About HMK

Hotel Maria Kapel (HMK) is an artist-in-residence, exhibition space and cinema for contemporary visual art in the city centre of Hoorn; a historic town 40 kilometres north of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. HMK is a non-profit organization that aims to assist young as well as more established artists from all over the world in the production of new work and promote exchanges between national and international artists, cultural institutions and the public.

The studio/exhibition space of HMK is located in an early 16th century chapel, surrounded by a semi-private courtyard. This beautifully tranquil and spacious working environment offers the artists-in-residence a unique space for reflection, experimentation and production. HMK places the artist at the centre of its activities, and stimulates risk-taking as a key element of artistic development.

The public programme of exhibitions, screenings, lectures, workshops and publications, aims to challenge perceptions of what constitutes contemporary art, and bring the audience closer to the practice that motivates it.

History

1435 - 1505 Wooden Maria Chapel
1506 - 1508 Construction of Maria Chapel
Part of monastery orphanage
1573 - 1800 Artillery House of Commissioners Councils
1825 - 1877 Roman Catholic Church
1877 Large fire chapel, facade is preserved
1881 - 1968 Reformed Church
1976 - 1982 Boxing School & discoteque
1983 - 1995 Artists' initiative “De Achterstraat”
1996 - 2002 Used by Sandberg Institute
2003 - 2023 Artists' initiative “Hotel Maria Kapel”

1506-1877

The Maria Chapel was built in 1506-8 to replace a wooden chapel which was consecrated in 1435. At the time the chapel was part of a monastery situated in the ancillary buildings around the courtyard. The Reformation, which reached Hoorn in 1572, marked the end of many monasteries in the Netherlands, and so also in Hoorn. In 1573 the Council of Delegates of West-Friesland started using the chapel as arsenal. The building was used as such until the end of the eighteenth century. From 1825 till 1877 the chapel was used as a Roman Catholic Church. A number of renovations were done during this period, including the construction of the present entrance on the Korte Achterstraat.

2003

In 2003 artists Danielle van Zuijlen and Bart Lodewijks took over the guesthouse/exhibition space construction under the newly established ‘Stichting Kunstenaarsinitiatief Hotel Mariakapel (HMK)’. Since its founding in 2003, the leadership has been transferred to a different team every three to four years. HMK has been lead by Daniel Dennis de Wit and Jantine Wijnja, Josine Siderius, Wouter Sibum and Bas Hendrikx, Irene de Craen and Steve Scheirsen. Under the leadership of the latter two HMK’s programming centred around the two-year research program Undercurrents (2018-19).

In 2019, HMK was led by an editorial committee (Miriam Wistreich, Maja Bekan, Griet Menschaert). Together they developed the program Slow Burn (2020) which was subsequently curated and lead by Wistreich. The following year, with On Shelter (2021), the team consisted of Tirza Kater (Artistic Leader), Annelien de Bruin (Business Leader) and HMK alum Rik Dijkhuizen (Program & Communication). At the end of 2021, Tirza was succeeded by director Inez Piso-Tuncay.

Today, HMK is an internationally renowned place where artists from all over the world come for a period of research, reflection and production of new work. The specific context and location is the main inspiration for the development of experimental contemporary art projects.

1877-1976

On July 1, 1877 a large fire occurred in the Catharina Chapel, the Maria Chapel, and in the adjacent orphanage, which was preserved with great difficulty. Of the Maria Chapel, only the walls and the entrance on the Korte Achterstraat were spared. The vault, roof and tower are completely destroyed. In 1882 the Reformed Church took over the ruins, built the current roof and made other repairs in order for the chapel to be used again. In 1976 the chapel is again in the hands of the municipality of Hoorn. That year the chapel was briefly used by local youth as a disco and boxing school. After the youngsters left the building, the Maria Chapel waned once again.

1983-2003

This all changed when in 1983 a group of artists started using the building, organising activities and opening it to the public. In the nineties the building has undergone its last major renovation and assumed its current form. From 1996 until 2002 the Sandberg Institute, the Masters of the Gerrit Rietveld Academy, used the chapel and the adjacent buildings (the former orphanage) as an exhibition space and guesthouse for students. It was in this period that the sculpture on the roof was made by Florian Göttke and Sabine Käppler, which to this day is a true eye-catcher and a well known landmark in Hoorn.