ICOMOS: ‘Heilige Huisjes’ – hebben Kerkgebouwen nog een toekomst? DutchCulture Amsterdam, 15 februari, 19h30 

Nog niet zo lang geleden domineerden kerktorens de skyline van elk dorp en stad in Nederland. Nu wordt de vraag steeds nijpender hoe geven we al die gebouwen met eens een reli-gieuze invulling nu nog  een toekomst? In Rotterdam wil het project ‘Heilige Huisjes’, waarin Gemeente, Kerkvernieuwers en burgers samenwerken, nieuwe functies vinden voor lege kerkgebouwen / religieus erfgoed. Inspirerende voorbeelden!

Date:  15 February 2023

Time: 19h30-21h00 (drinks and meal from 18h30)

Place: LIVE at DutchCulture, Herengracht 474 Amsterdam

Language: English

Dear heritage colleagues and friends,

Do you never visit a church unless you’re on holiday? Well, you’re not alone. Many religious communities in the Netherlands are rapidly declining and searching for new ways to attract an audience through cultural and social programming. How can these buildings stay relevant in an increasingly secular society, and how can new audiences be involved in their futures?

We kindly invite you to our second ICOMOS Netherlands lecture evening, which will focus on community engagement in religious heritage in the Netherlands, with the project Heilige Huisjes Rotterdam (Holy Houses Rotterdam) as a focal point. Three speakers will share their experience in this project and discuss what approaches are needed to engage new and unlikely audiences with houses of worship in the city.

Unlike the online lectures, we have a limited attendance capacity. We can only accommodate 30 people. For that reason, we ask you to register for attendance. Please use the registration form through this link. Here you can also register for the preceding drinks and a meal.

Attendance is € 5,- (be it, only for non-members; for ICOMOS members, attendance is free of charge). If you join the preceding drinks and meal, you are charged € 15,-. All payments can only be made by bank transfer on the spot.

We hope to welcome you to this live event in Amsterdam, for an engaging discussion on the future of religious heritage in the Netherlands!      

Kind regards,

ICOMOS-NL lecture committee

Ankie Petersen, Ardjuna Candotti, Anna Lauwerse, Daan Lavies, Jacomine Hendrikse, Jean-Paul Corten, Maurits van Putten & Remco Vermeulen

PROGRAMME – LIVE event in Amsterdam

18:30 Drinks and meal

19:30 Introducing Holy Houses Rotterdam – a short video

19:40 Floor Vierenhalm, policy officer at the Municipality of Rotterdam and co-initiator of Heilige Huisjes Rotterdam

19:55 Sander Ummelen, co-founder of De Kerkvernieuwers, a foundation for innovative and public use of religious heritage.

20:10 Break

20:20 Janneke van Zelst, parishioner Church ‘Het Steiger’ Rotterdam, and participant in Heilige Huisjes Rotterdam

20:35 Q&A with all speakers & participants on community engagement and future perspectives for religious heritage

21:00 End

ABOUT THE LECTURES

It may be hard to imagine, but there was a time when it was mainly church towers that determined the skyline of the now-modern city of Rotterdam. Floor Vierenhalm, who works for the Monuments and Cultural History Bureau of the Municipality of Rotterdam, was closely involved as a policy officer in the policy vision for the around 160 religious buildings in the city. In this, she researched, among other things, what should be done with (future) vacant places of worship.

In 2021, the Municipality of Rotterdam and De Kerkvernieuwers found each other in a shared mission: to open up places of worship for the city’s inhabitants through cultural and social activities during ‘Heilige Huisjes Rotterdam‘. With this program, they wanted to offer citizens a chance to (re)discover these unique buildings as potential public spaces for the city. What started with exploratory conversations between De Kerkvernieuwers, the municipality, and several religious communities eventually evolved into a city-wide festival with more than 80 events in 40 different places of worship, held over nine days in May and June 2022, and is continuing in 2023.

During this evening’s lectures, Floor Vierenhalm, Janneke van Zelst and Sander Ummelen share their experiences from the co-creation process that characterises Holy Houses Rotterdam and the challenges they encountered to bring religious communities and new audiences together in one project. What can be learnt from their experiences, and what lessons do they take to move the project onto another level of community engagement in 2023? And how does Holy Houses fit into the long-term vision of the Municipality for the future of religious heritage in the city?