Frequently asked questions
In which activities can I participate at Waag?
We organise a varied programme with workshops, lectures/debates, and presentations but also courses and trainings. An overview of our upcoming public events can be found at waag.org/en/events. There usually is just a small entrance fee, to keep the threshold as low as possible.
How can Waag exist?
We are a foundation. As a non-profit organisation, we are funded by the Fund Creative Industries NL, the City of Amsterdam (AFK), and on project basis by the European Union and other sources. Besides that, we generate about 25% of our income through e.g. commissions, space hire, workshops, and trainings.
Is the name Waag an acronym?
This is frequently misunderstood, but it is not (and should therefore also not be written in capitals). Our name is derived from the Waag building on the Nieuwmarkt square, which is our main location. Waag in Dutch is a weigh house, a public building where various goods were weighed in the past. As public control of the weight of goods was very important, they were run by local authorities who would also use them for the levying of taxes on goods transported through or sold within the city. Therefore, weigh houses would often be near a market square or town centre.
Can I advertise on your website?
No, we do not place ads or commercial content. We also do not buy articles, visuals, translations, web services, etc.
Can I promote my event on your website?
This is of course an attractive option, as our website gets thousands of visitors every week, but we only put events on our website that we are involved in, be it as organiser, sponsor or participant. In some cases, we can promote something on our social media channels, but that is up to our independent team of editors.
Can I visit your building with a group?
We don’t do tours or group visits in our building. Many of the spaces are frequently in use or hired by third parties. On an individual basis, you can participate in our events and activities and meet our staff. For groups, we can organise workshops or special trainings, have a look at our special website: academy.waag.org/en.
Can I/my organisation cooperate with you?
We welcome forms of cooperation. If you have worked out a good proposal, that is in line with our goals and working areas, you can always send it to one of our project developers. It is important that it has a clear research question formulated. Visit our research page to find our labs. Choose the lab that is thematically closest to your topic and address your proposal to the contact person.
Can someone from Waag give a keynote?
That is certainly a possibility, if we have a suitable speaker available, of course. Have a look at academy.waag.org/en for the options.
Can I use your photos and videos?
Our photos and videos are published under the Creative Commons license Attribution-Non-Commercial-ShareAlike int. 4.0. This means that they can be used if you mention our name, use them for non-commercial purposes and that you will publish them under at least the same license. We would like our photos to be used only within the original context of the project or purpose they were made for.
Are you selling software?
No, if we develop code we prefer to publish it open-source on our channels (like GitHub). If we are commissioned a project, software can be part of the delivered product.
Can I come to interview you for my study?
We get this question very regularly. We wish we would have the time to honour these requests, but unfortunately, this is mostly not the case. Maybe we have published an article or interview on our website that might help you. Feel free to quote us.
Do you have an artist in residency programme that I can sign up for?
We don't run a residency programme ourselves, but are a partner in international European programmes and national programmes (e.g. 3PackageDeal by Amsterdam Fund for the Arts). If there is a call for artists in one of these, we will publish this on our channels too.
Are your events in English?
We’re kind of bilingual. We try to be as versatile as possible. If an event is Dutch spoken but it turns out that there are non-Dutch visitors attending, we will do our best to switch to English. On the other hand: if an event is in English, there mostly will be someone available who speaks Dutch.
Do you provide a RSS feed?
Yes, we do: waag.org/en/rss
Specific questions about our projects or activities? Ask them here.
