Spot-on Overijssel: Enschede's creative industry in the spotlight

15 October 2025

Space for experimentation and entrepreneurship

'It's the end of the line, hardly anyone needs to be there.' Didre opened the day at Black Brick with this fragment from a Willem Wilmink poem. Enschede's residents view their city's location, right on the edge of the Netherlands, with a certain self-deprecating humour. Yet this very remoteness gives makers the freedom to experiment and take entrepreneurial risks. Jacco Borggreve, founder of Black Brick, embodies this spirit. His space serves as both knowledge platform and incubator for digital culture, media art and technology. 'If something's missing here, you have to create it yourself,' Jacco explains. Despite ongoing challenges finding the right location, Black Brick quickly became essential to Enschede's digital culture scene, keeping Jacco motivated to sustain and expand it. Today there are two city centre locations where about twenty makers develop their practice daily. 'Having the Fund here validates everything we've built and confirms that Enschede is genuinely part of the national cultural infrastructure,' Jacco reflects.

Collaboration and talent development

After this introduction, we set off on Didre's curated cycle tour of organisations shaping Enschede and Twente's creative landscape. At Sickhouse's brand-new location, a playful art space exploring societal change through digital culture, co-director Marie Janin described the vibrant exchange between local organisations. 'We're creating residency spaces here for makers from Tetem and the Rijksmuseum Twente, allowing us to strengthen each other's work.'

This collaborative spirit was equally evident at Gamelab Oost, which connects education, industry and clients around serious games development. Talent development sits at the heart of their mission. 'We feel responsible not just for retaining local talent, but for attracting people from elsewhere too,' explains director Wouter van Kooten. It's working: people travel from across the globe to learn about innovative game development at the lab.

Our next stop, Cross-TIC, shares this commitment to nurturing talent. This interdisciplinary platform offers Twente artists and cultural makers various programmes focused on technology, innovation and creativity. 'Many participants go on to apply at the Creative Industries Fund NL for larger projects after completing a Cross-TIC programme,' notes project manager Julia de Klerk. The organisation has become a vital stepping stone for emerging makers ready to scale up their ambitions.

While Black Brick, Sickhouse, Gamelab Oost and Cross-TIC reveal a robust digital culture network, Enschede's rich textile heritage is experiencing its own revival. At Textile Wearables Lab, an innovation hub where students, teachers, businesses and makers converge, Hellen van Rees and Carlos Kuhlmann showed us how technology and creativity merge to address contemporary challenges. The impressive space brims with 3D printers, knitting machines and laser cutters.

Direct connections

We wrapped up the afternoon at Creatieve Broedplaatsen Enschede with a programme for regional makers. The Fund joined other supporting organisations (De Sektor, Cultuurfonds Overijssel, Cross-TIC, Cultuurregio and the municipality of Enschede) for speed dates with makers, alongside a 'fair practice budgeting' workshop.

One interdisciplinary organiser valued the directness of the encounter. 'I know the regional funds well, but the Creative Industries Fund NL was unfamiliar territory. Working nearby meant I could easily drop in to discover what might work for me.'

A recent ArtEZ graduate spoke enthusiastically about what Enschede offers. Rather than the intense competition of larger cities, there's breathing room, at least if you're willing to be entrepreneurial. 'It's like soil that needs turning first,' she explained, 'but once you do that thoughtfully, there's enormous potential for growth.' She plans to apply next year for the Talent Development Grant Scheme to hone exactly those entrepreneurial capabilities.

What makes Enschede distinctive

This inaugural Spot-on edition highlighted Enschede's particular character: individual designers find the freedom to experiment here, while organisations collectively build strong infrastructure, especially around digital culture and innovation. 'We're seeing a region brimming with creativity, where driven makers execute their ideas while carving out their own paths,' specialist region Chloë observes.

About Spot-on

Spot-on Overijssel in Enschede was part of the national Spot-on programme, through which the Creative Industries Fund NL fosters greater interaction with the field throughout the Netherlands. These working visits, organised in partnership with regional scouts, go beyond simple introductions. Advisers and staff consciously examine their own frames of reference and create space for regional perspectives. This allows us to assess quality not only against national standards, but also to understand it within the specific dynamics of each region.