners and co-curators, we aim to nurture and amplify multiple voices in the artistic field. We use our resources to give artists the time, space and attention they need to develop a practice that eventually moves beyond our studios and far beyond Dutch borders.
We welcome you to explore!
How We Produce
Veem House for Performance provides an inspiring and supportive environment for research and development. Our resources are used to give artists the space to explore, experiment, fail and grow. We provide studio time/residencies, produce new works and invest time in creating sustainable and fertile infrastructures with other producers. Artists are encouraged to develop their own signature in dialogue with other artists and with our audience.
We support and produce the dance, mime and performance makers of tomorrow whose work focuses on movement in relation to the body as well as social and political movement. We aspire to be a house for converging disciplines, art forms and cultures. We remain open to each other’s (cultural) references and approaches.
In every trajectory we take time for dialogue, coaching and evaluation (whether short or long-term). In order to prevent overproduction, we limit the number of productions and duration of Veem’s trajectories. Our first engagement with an artist could be via a residency or a co-production with one of our partners. Veem House also offers longer trajectories for House Artists. The works of House Artists spark for the first time at Veem House and may tour throughout the Netherlands and abroad.
We work in cycles: three weeks of the month we provide artistst with space for research and development and one week for public presentations and interaction with an audience. We make our community a part of the realization, by opening up residencies and research to audiences, by presenting works in development and premiering productions. We develop formats to actively engage with our community and expect visitores to have an active presence by giving their own input.
Within our productions we create space for imagination, both for the artists and ourselves to keep envisioning what a house for dance, performance and mime can be. We work in a four year funding structure and seek additional funding to fulfil our complete plans, in that sense we remain precarious. We respond to shifting actualities and remain self-critical in moving times, as is seen throughout our history.
How We (Co)Curate
A place for art, politics, ideas and people to meet
Veem’s public program features performances, discursive events, book launches, long term group research, social dinners, salons and research sharing sessions. While we are predominantly a production house, we open our doors for roughly one week of the month to the public. Several aspects of our program repeat, for example Veem House Dinners, Open Studio’s, Chi Kung classes and salons, allowing audiences to relate to our formats over time.
We work with artists who share new perspectives on existing status quos. We produce, curate and collaborate with co-curators to bring together a program reflecting contemporary issues with the intention of being a place to exercise, discuss and chew on new ideas together. While we curate as a house, we don’t invent everything ourselves; co-curation is becoming a recurring element of our collaborative methodology to give audiences access to and interact with new voices, networks and thinkers. Three times a year, we invite a co-curator to work with us to create thematic programs, contextual programming or one off events. By co-curation and inviting a multitude of voices, we continue to develop, question, expand and deepen our curatorial offerings.
Performances
The central characteristic of the performances we produce and present is movement, in the relation to the body or social and political movements. We present experimentations and interdisciplinary approaches within dance, mime and performance. As we are internationally as well as locally oriented and cater to a large international community, we show work which challenges audiences and offers alternative perspectives on the world with a special interest in connecting locales.
House Details
History
Veem House for Performance, formerly Het Veem Theater, has been a place for avant-garde and experimentation for over 30 years and has a rich history which is anything but dull & dusty!
Rent Our Theater!
Want to know what our spaces look like? What the possibilities are? Click here and find out!
GREENHOUSE
GREENHOUSE is a development network for dance, mime and performance. The network aims to create a healthy ecosystem in Amsterdam in which artists stemming from these disciplines can flourish.
Stories
Feel welcome
At Veem House we aim to provide a safe and welcoming space for everyone, with an inclusive, respectful atmosphere.
Team
Maurice Dujardin
Interim business manager (from July 1st, 2024)
Mathisse Coornaert
Technical Coordinator
Alice Pons
Production and office manager
Olivia Rechofsky
Production and office manager
Naydiënne Bonifacio
Publicity manager
