On the yellow wall of the former C5 Jazz Club at the Schiehaven, there is now an homage to a true icon: Jules Deelder. This famous poet and writer covered topics such as life in his hometown Rotterdam, drug use, andΒ jazz. Construction company VORM asked artist Marcel Labrie to make a fitting tribute.
Since 2018, VORM owns the monumental building de Nieuwe Maaskant, where the jazz club was once located. “A beautiful piece of history. And thus a gift to Rotterdam. The mural pays homage to jazz lover Deelder and at the same time symbolizes the former Jazz Club C5. In addition, it is the last reminder of the position of the demolished sheds that stood next to the gateway building De Nieuwe Maaskant, built by my father,” says a proud Daan van der Vorm, Managing Director of VORM.
De Nieuwe Maaskant was the former Poortgebouw in Rotterdam’s Schiehaven, designed by Huig Maaskant. A monumental building closely associated with the port of Rotterdam. Huig Maaskant was a Dutch architect who made an important contribution to the reconstruction of Rotterdam after the Second World War. He was commissioned in 1956 by the stevedoring company Progress to replace the old wooden sheds on the quay of the Schiehaven. Sheds that were still built by Daan van der Vorm sr. Not only a modern cargo complex with new brick warehouses and a gatehouse but also a beautiful history.
Bring jazzy history to life
The bright yellow painted masonry wall, with its entrance door, gave access to the former Jazz Club C5 from 1990 to 2016. Big names such as Riverboat JB, Harry’s Jazz & Blues and The Scat Cats have performed. Deelder frequented this place quite a lot.
C5 Jazz, fully known as the Center Five Collection Foundation, started out in a small room on the Wolphaertsbocht in Charlois. It moved to Schiehaven 11 in 1990. To bring this jazzy history to life, Marcel Labrie was commissioned by VORM to create a work of art. He also pays tribute to jazz icon Deelder. It doesn’t get any more Rotterdam. And that’s exactly what fits with Rotterdam family company VORM, which has been back in the city since 2020.
The building is now used again as a bicycle shed for employees and visitors of VORM. Just like it once was the bicycle shed of Progress Port Authority.
