WORM is a venue, record shop, and production space in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Perhaps it’s more accurately described as an evolving bastion of the arts, with a new, larger location opening later this year in the center of the city. The new space, designed by 2012 Architects, with one part (a metal construction at the entrance) by Joep van Lieshout, will be “a super-avant-garde institute for sustainable recreation.” We spoke with shop owner and collective co-founder Mariëtte Groot to try to get to the bottom of the seemingly bottomless entity that is WORM.
What are the origins of WORM? What came first: the store, the studio, or the venue?
WORM started in 1999 when three iniatives joined forces: Dodorama (venue plus shop for experimental music), Popifilm (organizers of experimental film screenings), and Filmwerkplaats (Film Lab).
What is the Avant Garde Institute?
To be exact: we call ourselves Institute for Avantgardistic Recreation. It’s a bit tongue-in-cheek; all we mean to say is, “We like art that is adventurous and playful.” We want as many people as possible to join in and play. The word recreation is meant as leisure, as well as “to create again.”
