Gemak Arts Centre

The Gemeentemuseum Den Haag and the Vrije Academie in The Hague (a well-known art school and workplace for the visual arts) have joined forces to set up an arts centre called Gemak (‘Ease’).

The Gemak centre is designed as a place where contemporary non-Western art can intersect with politics and society and where the hot topics of the day can be explored by means of visual images and public debate.

Current trends in the arts & politics

The venture was launched in October 2007 by Ingrid Rollema, the then director of the Vrije Academie, and Wim van Krimpen, the then director of the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag. Central to the idea of Gemak are current trends in the arts, politics and social discourse, and the connections between these three.

Gemak’s sensational exhibitions explore a variety of topical issues from surprising perspectives. The Gemak galleries have played host to art from Iraq, Afghanistan and the Middle East, and also from Armenia and Russia. In Kibri a Kulturu, Marcel Pinas showed how the Maroons of Suriname have been driven from their home, causing their culture to disappear. Dutch photographer Joël van Houdt travelled with a Moroccan refugee fleeing by boat, producing a spectacular series of photographs that was shown at Gemak.

Gemak’s exhibitions are never isolated events; they are generally accompanied by lectures, interviews and debates, where art provides the inspiration rather than the subject. The activities often concern social issues and politics, though they can just as easily be about football or photojournalism.

The ground floor of the Vrije Academie building on the Paviljoensgracht in the centre of The Hague is the venue for the debates, performances and art shows. It is also available for events openings and other kinds of presentations.

For more information, visit the website of Gemak: www.gemak.org.