School's Out! #46 with Sofía Hernández Chong Cuy

School’s Out! #46 - Sofía Hernández Chong Cuy

For School’s Out! on Friday 29 November, we invited curator Sofía Hernández Chong Cuy - the former director of Kunstinstituut Melly in Rotterdam - to talk about the compelling story behind the renaming of the institution from Witte de With to Melly, a transformation rooted in the broader context of the Black Lives Matter movement and ongoing dialogues around the decolonisation of cultural spaces.

In her presentation Sofía delved into the power of names and inscriptions in urban spaces, exploring their significance in cities such as Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Hoorn, Eindhoven, and beyond. Why are these texts so vital? Why do they spark debate? And how do they shape our histories and identities?

Sofía Hernández Chong Cuy was the director of Kunstinstituut Melly in Rotterdam from 2018 to 2023, playing a leading role in changing the name of the institution formerly known as Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art. Concurrently, she was a Mellon Visiting Lecturer at CUNY Graduate Center in New York, director of Museo Tamayo (Mexico City), and curator at various institutions amongst which Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros (New York/Caracas), Art in General and Americas Society (New York) and the 9th Mercosul Biennial (2013). Over the years, Sofía has been part of numerous of jury panels and advisory committees, including the 2023 Frieze Tate Acquisition Fund, the Hugo Boss Prize (2018), and the 55th Venice Biennial (2013). Since 2022, she has been a board member of the International Manifesta Foundation. Sofía was born and raised in Baja California, Mexico.

Programme

18:00 Doors open, drinks bites and tunes

19:00 - 20:15 Presentation by Sofía Hernández Chong Cuy + Q&A

20:15 - 20:30 Short film, selected by Jord Den Hollander

20:30 - 22:00 Drinks and tunes

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Listen to the podcast "Name Takes" to learn more about the story behind the renaming of the Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art into Kunstinstituut Melly