What Heem does

Heem is a Dutch non-profit theater and community-art organization that develops projects exploring encounters between people of diverse religious and philosophical backgrounds. Founded in 2021 and originating from Stichting het Andere Kijken, the organization is based in Schiedam, Netherlands, and is led artistically by Sophie Mantel and on the business side by Lisa Luijten, supported by a four-member foundation board. Its current product portfolio consists of three core productions: 'Trektocht Schiedam' (a 2024 theatrical journey featuring eight Schiedammers with different worldview backgrounds guiding audiences through scenes, images, and personal stories at 'treasure chambers'); 'Trektocht Schiedam expositie' (a 2024 exhibition of photography, set pieces, a short film, and eight sacred books at openbare bibliotheek de Korenbeurs); and 'Heem me mee Schiedam' (a 2025-2026 community-art theater project taking audiences into the activities of visited communities, also being developed as customized educational offerings for secondary schools and higher education). A prior program, 'Heem Egmond' (interfaith reflection days at Sint-Adelbertabdij, 2021-2023), was discontinued after 1.5 years when the shrinking abbey community could no longer support it, prompting Heem's 2023 strategic pivot to theater and art.

The organization has no proprietary technology platform; its offering is experiential and human-led, distributed through live performances, library exhibitions, and community events at religious sites. Performances are free to the public, and revenue is generated entirely through grants from cultural and religious foundations — including Porticus Foundation (Space for Grace), Fonds voor Cultuurparticipatie, Stichting Woudschoten, Fonds Kerk en Wereld, Waterweg Cultuurprijs, and Vrijzinnige Fondsen. Co-creative partnerships with the Alevitisch Cultureel Centrum Rijnmond (ACCR), De Bibliotheek Schiedam, and the Sociale en Kulturele Islamitische Vereniging (SCIV) provide both content and venue infrastructure, while marketing is conducted through Instagram (@initiatiefheem), the project website trektocht.org, and partner-network referral.

Name

Heem

Legal name

Heem

Website

https://heemen.nl

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Heem is a Dutch non-profit theater and community-art organization that produces theatrical journeys and exhibitions exploring encounters between people of diverse religious and philosophical backgrounds, serving the general public, schools, and religious communities in the Netherlands through grant-funded artistic projects.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Theater and Performing Arts

NAICS

Performing Arts Companies (7111), Other Performing Arts Companies (711190), Motion Picture and Sound Recording Industries (512)

SIC

Services-Motion Picture Theaters (7830), Services-Motion Picture & Video Tape Production (7812), Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900), Services-Mailing, Reproduction, Commercial Art & Photography (7330)

akta.pro primary industry

Performing Arts Organizations (Theater, Dance, Opera, Music) (BPAGAHAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Community & Amateur Theatre (MPAGABAD), Community Arts, Culture & Creative Placemaking Enterprises (BPAGALAO)

Keywords

• Community theater projects
• Interfaith dialogue arts
• Cultural performance productions
• Theatrical art exhibitions
• Religious worldview encounters

Headquarters

HQ city

Schiedam

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Foundation Grants and Cultural Funding: Heem operates as a non-profit organization funded primarily through grants and donations from cultural foundations, religious organizations, and government cultural participation funds. Funding sources include Porticus Foundation, Space for Grace, Fonds voor Cultuurparticipatie, Stichting Woudschoten, Fonds Kerk en Wereld, Waterweg Cultuurprijs, and Vrijzinnige Fondden.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Heem develops and produces community-art theater projects and exhibitions that create meaningful encounters between people with diverse religious and philosophical backgrounds. Productions are co-created with local communities and performed at cultural centers, libraries, and religious sites in the Netherlands, using personal stories, theatrical scenes, and visual art to foster intercultural dialogue and shared humanity.

