Press preview Santiago Borja in Sonneveld House - 12 February 2016 Press preview Santiago Borja in Sonneveld House - 12 February 2016

A Mental Image - Blavatsky Observatory is based on his research into the influence of Western esoterism on the principles of Dutch Functionalism. Devoted to Helena Blavatsky, founder of the Theosophical Society, the observatory offers a space of contemplation for visitors to Sonneveld House. The opening of the intervention on the evening of Friday 12 February forms part of the external programme of the international art fair Art Rotterdam (11-14 February).

Artist and architect Santiago Borja (1970, Mexico) works at the intersection of art, architecture and anthropology. He has recently made work for, among others, the Chicago Architecture Biennial, the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion in Barcelona and Villa Savoye, the iconic villa by Le Corbusier.

Sonneveld House is one of the best-preserved houses in the Dutch Functionalist style, with an interior restored to its condition upon completion in 1933. To allow the house and its monumental character to move with the times, Het Nieuwe Instituut regularly invites an artist, designer or architect to make a site-specific installation. The intervention by Borja forms part of a series compiled by curator Erich Weiss. After Borja, the artists Eva Rothschild and Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster will each make a work that highlights an unexpected dimension of the museum house during 2016.

A press preview will be held on Friday 12 February at 4 pm in the presence of Santiago Borja and Erich Weiss. Register by email: c.defesche@hetnieuweinstituut.nl, stating your name, medium and telephone number. The artists and curator are available for interviews. Naturally, you are also welcome to visit the intervention at another moment.

The opening of A Mental Image - Blavatsky Observatory at Sonneveld House takes place on Friday 12 February from 7 to 11 pm. You can sign up online here. On this evening Het Nieuwe Instituut is also celebrating the successful first half of the _Temporary Fashion Museum _and looking ahead to the next season: with the latest spring and summer trends in The Now SS16 by Jop van Bennekom and Penny Martin, fashion blogger Ivana Carpio in View on Fashion IV and artist Job Wouters with his tenth mural for Het Nieuwe Instituut.

Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Kunsthal and TENT, all located on or close to Museumpark Rotterdam, also open their doors this evening as part of Art Rotterdam Week.

The subject of the Thursday Night event at Het Nieuwe Instituut on 11 February will be the intervention by Santiago Borja at Sonneveld House.
More information about the lecture evening.

For more information or images, please contact Chantal Defesche, Marketing, Communications and Commerce, at c.defesche@hetnieuweinstituut.nl or m: +31 6 29514704.