Imagine IC

What Imagine IC does

Imagine IC (legally Stichting Imagine IC) is a Dutch cultural foundation founded in 1999 and headquartered at Bijlmerplein 393 in Amsterdam Zuidoost, where it shares premises with the Openbare Bibliotheek Amsterdam (OBA). The organization pursues what it terms 'heritage democracy' (erfgoeddemocratie): a bottom-up, participatory model in which residents of Amsterdam's diverse communities contribute contemporary objects, memories, and stories that are documented, curated, and presented through exhibitions and public programs. Its central intellectual asset is the Emotienetwerken (Emotion Networking) methodology, co-developed with the Reinwardt Academie and further studied under the NWA-funded EmErEd research project (2018+), which provides a structured framework for mapping divergent emotional responses to contested heritage items and facilitating dialogue. Complementing this is the Erfgoedwijsheid (heritage wisdom) educational framework.

The organization's product portfolio spans permanent and traveling exhibitions (Vitrine van Zuidoost, Saya en koto, Let's Party!, Chicks Kicks and Glory, In de Pocket), tiered educational programs for primary (PO), secondary (VO), vocational (MBO), and higher education (HBO/WO), the annual Keti Koti-scholenontbijt slavery remembrance school event, customized group tours and emotienetwerken workshops, and cultural initiatives such as the SHEBANG lab (with Bijlmerpark Theater and CBK Zuidoost, 2025) and European research projects including CENTRINNO. Programming is delivered free of charge to visitors and travels to OBA branches across Amsterdam (Reigersbos, Slotermeer, Buitenveldert, Banne Buiksloot), with educational and group workshops offered on a direct basis to schools and community groups.

Imagine IC operates as a registered ANBI (Algemeen Nut Beogende Instelling) under a seven-member unpaid board (Chair Vayhishta Miskin) with Director Daniëlle Kuijten, complying with Governance Code Cultuur, Fair Practice Code, Code Diversiteit en Inclusie, and Mores membership. Revenue is generated entirely through public and cultural-sector subsidies (Municipality of Amsterdam, Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst, Fonds Cultuurparticipatie, VSB Fonds, Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds, Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed, European/NWA grants) rather than commercial sales or ticket pricing; specific revenue figures are not publicly disclosed. The organization has roughly ten named staff plus a volunteer archivist, runs a website and active social channels, and positions itself as the participatory-collection node inside Amsterdam's heritage and cultural ecosystem.

Name

Imagine IC

Legal name

Stichting Imagine IC

Website

https://imagineic.nl

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Imagine IC is a Dutch cultural foundation in Amsterdam Zuidoost that documents contemporary heritage and migration stories through participatory exhibitions, school programs, and the proprietary Emotienetwerken methodology, funded by public cultural subsidies.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Heritage Education Services

NAICS

Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (712)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Exhibition, Retail & Experiential Design (BPAHAKAL)

akta.pro secondary industry

Arts & Culture Appreciation (Art History, Film Appreciation, Music Appreciation) (EDAAAGAO)

Keywords

• Heritage democracy
• Participatory heritage
• Cultural education programs
• Heritage exhibitions
• Community archiving

Headquarters

HQ city

Amsterdam

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Public Funding and Subsidies: As an ANBI (Algemeen Nut Beogende Instelling - Public Benefit Organization), Imagine IC relies on public funding and cultural subsidies from municipal, national, and European cultural funds.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Imagine IC is a Dutch cultural foundation that documents and presents contemporary heritage and migration stories of Amsterdam Zuidoost through exhibitions, public programs, and educational projects, applying participatory methodologies such as "Emotienetwerken" (Emotion Networking) and "Erfgoedwijsheid" (Heritage Wisdom). It collects objects, memories, and stories from residents and presents them through free exhibitions, school programs across all educational levels (PO, VO, MBO, HBO/WO), guided tours, and customized workshops for community groups.

Product overview

Imagine IC operates as a heritage institution combining archival and museum functions, focused on participatory heritage democracy in Amsterdam Zuidoost. The organization offers a portfolio of core methodologies (Emotienetwerken and Erfgoedwijsheid), educational programs across all school levels (PO, VO, MBO, HBO/WO), special programs like the Keti Koti-scholenontbijt, cultural initiatives (SHEBANG, CENTRINNO), and temporary and permanent exhibitions (Saya en koto, Let's Party, Chicks, Kicks and Glory, In de Pocket). Services include customized workshops and guided tours. The Emotienetwerken methodology and Erfgoedwijsheid framework form the core intellectual property, which is applied across all educational and exhibition offerings.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Emotienetwerken: A methodology developed by Imagine IC and Reinwardt Academie for understanding divergent emotions regarding heritage items and facilitating dialogue
• Erfgoedwijsheid
• SHEBANG
• CENTRINNO

Products and services

• Emotienetwerken (Emotion Networking) A participatory methodology developed with the Reinwardt Academie to map diverse emotions around heritage items and facilitate dialogue across contrasting perspectives, used in educational and community settings.
• Erfgoedwijsheid (Heritage Wisdom) An educational framework encompassing competencies that enable people to critically engage with heritage and participate in discussions about contested topics.
• Primair Onderwijs Programma (Primary Education Program)