Product overview

Heem is a Dutch theater and art organization that develops community-art projects focused on meeting and exchange between people with diverse religious and philosophical backgrounds. The organization operates as a single unified offering centered on theatrical and artistic productions that use storytelling, scenes, and personal narratives to create meaningful connections across worldview differences. The portfolio consists of ongoing productions including 'Heem me mee Schiedam' (community-art theater), 'Trektocht Schiedam' (theatrical journey/experience), and the associated 'Trektocht Schiedam expositie' (exhibition), all rooted in Schiedam. A previous program 'Heem Egmond' (interfaith reflection days at a monastery, 2021-2023) was discontinued when the organization shifted its focus from organizing reflection days to developing theater and art projects.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Trektocht Schiedam Theatrical journey along worldview treasures in Schiedam, featuring eight Schiedammers with different religious and philosophical backgrounds guiding audiences through scenes, images, and personal stories at various 'treasure chambers' (levensbeschouwelijke schatkamers). Premiered in summer 2024 with six performances and a fall 2024 reprise.
• Heem me mee Schiedam Community-art theater project where Schiedammers with diverse religious and philosophical backgrounds take audiences on theatrical journeys to activities of their communities. Each encounter consists of a scene followed by an activity from the visited community. Being developed as an educational offering for secondary schools and higher education.
• Trektocht Schiedam expositie Exhibition complementing the Trektocht Schiedam theater production, featuring photographic works, set pieces, a short film, and the eight sacred books of the performers, displayed at openbare bibliotheek de Korenbeurs Schiedam from September 20 to November 16, 2024.

Quantifiable outcome

• Trektocht Schiedam performed 6 times in summer 2024 with successful fall reprise
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Alevitisch Cultureel Centrum Rijnmond (ACCR)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Co-creative partner in the Trektocht Schiedam project. ACCR collaborated on developing theatrical scenes and participated in performances, with contact person Sakine Kondu.
• De Bibliotheek SchiedamcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Co-creative partner and venue provider for Trektocht Schiedam project. The library also hosted the subsequent exhibition at the Korenbeurs location.
• Sociale en Kulturele Islamitische Vereniging (SCIV)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Co-creative partner in the Trektocht Schiedam project, contributing to the theatrical journey exploring religious diversity in Schiedam.
• Sint-Adelbertabdij (St. Adelbert Abbey)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Heem began in 2021 as an initiative organizing interfaith reflection days at the Sint-Adelbertabdij in Egmond-Binnen. The abbey provided the venue for seasonal days and open greenhouse days. After 1.5 years, it became clear the shrinking abbey community could not support the pioneering initiative, and Heem shifted focus in 2023.
• Stichting het Andere KijkencoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Parent organization from which Heem originated. The foundation's board includes Sherene Farag-Devid, Yunus Meijerink, Marjolein van de Ven, and Gerwin van Herk.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam: Historic Amsterdam presenting theater that programs diverse voices alongside major productions. Functions as a broad incumbent in the Dutch theater ecosystem in which Heem's community-art productions sit.
• Internationaal Theater Amsterdam: Major Dutch producing theater company with a wide repertoire that includes socially engaged and international programming. As a broad incumbent, ITA provides the national stage context against which Heem's small-scale community-art work is positioned.
• Theater Rotterdam: Largest producing theater company in the Rotterdam-Rijnmond region, staging a broad repertoire including socially engaged work. Operates in Heem's home region but at vastly greater scale, making it a broad incumbent whose ecosystem Heem navigates.
• Het Nationale Theater: Large Dutch theater company combining a resident ensemble with community participation and education programs. Its education and outreach programming is thematically adjacent to Heem me mee Schiedam's school-based offering.

Direct peers

• De Balie: Amsterdam cultural center programming theater, debate, and exhibitions around social and political themes including identity and migration. De Balie's blend of live performance with public dialogue on contested social topics closely mirrors Heem's interfaith-dialogue-through-art model.
• Pakhuis de Zwijger: Amsterdam platform producing cultural programs, talks, and performances that convene diverse city residents around social themes. Like Heem, Pakhuis de Zwijger uses arts and dialogue formats to bridge cultural and religious communities, with a comparable nonprofit, grant-funded operating model.
• Korzo Theater: Production house and theater in The Hague focused on contemporary dance, music, and community-engaged performance. Like Heem, Korzo develops and produces original community-facing performance work with limited staff and project-based funding, making it a direct operational peer.

Regional players

• NTGent: Flemish producing theater company with an explicit focus on European and city-identity programming, including community-engaged work. Comparable to Heem in mission and scale but operates across the Belgian border in Flanders rather than in the Netherlands.

Others

• Stedelijk Museum Breda: Contemporary art museum in Breda. Connected to Heem via board member Marjolein van de Ven, who leads programming and curatorial work there, giving Heem a direct institutional link to the Dutch contemporary art ecosystem.
• Museum Catharijneconvent: Utrecht museum of religious art and history covering Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, and other traditions. Connected to Heem via board member Gerwin van Herk; the museum's interfaith framing parallels Heem's interfaith encounter mission.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/initiatiefheem
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/heem-interlevensbeschouwelijk-ontmoeting

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Heem