I-FIKZ celebrates the industrial culture in the Zaanstreek, one of the oldest industrial areas in Europe and once the provisionary chest of the Netherlands. Still, on the banks of the Zaan and IJ rivers, a complete spectrum of industrial masterpieces can be found: windmills, locks, shipyards, warehouses, factories, and silos. Sometimes these industrial monuments are still in use, after a history that spans centuries. Sometimes they have also been given a new purpose, ensuring the buildings a new life. No better place for a manifestation that celebrates the wealth of our industrial culture!
Festival Industrie Cultuur was first organized in 2015 in collaboration with the province of Noord-Holland. In 2016 the festival continued under the name I-FIKZ. The goal was to initiate and organize activities in special places that make the industrial identity of the region tangible. The festival celebrates the built industrial heritage and the identity formation, the industrial culture, that comes with it.
I-FIKZ had four program components in 2016 and 2017: Zaansafari's, Expeditions Industry, the Night of Industrial Culture, and the Cacaomaand. The meaning and value of the local industrial past and present were brought to the forefront with these different activities, which were spread throughout the entire region.
Holleman was the initiator of Festival Industrie Cultuur, together with a number of creative entrepreneurs from the Zaanstreek, with the goal of creating a new, creative connection between industrial heritage, the manufacturing industry, and local society. Ellen Holleman has been the creative director of I-FIKZ during the first three editions (2015/2016/2017).