The Gerrit Rietveld Academie, also known as Rietveld School of Art & Design and Rietveld Academy, is an
art academy
An art school is an educational institution with a primary focus on the visual arts, including fine art – especially illustration, painting, photography, sculpture, and graphic design. Art schools can offer elementary, secondary, post-secon ...
in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
,
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
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, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
. The academy was founded in 1924 and offers programs in
fine arts
In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwo ...
and
design
A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design'' ...
.
History
In 1924, the Instituut voor Kunstnijverheidsonderwijs (Institute for Arts and Crafts Education) was founded by merging three art schools.Cyril Witte, Gerrit Rietveld Academie (in Dutch),
ARCAM
Arcam AB manufactures electron beam melting (EBM) systems for use in additive manufacturing, which create solid parts from metal powders. Arcam also produces metal powder through AP&C and medical implants through DiSanto Technologies.
Arcam AB wa ...
. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
From 1939 to 1960, education was strongly influenced by the functionalist and socially critical ideas of
De Stijl
''De Stijl'' (; ), Dutch for "The Style", also known as Neoplasticism, was a Dutch art movement founded in 1917 in Leiden. De Stijl consisted of artists and architects. In a more narrow sense, the term ''De Stijl'' is used to refer to a bod ...
and the
Bauhaus
The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the Bauhaus (), was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., 2 ...
, partly due to the role of the socialist architect
Mart Stam
Mart Stam (August 5, 1899 – February 21, 1986) was a Dutch architect, urban planner, and furniture designer. Stam was extraordinarily well-connected, and his career intersects with important moments in the history of 20th-century Europe ...
as director of education.
In 1966, the Rietveld Building designed by
Gerrit Rietveld
Gerrit Rietveld (24 June 1888 – 25 June 1964) was a Dutch furniture designer and architect.
Early life
Rietveld was born in Utrecht on 24 June 1888 as the son of a joiner. He left school at 11 to be apprenticed to his father and enrolled at ni ...
was completed. That year, the school was renamed to Gerrit Rietveld Academie, as a tribute to Gerrit Rietveld, who had died in 1964.
Since the 1960s and especially the 1970s, the role and influence of autonomous visual art and individual expression have grown in importance. These influences, combined with a practical focus and a critical mindset, still determine a significant part of the academy's image.
In 2003, the Benthem Crouwel Building designed by Benthem Crouwel Architects was completed.
In 2019, the Fedlev Building designed
Paulien Bremmer Paulien is a Dutch feminine given name cognate to Pauline. People with the name include:
* (born 1976), Dutch writer, columnist and cabaret performer
*Paulien van Deutekom (1981–2019), Dutch speed skater
*Paulien van Dooremalen (born 1985) Dutch ...
The Gerrit Rietveld Academy offers two bachelor's and five permanent master's programmes.
* ''Foundation year'': the initial year of the Bachelor's education programme. In this first, formative year, a comprehensive art-theoretical framework is offered in combination with an intensive practical programme to introduce students into a broad range of media and techniques. During the foundation year, students also orient themselves in terms of the academy's various specializations, for which they enrol during the following year.
* ''Bachelor’s'': Within the bachelor's program, it is possible to follow a Bachelor of Fine Arts or a Bachelor of Design. There are various specializations within these two programmes. After a general first year – the foundation year – students choose one of these graduation tracks. This is followed by three years of specialization. The Rietveld Academy also offers a part-time education, in which case the foundation year actually takes two years, followed by three years of specialization.
* ''Master’s'': The master's programmes at the Rietveld Academy are housed within the Sandberg Institute. The five permanent departments at the Sandberg Institute are: Critical Studies, Design, Dirty Art Department, Fine Arts and Studio for Immediate Spaces.
* ''Preparatory Training & Orientation Year'': The Rietveld Academy offers several preparatory training courses for those who want to prepare to study at the Rietveld Academy: a preparatory training year and an orientation year. During the preparatory training year, a student follows lessons at the academy for 3.5 half-days a week. After completing the preparatory training year, it is possible to enrol directly in the foundation year. Another preparatory track for the Rietveld Academy is the orientation year, in which candidates attend classes at the academy for 30 Saturdays a year. After completion of this year, a candidate will still need to apply for admission before he or she can start the foundation year.
