Amsterdam club De School to reopen in September

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  • Shut since March 2020, the venue will run for 16 months before closing again in January 2024.
  • Amsterdam club De School to reopen in September image
  • Amsterdam club De School is reopening in September for the first time since March 2020. On September 9th, De School will begin its final 16-month run before closing again in January 2024. In addition to renovations and changes to the layout, the club has overhauled its vision, team and internal structure, implementing new policies such as a code of conduct, house rules and an awareness team. The club's new director of operations, Erdal Kiran, who joined in July 2021, spearheaded the changes. The reason for the overhaul dates back to summer 2020, when De School announced its closure amid a backdrop of controversy. Though the reason given at the time was financial, the club had been widely criticised by members of its community for a lack of diversity on its staff and programming, as well as discriminatory incidents involving security. "There was a huge need to dig deep to uncover problems, to create structure, for having painful but healing conversations and for creating an environment of trust for our employees, visitors, artists and everyone else that is part of this place," said Kiran. The restructuring process took the form of more than 500 hours of conversations with more than 100 people from the community, including dancers, staff, former staff and artists. Many people were spoken to more than once. "What often started with rightful anger towards us, sometimes ended in mutual respect and healing," Kiran told Resident Advisor. "A humbling process that taught us a lot. We don't think of that as a finished process as well. We are open to keep having these conversations. During the process, we started to feel that there could be a new start for the club and that we could add value to Amsterdam's nightlife again." Part of the restructure is a new creative team, which will manage the programming. According to Kiran, the "three-dimensional" focus will be on art and education as much as music, with daytime events, workshops and other educational projects planned during the day. De School's restaurant and cafe—which never closed—will continue to operate as usual. The club will publish its code of conduct, house rules and reflections on the past two years via its website next week. Programming info will follow in the coming weeks.

RA