Named customers8 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

21 partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• Openbare Bibliotheek Amsterdam (OBA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOBA is Imagine IC's co-location partner, sharing premises at Bijlmerplein. They also collaborate on exhibitions that travel to OBA locations across Amsterdam. This is a foundational partnership enabling Imagine IC's physical presence and broader reach.
• Reinwardt AcademiecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partnership for developing emotienetwerken methodology. The Reinwardt Academie (Amsterdam University of the Arts) co-developed this method with Imagine IC for providing insight into divergent feelings about heritage items. They also collaborate on student programs and research.
• Nationaal Instituut voor Beeld en GeluidmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational heritage institution partnership for collaborative projects on Dutch audiovisual heritage and collective memory.
• Amsterdam MuseummajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on exhibitions and collection development related to Amsterdam's diverse heritage and history.
• The Research Center for Material Culture (RCMC)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRCMC focuses on the meaning and future of colonial, ethnographic, and art-historical collections. Collaborated on exhibitions like 'Saya en koto' exploring Antillean and Surinamese heritage.
• CBK ZuidoostcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCentrum Beeldende Kunst Zuidoost - local arts organization and partner in SHEBANG cultural lab initiative.
• Bijlmerpark TheatercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal theater partner, co-initiator of SHEBANG cultural lab bringing together emerging and established makers in theater, art, and heritage.
• Stadsarchief AmsterdammajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on archival practices and documentation of Amsterdam's contemporary heritage and diverse communities.
• Cultureel ZuidoostmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUmbrella cultural organization for Amsterdam Zuidoost, supporting and coordinating cultural initiatives in the district.
• Museum van LoonmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on exhibitions including 'Wie zegt dat?' exploring shared history and heritage.
• Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed (RCE)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational heritage service, collaborator on FARO-program for collection Maasdamme inventory.
• Hogeschool van AmsterdamminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerApplied sciences university partnership for student projects and internships in culture and heritage.
• WaagmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTechnology and society institute, part of the EmErEd research consortium for emotienetwerken in educational settings, funded by Nationale Wetenschapsagenda.
• Landelijk Kennisinstituut Cultuureducatie en Amateurkunst (LKCA)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational knowledge institute for cultural education, co-presenter of emotienetwerken webinar.
• Museum GoudaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegional museum partner in the EmErEd research consortium studying emotienetwerken in educational settings.
• Centrum Educatieve Dienstverlening (CEDGroep)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEducational services provider in the EmErEd research consortium.
• Erasmus School of History, Culture and CommunicationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic institution under whose auspices the emotienetwerken research is conducted, led by Prof. dr Hester Dibbits.
• CENTRINNO ConsortiummajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFour-year European project on discovering heritage of industrial locations for sustainable and inclusive neighborhoods. Imagine IC supports Reinwardt Academie's research on role and impact of heritage in the project.
• L'Atelier L'ObservatoireminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSpace for art and research in Casablanca developing socially committed participatory projects with artists, students, researchers, and residents.
• Red Star Line MuseumminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMigration museum collaboration on shared learning about participatory heritage practices.
• Goethe-InstituutminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFirst artist in residence at Imagine IC: FILE NOT FOUND, a collaboration between Goethe-Instituut and various cultural archives worldwide.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Tropenmuseum: Major Amsterdam museum focused on cultures of the world and the colonial/post-colonial legacy. It operates at much larger scale but overlaps with Imagine IC on themes of migration, decolonization, and inclusive representation of Amsterdam's diverse communities.
• Amsterdam Museum: The municipal museum of Amsterdam covering the city's history and identity. It is a direct collaborator with Imagine IC on exhibitions about Amsterdam's diverse heritage and operates in the same heritage-and-collective-memory space, but at a significantly larger scale and institutional footprint.
• Nationaal Instituut voor Beeld en Geluid: The Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision, a major national heritage institution preserving Dutch audiovisual culture. It is a strategic partner of Imagine IC for collaborative projects and operates in the overlapping space of media heritage and collective memory at significantly larger scale.

Direct peers

• Stadsarchief Amsterdam: Amsterdam's city archive, which collects and preserves records of the city's residents and institutions. It is a strategic partner of Imagine IC in documenting contemporary heritage and shares the focus on participatory collection of community stories, making it a closely comparable archival-heritage peer.
• Red Star Line Museum: Antwerp museum dedicated to the Red Star Line shipping company and European migration history. It is an explicit partner of Imagine IC for shared learning on participatory heritage practices, with directly comparable focus on migration heritage and resident-driven storytelling.
• NiNsee (Nationaal Instituut Nederlands Slavernijverleden en Erfgoed): Dutch national institute for the study of slavery heritage and its legacy. It is listed as a project partner of Imagine IC and shares a focus on slavery remembrance and Keti Koti programming, making it a directly comparable heritage-and-contested-memory peer.

Emerging players

• Museum van Loon: A Amsterdam canal-house museum that collaborated with Imagine IC on the 'Wie zegt dat?' exhibition about shared history. Comparable as a small Amsterdam museum engaging with community-driven heritage interpretation, though narrower in scope than Imagine IC.
• Museum Gouda: Regional museum in Gouda and a partner in the EmErEd research consortium studying emotienetwerken in educational settings. Comparable as a Dutch museum co-developing participatory heritage methodology with Imagine IC and academic partners.
• Modemuze: Dutch platform for fashion heritage and education, listed as a project partner of Imagine IC. Comparable as a small Dutch organization building participatory content around cultural heritage, though focused specifically on fashion rather than contemporary social heritage.

Regional players

• L'Atelier L'Observatoire: Casablanca-based space for art and research developing socially committed participatory projects with residents, students, and artists. It is a project partner of Imagine IC and offers a directly comparable model of community-driven cultural work, but in a different geographic and linguistic context.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/imagineic
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCO3L7FjHvkpw2Cr11loKRtA
• Facebookfacebook.com/profile.php?id=100085261812391
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/imagineic
• Instagraminstagram.com/imagine_ic

Compliance5 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 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 Imagine IC