The MELLYs

The MELLYs is an awards celebration and benefit dinner spotlighting the people who make the art world possible behind the scenes, organised by Kunstinstituut Melly in Rotterdam. This year’s theme ‘working class heroes’ celebrates the workers of Rotterdam, the workers behind the arts sector, and the workers of Kunstinstituut Melly. The scenography brings the workplace to the party, and the party to the workplace.

Continuing on my fascination for the rules of ‘gezelligheid’, we investigate the concept of the celebration itself: what makes an event look like an event? We play with presumptions about the concept of a benefit gala, and flip the script, blending the borders between guest, employee and performer.

Scenography

The 110-guest seated dinner is set in 3 adjacent gallery spaces. The stage — styled like a huge dinner table — is designed in a way that it intersects the walls between the spaces, allowing the moderator to address all 3 of the dining galleries one by one from the same stage. In order for guests not to miss anything, a videographer with handy cam followed the moderator and the performers around, sometimes zooming in on the MELLYs employees, images projected on walls in all 3 galleries.

Guests are seated on snackbar chairs, conference chairs, and rotating office chairs. Flowers are neatly sorted in mail boxes, stuffed into folders and crushed under old computers. At your plate, a key ring can be found with ‘employee of the month’ name tag, a tiny tape measure, a keychain saying ‘I clocked in at The MELLYs, a pin with the famous ‘Melly Shum Hates Her Job’ artwork, and a tiny pot of chili flakes dried by artist Riet Wijnen.

The office theme continues in the screensavers and in the photo backdrop, presenting the sponsors on a Windows XP desktop background amidst more floral mailboxes.

Performances

At the entrance and during dinner, guests were greeted by performances of Unemployed Airhostesses, using their custom music instruments and flight case, and a rented crane lift, hosting nothing but the air. To offer a peak behind the curtains of the art institute, we invited guests on a tour: after dessert artist donna Kukama gathered the crowd with a performative tour through the basement, the back alley, the workshop, and the kitchen, reimagining power dynamics and conventions of art along the way.

The evening culminated in a ‘crew after party’ inviting you to become part of the crew for the night. Starting off with an amapiano set with live vocals by Jollyfish, followed by two DJ’s introduced by Kunstinstituut Melly.