HIGHLY SKILLED MIGRANTS

The Grey Space in the Middle is a 1,100 square metre anti disciplinary cultural hub in The Hague's creative district, founded in 2017 by designer Dimitri Nieuwenhuizen of the Den Haag design studio LUST and Marijke Cobbenhagen. The space was conceived from the outset as something that resists a single category: part project and presentation space, part café, part music and performance venue. The name itself signals the intent to occupy territory that falls between established disciplines rather than fitting neatly into any one of them. In practice that means the programming moves freely between cutting edge visual art exhibitions, discussions, club nights, live concerts, DJ sets and spoken word performances. Electronic music has a particular presence in the events calendar, and the venue functions as a platform for young talent from Den Haag, giving emerging artists an opportunity to perform in a setting that takes the work seriously. The Rewire festival, which focuses on experimental and electronic music, has included The Grey Space as one of its venues, which reflects the kind of audience and artistic community the space has attracted. What distinguishes it from a straightforward concert hall or gallery is the deliberate blur between those functions. On any given evening the same room might host an exhibition opening, a DJ set and a conversation, with the café providing a social anchor throughout. For Den Haag that combination has made it a gathering point for interdisciplinary artistic collaboration in a city that already has a strong design and art infrastructure around it.