what does CREA do?
CREA, Amsterdam’s cultural centre for students
CREA is a cultural student centre where all kinds of students meet in creative courses, lectures, workshops, debates and performances. We do this across the board: from mainstream to subculture, from contemporary narratives to classic stories. A unique place for different ways of thinking, perspectives, new possibilities and leeway for social issues and current themes.
The aim of CREA is to stimulate interest and expressions of cultural activities and to promote understanding of the connection between science and society among students and staff at the institutions of scientific and higher professional education in Amsterdam.
history
CREA came into being in the late 1960s during a turbulent time with many educational innovations, with the goal to make social and cultural education a fundamental part of student life. In the process, a number of existing arts and culture student associations joined forces to form one large organisation where the practice of art was central: CREA was born.
CREA’s first beginnings were at Herengracht 88 and the Herenlogement on Huidenstraat/Keizersgracht. After a period on Sarphatistraat in an old military hospital, the Binnengasthuisterrein became the location of CREA for many years. From 1999, CREA also became the cultural student centre of the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (HvA), where previously we were only part of the University of Amsterdam (UvA).
In 2012 CREA moved for the last time, this time to the former diamond-cutting factory ‘Maatschappij’ in the heart of the Roeterseiland campus. Behind the monumental facade, a contemporary cultural student centre with modern facilities flourishes, where thousands of students meet every year during our courses and cultural activities. We also facilitate over fifty student organisations in our building, and the CREA Café has been an important meeting place for UvA and HvA students for years.
