A Tale of a Tub

Operating from the former bathhouse at the heart of the monumental Justus van Effen complex in Rotterdam (NL), A Tale of a Tub stimulates new developments in contemporary art and explores their meaning within the realm of art and beyond. A Tale of a Tub offers a testing ground for ideas stemming from the practices of artists, curators and theorists. A Tale of a Tub was founded by Nathanja van Dijk and Suzanne Wallinga and is run in partnership with Carolyn H Drake. Taking their academic backgrounds as a departure point the curators commit to give contemporary art in the Netherlands new impulses whilst pursuing collaborations with initiatives abroad.

The name A Tale of a Tub refers to the former bathhouse as well as to the first major work written by the Anglo-Irish satirist, essayist and poet, Jonathan Swift. The work was translated into Dutch by the author Justus van Effen, who achieved international recognition as a writer of periodicals. Research, dialogue and reflection lie at the center of A Tale of a Tub’s programming. Intertwined with the presentation program, a local public program is organized, consisting of performances, screenings, artist talks, publications, lectures by curators and scholars, and theory development with regards to the practices of A Tale of a Tub’s participating artists.

Since 2014, A Tale of a Tub has presented solo and duo exhibitions by Maurice Blaussyld, Kelly Schacht, John Skoog, Evelyn Taocheng Wang, Igshaan Adams, Paul Geelen, Dario D’Aronco, Kerstin Ergenzinger, Alejandro Cesarco, Yeb Wiersma, Hamza Halloubi, Lotte Reimann, Emma van der Put, Jonathas de Andrade, Michal Helfman, Christopher Kulendran Thomas i.c.w. Annika Kuhlmann, Basel Abbas en Ruanne Abou Rahme, and Shezad Dawood. Group exhibitions included work by Zarouhie Abdalian, Ian Kiaer, Apichatpong Weerasethakul & Chai Siris, Helen Dowling, Basma Alsharif, Jason Loebs, Isaac Julien, Paulo Nazareth, Mounir Fatmi, Ursula Biemann, Olfa Ben Ali, Adrian Paci, Sander Breure & Witte van Hulzen, Himali Singh Soin & David Soin Tappeser, Nicoline Timmer, Lee Kit, Tamar Guimarães & Kasper Akhøj and K.r.m. Mooney, among others.