Tussenruimte: Concrete BlossomTussenruimte: Concrete Blossom

Nieuwe Instituut works with Rotterdam-based collective Concrete Blossom and its founder Malique Mohamud on a regular and intensive basis. As partners in a long-term trajectory, the institute and collective combine their efforts to research and experiment with possible approaches to cultural programming and institutional practice that are better attuned to the needs and potential of a super-diverse city like Rotterdam. Together, we explore the Inbetween, a (design) domain found in the space between formal institutions and the informal knowledge and art produced by a multifaceted contemporary counterculture.

Concrete Blossom is a self-proclaimed Swiss Army knife: a Rotterdam-based design and media collective, it operates in various situations, including as a design studio, publisher and cultural platform. The collective navigates the city with a curious, creative and design eye, constantly "looking for ways to make shit doper". In their projects, the members of Concrete Blossom explore what contemporary metropolitanism means, with an emphasis on the interplay between hip-hop, diasporic cultures, street culture and the digital domain. In dialogue with like-minded parties, which can vary from other grassroots initiatives to institutions from the established order, Concrete Blossom strives for a versatile and inclusive cultural offer in Rotterdam, in the Netherlands and in the rest of the world.

How can organisations such as Het Nieuwe Instituut work towards a situation in which it is self-evident that the diversity of metropolitan people, communities, neighbourhoods, social practices and diverse diasporas feel heard and represented? And how can design, knowledge, access, value, quality and language take shape beyond a one-sided and outdated norm?

For a more detailed description of the collaboration, continue reading on the homepage of the Dutch web magazine.