* ''Preparatory Training on Aruba'': Starting on 10 October 2011, the Rietveld Academy will also be offering a preparatory training course on Aruba, which will focus mainly on the Caribbean and on the two American continents. This preparatory course, which lasts for 30 weeks, will be taught by various teachers from the Rietveld's Amsterdam school. This preparatory training year is a preparatory study track for the Gerrit Rietveld Academy's accredited bachelor's degree in Fine Arts and Design, which is scheduled to begin in 2012 on Aruba.
65,9 % of the student population comes from abroad, originating from over 60 different countries around the world. Most of the classes are in English. The Academy's highly conceptual and experimental approach is aimed at research-driven students who consistently strive to research new areas and push boundaries.
Particular specialisations are Inter-Architecture; Fine Arts; DesignLAB; Graphic Design; Fashion; Jewellery; TxT (Textiles); Image and Language; Photography; Glass; Ceramics; VAV; and DOGtime.
DOGtime, the Rietveld Academy's evening school, offers a two-year foundation programme. This is followed by a three-year degree track, with the choice of the following one of two directions: Autonomous Fine Art, or Interaction, Design, and Unstable Media (IDUM for short).
Expedition Academy
Students who wish to be admitted to the Gerrit Rietveld Academy are expected to be receptive and self-reflective for the underlying purpose of discussing ideas and concepts. The academy seeks to stimulate these qualities, hereby challenging students to question those aspects important to the individual. For the academy, traveling abroad is an essential facet of this personal development. Common travels engage students on an interpersonal level, as well as in relation to their environment. This in effect becomes the motive for yielding a creative epiphany. Among other destinations, the academy has organized trips abroad in the past years to China, India, Iran, Nepal, Switzerland, Hungary, Spain, Italy, and Sweden.
Events
Every year, the Rietveld Academy organizes a number of public events, including:
* ''Open Day (January)'': During the Open Day, all of the specialized departments highlight themselves through small exhibitions and other presentations. Teachers and students are present to talk about their departments, and to answer questions. The Open Day is a great opportunity to learn about what the education at the academy is like. The Open Day takes place every year on the last Friday of January.
* ''Rietveld in the Oude Kerk (January/February)'': In January, the Gerrit Rietveld Academy stages an annual exhibition with approximately 45 students from various departments, in Amsterdam's Oude Kerk.
* ''Graduation exhibition (July)'': Every year, the Rietveld Academy's students who are eligible for graduation present their work during the Rietveld's graduation exhibition. The academy is transformed into an exhibition space, and work can be seen from every department. The graduation exhibition attracts many visitors from outside the academy, including art gallery owners and art collectors. The graduation exhibition is held annually in early July.
* ''Rietveld UnCut (November)'': Much like the Open Day and the graduation exhibition, Rietveld UnCut is an occasion where the academy presents itself to outside world, in all its facets. Rietveld UnCut differs from the Open Day and the graduation exhibition in that it actively seeks to interact with the public. Since 2009, Rietveld UnCut has been organized by former students Tarja Szaraniec and Tomas Adolfs, in collaboration with the Flemish cultural centre De Brakke Grond. Under the supervision of guest director and visual artist Maze de Boer, students present their work to the outside world. Rietveld UnCut is held every year in November.
Affiliated organizations
;Public Rietveld
Public Rietveld is committed to ensuring the broadest possible interaction between the Gerrit Rietveld Academy and the outside world. That is why Public Rietveld is always looking for interesting forms of collaboration, both within the academy and outside. Its goal is to promote the presentation of the academy's students and teachers to the outside world. Public Rietveld consists of: communication and PR, internet communications, The Rietveld Society, student projects, TV Rietveld, and Radio Rietveld.
;The Rietveld Society
The Rietveld Academie is very proud of the Rietveld alumni, and consequently would like to know how all alumni have been doing since graduation. That is why the academy would like to extend a warm invitation to all Rietveld alumni to become a member of the Alumni Network: The Rietveld Society. Through this network the Rietveld Academie hopes to keep in touch with the alumni and more importantly offer her alumni a platform to stay in touch with old Rietveld friends and other alumni.
