Stichting Ammodo, For arts, architecture and science

In the legendary science fiction film Star Trek Captain Kirk is teleported home from far away in the universe by his chief engineer “Scotty”. Physicists, including Ronald Hanson, have been trying to do something vaguely similar. “Quantum teleportation,” is an experiment by which information is transferred without the use of sound, light or any other form of energy. Ronald Hanson is a Natural Sciences laureate of the Ammodo KNAW Award 2015.

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Eye-diseases are rapidly becoming more significant: there are already more than 300,000 blind and visually impaired people in the Netherlands. Due to the aging population this number will increase explosively in the coming years. Caroline Klaver is a scientific researcher and ophthalmologist, and a driving force behind research into the root causes of some of the most common eye problems. Caroline Klaver is a Biomedical Sciences laureate of the Ammodo KNAW Award 2015.

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Why are we so bad at describing what we smell? Why do we have words for colours but not for scents? Have we lost that capability in evolution? Or is it due to our upbringing? Asifa Majid undertakes innovative fieldwork among various cultures and peoples to find new answers to questions about connections between brains, language and culture. Asifa Majid is a Humanities laureate of the Ammodo KNAW Award 2015.

Click here to read our interview with Asifa Majid from 2022.

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ICK Amsterdam focuses on producing dance performances, developing talent and stimulating research in the field of dance practice. Through the Lange lijnen programma ICK Amsterdam created five dance productions, including Etranger (2013), Sopranos (2014) and Extremalism Revisited (2015). Ammodo supports the Lange lijnen programma in order to contribute to the creation of new dance productions and the development of ICK Amsterdam.

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ICK Amsterdam and Toneelmakerij, Macbeth, 2015, photo: Alwin Poiana

Why do we often choose friends and partners with the same ethnic background? What is the impact of this segregation on social opportunities? Why is America’s income inequality much greater than that in Europe? These are the very topical questions that fascinate Frank van Tubergen and for which he seeks scientific and not ideological answers. Frank van Tubergen is a Social Sciences laureate of the Ammodo KNAW Award 2015.

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Talent Support is a new support programme for the participants in the renowned biennial Netherlands Violin Competition, Oskar Back. The finalists in this competition are among the best young violinists in the country. The programme includes artistic development, promoting young violinists at an international level and encouraging the next steps in their career. Ammodo supports Talent Support to contribute to the development of young violinists who show potential to achieve international recognition.

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Elvira van Groningen, 2016, photo: Foppe Schut

The series of drawings by the British artist Paul Noble (1963) entitled Nobson Newtown is presented in its entirety for the first time in the exhibition NOBSON. Paul is the creator and designer of Nobson Newtown, a fantasy city partly inspired by Whitley Bay, the coastal town where Noble grew up. The artist began work on this fictional town in 1996 and has since produced 23 monumental and highly detailed pencil drawings that reveal the history, geography and mythology of the town. Ammodo supports NOBSON to contribute to the development of Paul Noble and to bring his work to the attention of a wider audience.

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Exhibition overview NOBSON, 2014

Every year Gaudeamus invites five talented composers to participate in the Gaudeamus Academy. The Gaudeamus Academy offers young composers and students of composition the opportunity to produce their own work with several renowned ensembles and also provides the space for developing new work. The results of the Academy are presented during the Gaudeamus Muziekweek. Ammodo supports the Gaudeamus Academy to contribute to the development of talented young composers.

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Gaudeamus Academy, photo: Anna van Kooij

Philosopher Barteld Kooi combines almost impenetrable abstract information science with everyday applications such as card games and the National Science Quiz. His work focuses on transcribing complex information problems into mathematical formulas. Which logical strategy in a game gives the best outcome? And what happens if in addition to logic probability also comes into play? Barteld Kooi is a Humanities laureate of the Ammodo KNAW Award 2015.

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As Big As The Sky is an opera production from the composer and director Arnoud Noordegraaf, artist Ai Weiwei and writer Adrian Hornsby. The opera is produced by the Barooni Foundation in collaboration with the Holland Festival and performed by Asko | Schönberg and soloists. The story is inspired by the rise of China and the radical changes within that country. It explores the clash between traditional culture, the effects of globalization and the desire for authenticity. As Big As The Sky combines Western contemporary music with traditional Chinese opera, film and visual installations. Ammodo supports As Big As The Sky to contribute to the development of this contemporary opera production.

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Asko|Schönberg & Barooni, As Big As The Sky, 2015

The David Kweksilber Big Band is a musical ensemble that focuses on experimenting with contemporary music, jazz and improvisation. The band has 26 renowned musicians with backgrounds ranging from classical to jazz improvisation. In both 2014 and 2015 DKBB presents various new compositions. Ammodo supports these new compositions in order to contribute to the development of the David Kweksilber Big Band.

