This eighth edition of Rotterdam Cultural Histories showed all editions, photos and other archive material of the famous magazine Hard Werken. Although only ten issues of this cultural magazine were published in the period 1979-1982, it had a great influence on a whole generation of graphic designers in the Netherlands and abroad. The presentation was put together by Reyn van der Lugt and Marjolein van de Ven.
Mouthpiece against new prudishness
The striking A3 format, the anarchist design averse to all the typographic rules applicable at the time, the major role for photography and a group of employees from mainly the visual arts and literature changing by number, immediately characterized this new initiative as a stubborn, elusive but above all Rotterdam phenomenon.
The magazine gave a lot of space to Rotterdam writers and poets: well-known is the pre-publication of Jules Deelder's book about the Rotterdam boxer Bep van Klaveren. In addition, commentary was given on Rotterdam's urban development and architectural developments, in particular against the 'new prudishness'. The magazine became the mouthpiece of a dynamic metropolitan, international culture.
New style
But even more than its content, the magazine was characterized by its specific design. The interior was black and white, the covers in exuberant colors. Skewed texts and photos, drawings and collages, dozens of fonts in one issue; everything was used together in a unique design that developed into a new 'style'. There was also a lot of attention for photography. Many participating artists developed into what was called the Rotterdam School for (staged) Photography in the mid-eighties. The advertisements in the magazine were also designed according to the same unorthodox principles.
Hard work
The core group consisted of Gerard Hadders, Rick Vermeulen, Tom van den Haspel, Henk Elenga, Kees de Gruiter and Willem Kars. The latter was also responsible for the Graphic Workshop of the Rotterdam Art Foundation, where the magazine was printed.
The initiators of the magazine also founded the design agency Hard Werken in 1980. Initially, they mainly worked for cultural institutions in Rotterdam, later also for clients in the rest of the country and abroad. Their series of posters for the International Film Festival Rotterdam from 1984 to 1994 became famous.
Hard Working was of great significance for the cultural self-esteem of Rotterdam. The many artists associated with the magazine penetrated nationally and internationally. The magazine seemed to be the harbinger of a new cultural impulse that finally freed Rotterdam in the 1980s and 1990s from the image of the dull, culturally poor port city.
Rotterdam Cultural Histories
In Shared Space, our shared exhibition space on the first floor, TENT and Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art alternately present presentations on topics from the history of art and culture in Rotterdam. This collaborative project was initiated in 2014 by Defne Ayas (Witte de With) and Mariette Dölle (TENT) to explore the shared roots of both institutions in Rotterdam.