;Studium Generale
Studium Generale Rietveld Academy is a comprehensive trans-disciplinary theory programme focused on students and teachers from Gerrit Rietveld Academy's every single department, but is also accessible to the outside public. Every year, a number of curators are asked to invite guest speakers to address a specific theme. The goal of Studium Generale Rietveld Academy is to provide insight into how art and design are linked to other domains (from personal to political, from popular to academic) – the connections between our now and our past and future, and between our here and elsewhere. Based on the belief that you can only learn to think independently and critically if you dare to interconnect your knowledge, imagination, and reflection in unorthodox ways, every year Studium Generale Rietveld Academy embarks upon a new and exciting research project that is linked to the current discourse in a variety of ways.
; Professorship of Art and Public Space
The Professorship of Art and Public Space at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy promotes research and theoretical reflection on the role of art and design in the public domain. It was created through collaboration between the Gerrit Rietveld Academy, the Sandberg Institute, the University of Amsterdam, the Foundation for Art and Public Space (SKOR), and the Virtual Museum
Zuidas
The Zuidas (literally ''South Axis'' in Dutch) is a rapidly developing business district in the city of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. The Zuidas is also known as the 'Financial Mile'. It lies between the rivers Amstel and ''Schinkel'' along th ...
. Within the Rietveld Academy and the Sandberg Institute, the professorship supervises a so-called “knowledge circle”, in which research (conducted by teachers affiliated with the academy, as well as by outside experts in the field of art and public space) is coordinated and discussed. In connection with the research conducted in this context, educational projects emerge in which theoretical notions and reflections are further developed with groups of students. In addition, the professorship focuses on extending and strengthening the academy's theoretical education in general.
In Residence
The Rietveld Research Residency (RRR) is a research opportunity for artists, created by the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in cooperation with, among others, the Fonds BKVB. The artists are given the opportunity to execute a clearly defined research project within a period of 1.5 to 3 years, as part of the educational framework of the Gerrit Rietveld Academy. Interaction with the academy's students and teachers forms an important part of their work.
In 2011, visual artist Henri Jacobs and philosopher Ann Meskens are filling this residency at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy.
Student life
At the Rietveld Academy, activities and projects are also regularly organized for and by students. One example is Radio Rietveld, which is run entirely by students. Gerry Strawfield is the academy's student organization. Three times a year, Gerry Strawfield organizes a student party, including the Prom during the final exam period. The Gerry Strawfield Prom is often held at a special location; in 2009, for example, it was held at the
Beurs van Berlage
The Beurs van Berlage is a building on the Damrak, in the centre of Amsterdam. It was designed as a commodity exchange by architect Hendrik Petrus Berlage and constructed between 1896 and 1903. It influenced many modernist architects, in par ...
near Amsterdam's Dam Square.
Affiliated people
Notable teachers
*
Fons Bemelmans
Alphons William Bernhard Johannes (Fons) Bemelmans (born 8 January 1938, in Maastricht) is a Dutch artist, best known as sculptor. He also works as goldsmith, painter, graphic artist and medal artist.
Bemelmans began his training as goldsmith in ...
*
Jan Elburg
Joannes Gommert Elburg, writing as Jan "the man" G. Elburg (born Wemeldinge
Wemeldinge is the oldest village in the Zuid-Beveland area of the Dutch province of Zeeland. It is located in the municipality of Kapelle, about 4 km northwest of ...
*
Martin Majoor
Martin Majoor (born 14 October 1960) is a Dutch type designer and graphic designer. As of 2006, he had worked since 1997 in both Arnhem, Netherlands, and Warsaw, Poland.
Biography Early life
Majoor was born in 1960 in the town of Baarn, in th ...
*
Q.S. Serafijn
Q.S. Serafijn (born February 19, 1960) is a Dutch conceptual artist and author, who is working as sculptor, photographer, and installation artist.Jan Sierhuis
* Henk Trumpie
*
Gerard Unger
Gerard Unger (22 January 1942 – 23 November 2018) was a Dutch graphic and type designer. He studied at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam from 1963–67, and subsequently worked at Total Design, Prad and Joh. Enschedé. In 1975, he esta ...
Sybren Valkema
Sybren Valkema (1916–1996) was a Dutch glass artist and teacher, and founder of the European Studio Glass Movement, also known as VRIJ GLAS (Free Glass).
Background and education
Sybren Valkema was raised in an anthroposophic, artistic and pol ...
