SHEBANG is a nomadic place for development aimed at creative makers and thinkers. Led by a guest curator, they research and comment on local and global developments from the fields of visual arts, performing arts and heritage.
SHEBANG is supported by Stadsdeel Zuidoost.
Mission and vision
SHEBANG is initiated by Bijlmer Parktheater, CBK Zuidoost and Imagine IC. In collaboration with its founders, SHEBANG works towards a higher density for culture in the district. In addition, they see future perspectives in the unbundling and mixing of artistic and non-artistic disciplines and with their programme they’re catering a hybrid audience. SHEBANG works from a shared need to understand today's society and shape that of the future together.
Founding mothers
CBK Zuidoost
CBK Zuidoost is a presentation institute bringing intercultural, contemporary art to its audience in an accessible way. Through exhibitions, art loans, education programmes, an artist-in-residency programme, workshops, public artworks, collaborations with other cultural partners and other diverse projects, CBK Southeast offers a broad cultural palette. The organization has been actively present in the Bijlmer for over 30 years.
Bijlmer Parktheater
Bijlmer Parktheater is a place where new stories are made, new makers are able to develop artistically, and audiences feel right at home. The Bijlmer Parktheater is a lively, intimate and welcoming theater with a unique way of programming, embracing different identities, traditions, cultures and all the different forms of cultural expression in which people find meaning in all their cultural diversity. The theater challenges visitors, participants, artists and makers to imagine the future together.
Imagine IC
Through participatory heritage work, Imagine IC aims to discuss and improve current social relations. She does so by being present as an open floor where very different people tune in with each other to negotiate the definition of the heritage of their own time. Together they gain insight into each other’s positions and aspirations. Because heritage is formed by those tangible and intangible things that we feel emotionally attached to; it is an essential topic of conversation between people with diverse beliefs and interests. Imagine IC shares her expertise with partners in the heritage field and works with them on a democratic heritage methodology.
Team
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Esther Meijer
PR and networkEsther Meijer is an artist and researcher with a versatile track record in the arts and culture sector. Innovation, connecting and collaborating is at the heart of both her independent practice, and her freelance work. Meijer runs the socially critical interdisciplinary label Nieuw Jurk, through which she initiates art projects to create space for and connect various subcultures and communities. A key focus of her work is the exchange of inspiration with a diverse audience on social or cultural issues, which she visualises through various art disciplines. For SHEBANG, Meijer handles PR and communications, and with a diverse network from her independent practice, she is the link between the guest curators and creative scene, residents and entrepreneurs in Amsterdam Southeast and beyond.
Bijlmer West
SHEBANG is a nomadic artistic development place in Bijlmer West, the former Amstel III area, near Bullewijk station. For Issue I: Radical Space, Prospect 11, a creative breeding ground and workplace for entrepreneurs, formed the first base. The three Issues that followed: Speculate or Die Tryin', Institute of Trans Pleasure Trans Activism and The art and practice of experiencing/Becoming our space took place and originated at our location on Hettenheuvelweg, in an empty office building. We are currently finishing Issue 5: nulgraad under the creative direction of guest curator Charl Landvreugd. And preparing for Before the Storm by artist collective MOHA (Issue 6). This year, we presented Issue 5 here: nulgraad (zero-degree) by guest curator Charl Landvreugd, and Before the Storm by the artist collective MOHA (Issue 6). In 2025 we moved to our new location on Lemelerbergweg.
The Amsterdam South East district is on the eve of a major transformation. Tens of thousands of new homes are being built in the area. The current Amstel III business area is transforming into a new part of Bijlmermeer where living, working and recreation go together.
The intention is that SHEBANG will soon have a permanent place in Bijlmer West.
Support
