About

Mission
BAK, basis voor actuele kunst is a base for art, theory, and social action. BAK is committed to the notion of art as a public sphere and a political space, and provides a critical platform for aesthetico-political experiments with and through art. BAK brings together artists, thinkers, and other members of the precarious classes to imagine and enact transformative ways of being together otherwise.
Who we are
BAK, basis voor actuele kunst is a leading international platform for theoretically-informed, politically-driven art and experimental research. Based in Utrecht, BAK addresses the social, ideological, and environmental urgencies of the present by combining public programming and exhibition-making with research, learning, and talent development. Working with communities involved in arts, activisms, and academia—and bringing artists, scholars, and other members of the precarious classes together—BAK cultivates art as a public sphere and a space for aesthetico-political experiments.
BAK’s current long-term program Propositions for Non-Fascist Living (2017–ongoing) is prompted by the dramatic resurfacing and normalization of historical and contemporary fascisms in our present, and advocates art as imagining and enacting ways of “being together otherwise.” Beside its public programs, BAK hosts a Fellowship Program and a new publishing series called Basics as part of a living archive of publishing projects.
Since its inception in 2000, BAK has systematically engaged in developing and testing institutional models to best accommodate and further shape the dynamically evolving fields of discursively and politically committed arts and their processes. This key element of BAK’s praxis, of instituting otherwise, has been one of synchronizing the thematics of public programming with the practice of the institution in terms of formatting events (beyond [mere] exhibitions), apportioning the institution’s resources (of knowledge, time, space, people, finances, etc.), and establishing its “social business plan.”
In September 2017, after seventeen years at Lange Nieuwstraat 4, BAK has moved to a new venue at Pauwstraat 13a, Utrecht. As we repurpose the building into a multi-functional site for the contemporary, BAK’s projects temporarily take place between the renovation stages; experiencing the gradual transformation of the former RASA Centre for World Cultures with the public. Developed with architecture studio Goldsmith, the venue is re-envisioned with ideas of openness, hospitality, flexibility, mobility, humbleness, and sustainability. The site will accommodate the hybrid, multi-layered institutional practices of BAK—including exhibitions, performances, screenings, conferences, workshops, and educational activities—and will offer a base for collective explorations of the art institution as a site of assembly, of being together otherwise.

Contact
Contact
+31 (0)30 2316125
info@bakonline.org
www.bakonline.org
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Address
BAK, basis voor actuele kunst
Pauwstraat 13A
NL-3512 TG Utrecht

Annual reports
BAK annual reports are currently only available in Dutch.
2022 2021 2020 2019 2018
ANBI
Chamber of commerce
Statutory name: Stichting BAK, basis voor actuele kunst
KVK-number: 41183440
BTW (VAT) number:
NL800455484B01

Team
Directors/Board
Maria Hlavajova
Artistic Co-director
Melody Deldjou Fard
Executive Co-director
Team
Clara Balaguer Lobregat
Curator Civic Praxis
Irene Calabuch Mirón
Coordinator Studies & Fellowship for Situated Practice
Jitka Demoed
Office
Daniel Lodeweges
Building Management & Technique
Wietske Maas
Curator Research & Publications
Alexandra Martens Serrano
Editorial Management & Communications
Bram Tanczos
Communications
Jo-Anneke van der Molen
Education
Alfredo Alejandro Navarrete Cortés
Office Assistance
Thomas Orbon
Production Management
Jun Saturay
Building Management & Technique
Lisanne van Vucht
Fundraising & Rentals
Bart Witte
Outreach & Operations
Jolijt Bosch
Education
Kosta Besermenji, Catho de Lange, Katerina Kallivrousi, Tim van Loon, Daauwe van Huizen, Anna Schultz, Julia Stefania Kassyk, Aiofe Dunne, Nina Spa, Anita Schuurman, Elisabeth Kollen, Alec Gatenby, Natalia Schipakina, Natalija Gucheva, Pia Seidel, Mira Moussa
Hosting
Supervisory board
BAK, basis voor actuele kunst is a non-profit organization with a supervisory board. The membership of the Supervisory Board of BAK, basis voor actuele kunst is as follows:
Kitty Zijlmans (chair)
Katherine Watson
Saskia Mangoendinomo
Gerben Biermann
Schedule of appointment and resignation (Rooster van aantreden en aftreden), in Dutch (PDF)
Advisory board
Dirk Jan Blikkendaal
Annelies van der Horst
Both the management of BAK, basis voor actuele kunst and the Supervisory Board comply with the Cultural Governance Code.
Senior research advisors
Rosi Braidotti
Sven Lütticken
Vacancies
There are no vacancies at this time
Open call: volunteer
We sometimes accept internship requests, for this you can send us an e-mail via info@bakonline.org
Code of conduct and protocol
BAK, basis voor actuele kunst strives to be a space that is free from all forms of structural oppression, including racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia and ageism. BAK recognises that this policy requires an ongoing collective effort, and we ask for your help. During your visit to BAK you are agreeing to actively support this goal.