*
Henk van der Waal
Henk van der Waal (born 1960) is a Dutch poet.
Early life
Van der Waal studied philosophy at the University of Amsterdam.
Career
Van der Waal has worked as a journalist, a translator and as a teacher at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie.
In ...
Notable alumni
*
Frank Ammerlaan
Frank Ammerlaan (born 1979 in Sassenheim) is a Dutch artist who lives and works in London.
Biography
Ammerlaan graduated as an independent artist from the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam in 2007. In 2012 he graduated in fine art at the R ...
*
Marjan van Aubel
Marjan van Aubel (born in 1985) is a Dutch solar designer based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Education
Van Aubel graduated from the Gerrit Rietveld Academy with a BA DesignLAB in 2009, and in 2012 gained an MA in Design Products from the Roya ...
*
Ben van Berkel
Ben van Berkel (born 1957) is a Dutch architect; founder and principal architect of the architectural practice UNStudio. With his studio he designed, among others, the Erasmus Bridge in Rotterdam, the Moebius House in the Netherlands, the Merced ...
*
Phil Bloom
Phil Bloom (born 27 November 1945 in Berkel en Rodenrijs) is a Dutch artist, graphic designer and performer. She was the first person to appear completely nude on Dutch television, on 28 July 1967 during the show ''Hoepla'', which caused scandal ...
Wim Crouwel
Willem Hendrik "Wim" Crouwel (; 21 November 1928 – 19 September 2019) was a Dutch graphic designer, type designer, and typographer.
Early life and education
Between 1947 and 1949, he studied Fine Arts at Academie Minerva in Groningen, the ...
Robbert Dijkgraaf
Robertus Henricus "Robbert" Dijkgraaf FRSE (Dutch: born 24 January 1960) is a Dutch theoretical physicist, mathematician and string theorist, and the current Minister of Education, Culture and Science in the Netherlands. From July 2012 until ...
*
Rineke Dijkstra
Rineke Dijkstra HonFRPS (born 2 June 1959) is a Dutch photographer. She lives and works in Amsterdam.Iris Eichenberg
Iris Eichenberg (born 1965) is a German post-war, contemporary artist, metalsmith, and educator. She is head of the Metalsmithing Department at the Cranbook Academy of Art.
Early life and education
Born Göttingen, Germany, in 1965, Eichenberg ...
*
Ger van Elk
Ger van Elk (9 March 1941 – 17 August 2014) was a Dutch artist who created sculptures, painted photographs, installations and film. His work has been described as being both conceptual art and arte povera. Between 1959 and 1988 he lived and wo ...
*
Rebecca Gomperts
Rebecca Gomperts (born 1966) is a Dutch physician and activist for women's rights, in particular abortion rights. She is the founder of Women on Waves and Women on Web, which provide reproductive health services for women in countries where thes ...
*
Antonio Jose Guzman
Antonio Jose Guzman is a Dutch Panamanian visual artist, communication designer and lecturer. He lives and works in Amsterdam, Panama City and Dakar.
Early life and career
Guzman was born in Panama City, Panama in 1971. Guzman began studying ph ...
Boudewijn Ietswaart
Bernhard Jan Boudewijn Ietswaart ( Amsterdam, 12 December 1936 - 23 December 2010) was a Dutch graphic designer, illustrator and type designer who worked almost 20 years outside his native country, especially in Mexico, Spain and Venezuela. Hi ...
*
Percy Irausquin
Joseph Gregory Percy Irausquin (26 June 1969 – 14 August 2008) was an Aruban-born Dutch fashion designer and couturier based in Amsterdam. He was described by the Dutch media as "one of the most talented young designers in the Netherland ...
*
Rachel de Joode
Rachel de Joode (born 1979) is a Berlin-based sculptor, photographer, and installation artist.
Early life and education
Rachel de Joode studied art at the Academy of Art and Design St. Joost in Breda and time-based arts at the Gerrit Rietveld ...
*
Hans de Jong
Hans de Jong (26 March 1932 – 3 March 2011) was a Dutch sculptor, designer and ceramist.
Life and work
Born in Leiden, De Jong received his first lessons in pottery in the studio of Gerrit de Blanken (1894–1961) in Zoeterwoude in 1948. He a ...