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David Kweksilber Big Band, photo: Marcel Bakker

Under a thin hard crust planet Earth is a sphere within which liquid rock slowly flows around. But inside the flowing mass a hard globe has been discovered. It was suspected that such a thing existed but the evidence for it was only delivered when Arwen Deuss succeeded in picking up and analysing weak but characteristic seismic waves. Arwen Deuss is a Natural Sciences laureate of the Ammodo KNAW Award 2015.

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The Dutch National Opera organises a development programme for young artists with the potential to be successful in the world of opera. The programme was developed because it became apparent that young opera singers, directors, conductors, theater designers, coaches & repetiteurs and dramatists have difficulty in connecting with professionals in the field after completing their training. The programme includes workshops and a series of six operatic productions were performed in the period 2014-2016. The programme looks to further the development of young talent and to encourage the participants to establish themselves at an international level in the future. Ammodo supports this programme from the National Opera to make a contribution to the development of young opera talent.

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Nationale Opera, Talentontwikkeling, Workshop by Lucia di Lammermoor, 2014

Thijn Brummelkamp is an energetic, critical and entrepreneurial scientist researching the function of each of the approximately 25,000 genes in the human body. He began by developing a way to turn off each of these genes one by one. Then he invented an even smarter method to do the same with a number of genes at the same time. Thijn Brummelkamp is a Biomedical laureate of the Ammodo KNAW Award 2015.

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In Paradocs IDFA shows experimental and artistic documentaries. In order to respond to the increase of interdisciplinary practice of visual arts and film, IDFA wants to expand and strengthen the Paradocs video art programme over the coming years. IDFA will do so partly by programming a series in collaboration with Amsterdam Art and the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. This programme will present new work by Sander Breure & Witte van Hulzen, Barbara Visser, Nicolas Provost and Mark Cousins, amongst others. Ammodo supports Paradocs because through this programme IDFA is offering an alternative, high-quality platform for showcasing video art.

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Roderick Hietbrink, Videostill from The Living Room, 2011

In 2014, 2016 and 2018 TROMP is organising Repertoire Days to take place in Sao Paulo, Moscow and Tokyo. During the Repertoire Days which previously took place in Boston, Shanghai and Amsterdam, participants are offered the opportunity to participate in master classes given by judges and previous award winners such as Dominique Vleeshouwers, Nancy Zeltsman and Emmanuel Séjourné. The master classes are intended for talented percussionists under 30 years old and are a preparation for the percussion competition. Ammodo supports Repertoire Days at new locations to contribute to the development of talented young percussionists.

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Alexandre Esperet, TROMP winner, 2012, photo: Claudia Hansen

Which nerves connect our senses with our cerebral cortex? How do our brains become conscious of sensory stimuli? And how does that ultimately result in an understanding of what is happening around us? These are the kind of questions that Serge Dumoulin is engaged in, and which put him on the trail of a congenital abacus in our brain. Serge Dumoulin is a Social Sciences laureate of the Ammodo KNAW Award 2015.

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In 2014, the music theatre ensemble Veenfabriek in collaboration with Muziektheater Transparant (Antwerp), baroque orchestra B’rock (Ghent) and Cappella (Amsterdam) created the production Arthur. Arthur is based on the semi-opera “King Arthur” by Henry Purcell (1659 – 1695), in which theatre, dance and opera come together. The piece memorializes the beginning of World War I and is an ode to love and country. Ammodo supports Arthur to contribute to the creation of this new co-production.

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Veenfabriek, Arthur, 2014, photo: Bowie Verschuuren

The Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ in Amsterdam offers innovative composition commissions to prominent composers from the Netherlands and abroad. Over the space of three cultural seasons two new composition assignments will be granted per season. The World premières takes place in the Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ. By supporting the World Premières series Ammodo aims to contribute to the renewal and development of the repertoire of contemporary music at an international level.

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Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ, Great Hall, photo: Erik van Gurp

Festival de Keuze at the Rotterdamse Schouwburg consists of an interdisciplinary theater, dance and performance programme. During the festival leading international productions will be shown, each of which will seek to contribute to relevant developments in the social, cultural, political and economic fields. In the context of this theater festival, Ammodo will be supporting various productions including Life and Times-Nature Theater of Oklahoma (2012), Ghost Road by Fabrice Murgia and LOD (2012), Julia by Christiane Jatahy (2013) and Ibsen in one take by Chong Wang (2013). By supporting Festival de Keuze Ammodo wants to contribute to the development and presentation of international and innovative productions where the connection between the artistic and the social themes is central.

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Rotterdamse Schouwburg, Detroit dealers, photo: Ada Nieuwendijk

The Joop Swart Masterclass is a development programme for the World Press Photo. Twelve young internationally selected top talents from the world of photojournalism and documentary photography take part in a six-day master class, where they are given the opportunity to enhance the development of their talents under the guidance of six professionals. Ammodo supports the Joop Swart Masterclass to contribute to the development of a new generation of photojournalists who have the potential to achieve high level international success.

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World Press Photo, 2014, photo: Istvan Biestlik