Courtesy of Vivian Ziherl.

From 2018 to 2021 the institution now known as Kunstinstituut Melly underwent a controversial and internationally-watched change of name, divesting from its former colonial namesake ‘Witte de With’. This change process grappled with powerful structural and symbolic registers of re-naming amid a contentious politics of memory in the Netherlands. Now, years later, Kunstinstituut Melly Research and Programs Manager Vivian Ziherl reflects upon the far-reaching institutional experiments that brought this change to life. In the process she unpacks the friction between international connectivity and local accountability that shape art institutions in Europe from 1989 to present times.

Vivian Ziherl is Research and Programs Manager at Kunstinstituut Melly in Rotterdam. Ziherl founded and directed Stichting Frontier Imaginaries (2016-2019), presenting exhibitions with the Institute of Modern Art in Brisbane, the Al Ma’mal Foundation in Jerusalem, e-flux and Colombia University in New York, and the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven. Her previous roles include Curator with If I Can’t Dance, I Don’t Want to Be Part of Your Revolution (2012-2014). As a freelance curator she co-initiated ‘Koloa: Women Art and Technology’ with Tunakaimanu Fielakepa and Cosmin Costinas (2019-2021), and she co-curated the inaugural performance programs of the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam ‘Stage It!’ together with Hendrik Folkerts (2011-12). Ziherl holds a PhD in Curatorial Studies with Monash University in Melbourne.