Geert Lap
Gerardus Johannes (Geert) Lap (born Venlo, 24 December 1951- 26 April 2017
) was a Dutch ceramist, known for his new approach to ceramics characterized as clay minimalism.
Life and work
Geert Lap studied at the AKV St. Joost from 1974 to 1976, ...
*
Wietske van Leeuwen
Wietske van Leeuwen (born 22 September 1965 in Rotterdam) is a Dutch ceramist, who lives and works in Monnickendam. Her works are constructed in a baroque style, with shells and fruit as recurring motifs."Galerie Carla Koch; Wietske van Leeuwen," ...
Dana Lixenberg
Dana Lixenberg (born 1964)Hay, David '' The New York Times'', May 30, 1999 is a Dutch photographer and filmmaker.Knight, Christopher '' Los Angeles Times'', May 28, 1999 She lives and works in New York and Amsterdam. Lixenberg pursues long-term pro ...
Renzo Martens
Renzo Martens (born 1973 in Terneuzen) is a Dutch artist who currently lives and works in Amsterdam and Kinshasa. Martens became known for his controversial work, including Episode III: Enjoy Poverty (2008), a documentary that suggests that the ...
*
Hannie Mein
Johanna Greta (Hannie) Mein (Utrecht, 10 July 1933 - Vinkega, 14 February 2003) was a Dutch ceramist.
Life and work
After secondary school Mein started working at a potter. She attended evening classes at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterd ...
*
Edgar Mosa
Edgar Mosa (born 1986, Lisbon, Portugal) is a Portuguese-born American jeweler and visual artist. Mosa's work has been featured internationally at the Racine Art Museum, Racine, Wisconsin, Center for Art in Wood, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Th ...
Ben Peters
Ben James Peters (born Greenville, Mississippi, June 20, 1933; died Nashville, Tennessee, May 25, 2005) was an American country music songwriter who wrote many #1 songs. Charley Pride recorded 68 of his songs and 6 of them went to #1 on the Americ ...
*
Gerard Prent
Gerard Prent (born 25 December 1954 in Amsterdam) is a contemporary Dutch painter.
Life and work
Gerard Prent had his art education in Amsterdam at the Rietveld Academy (1973–1978) and the Rijksakademie (1978–1980). His first canvases utiliz ...
*
Carla van de Puttelaar Carla van de Puttelaar (born 1 November 1967) is a Dutch fine art photographer and art historian. She holds a PhD in art history from Utrecht University.
Biography
Van de Puttelaar was born in Zaandam, The Netherlands. She attended the Rietveld ...
Rob Scholte
Rob Scholte (born June 1, 1958 in Amsterdam) is a Dutch contemporary artist. From 1977 to 1982 he studied at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam. His work consists of reproductions of images from the media and from art history. He lives and w ...
Umi Dachlan
Umi Dachlan, born Umajah Dachlan, (13 August 1942 - 1 January 2009), was a pioneering Indonesian painter and an art lecturer. She graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts and Design at the Bandung Institute of Technology ITB in 1968 as the third f ...
*
Gerard Unger
Gerard Unger (22 January 1942 – 23 November 2018) was a Dutch graphic and type designer. He studied at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam from 1963–67, and subsequently worked at Total Design, Prad and Joh. Enschedé. In 1975, he esta ...
*
Guido van der Werve
Guido van der Werve (born 1977) is a Dutch filmmaker and visual artist.
Personal details
Van der Werve was born in Papendrecht, the Netherlands and currently lives and works in Finland and Berlin. He pursued studies in industrial design, a ...
*
Abdul Vas
Abdul Vas (born 15 March 1981 in Maracay, Venezuela) is a contemporary artist. He grew up living between Suriname, Guyana, and Belgium. After studies at EAVRA in Maracay and at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam he lives and works in Amste ...
*
Thierry Veltman
Thierry Veltman (born December 16, 1939 in Bussum) is a Dutch painter, sculptor, ceramist and art educator. He focuses in particular on figures and still life.
Life and career
Veltman won his first art prize at the age of 12, at an internationa ...
Alex van Warmerdam
Alex van Warmerdam (born 14 August 1952) is a Dutch screenwriter, film director, and actor. He is also a painter.
Life and career
Van Warmerdam was born in Haarlem, a city in the province of North Holland in the Netherlands. He was cofounder of ...