Museumnacht at de Appel
19:00
de Appel, Tolstraat 160, Amsterdam
Exhibition: Our People are Our Mountains: Instructions for Placemaking - 19:00 - 00:00
In Our People are Our Mountains (quoting from Amílcar Cabral’s words on the Guinea-Bissau's liberation movement), artists and collectives in Palestine and elsewhere who work on questions around land from different perspectives, collaborate with majelis (assembly) Jakarta by sending instructions remotely. Utilizing instructions, rather than physically transferring works or facilitating travel, stems from ethical, political, and environmental considerations. Nevertheless, the importance of maintaining connections, learning from one another's artistic practices, and building solidarities across shared struggles remains undeniable. The exhibition features the instructions, as well as audio material and the video work Suspended Dawn (2024) by Essa Grayeb.
Performance: Open Rehearsal Complaints Choir with Azubike Onwuka - duration 30 minutes
Meet the Complaints Choir during an open rehearsal! In collaboration with community center Plan C, de Appel has started a choir where singers and non-singers from the neighborhood come together to sing their complaints. Under the direction of musician Azubike Onwuka, the Complaints Choir explores different perspectives and issues from the neighborhood by complaining together, brainstorming solutions, composing, and singing.
Workshop: Knowledge Market by Gudskul - duration 1 hour
“What do you need to learn?”, “If you were invited to share your knowledge/expertise, what would you share?” The Knowledge Market by Gudskul is an interactive, educational format where ideas, experiences, and skills are exchanged. Gudskul, a collective formed by the Indonesian artist collectives ruangrupa, Serrum, and Grafis Huru Hara, works on alternative education and collective-based learning processes among many other initiatives. In the Knowledge Market, participants engage with one another as both learners and teachers, sharing their knowledge on a variety of topics. The concept aligns with Gudskul's philosophy of horizontal, peer-to-peer learning rather than traditional hierarchical structures. Gudskul members will be present inviting you in pairs to meet and share what they consider to be ‘knowledge’ by playing the roles of both teacher and student in a quick to-and-fro.
Please sign up for this workshop as spaces are limited. (note: only for people with a Museumnacht ticket!)
Performance: Blue Gaze at The Future, Episode #2 by Mohamed Abdelkarim - duration 1 hour
Mohamed Abdelkarim is a visual artist, performer and cultural producer. In Abdelkarim's performative works, the script bears witness to the research experience. The emphasis is on the process, as a non-linear reflection on production and cultural genealogy. His current umbrella project focuses on the agency of the landscape as a witness to ‘a history we missed and a future we have not yet attended'.
Blue Gaze at the Future is a series of audiovisual performances combining text, radio drama, and visuals. It questions the theater stage as a landscape that can reorder fractured reality, proposing a different world. The performance follows the legend of Zarqāʾ al-Yamāma, a legendary Arab figure known for her clairvoyance, tracing her appearances in literature post-1948. It explores future hope amidst grief and defeat. In this second episode, the desert is the focus—both as a physical and metaphorical landscape—considering how it can be staged scenographically.
Performance: Garden as System by Junhao Xiang - duration 1 hour
Garden as System is an art project by Junhao Xiang that explores the history and meaning of botanical gardens. The artist uses different media to help people think about how these gardens have been shaped by history. The project looks at how botanical gardens are connected to colonization and imperialism events that took place between Europe and Asia in the 18th and 19th centuries, especially in the Canton area (China) and the Netherlands.
During the performance, we will listen, walk and imagine soundscapes. This sound material is a combination of recorded sound in the botanical garden, combined with poetry and photography that are connected to the histories of these places. Junhao Xiang has worked on-site at the Amsterdam Botanical Garden to create this performance, collecting sounds, images, and inspiration directly from the garden itself.
DJ Set: Loma Doom (Femke Dekker) - duration 2 times 1 hour
Working under her alias Loma Doom, Femke Dekker will present an immersive sonic activation of de Appel’s archive. Known for her multidisciplinary approach to sound and space, Femke will draw from the rich archival material at de Appel to craft a unique audio experience. This activation will uncover hidden stories and energies within the archive, transforming historical documents, images, and memories into soundscapes that bridge the past and present.
Archival Consciousness, live Silverfish in archive
The Mobile Archive Unit (Silverfish) is a library troley equipped with a phone and lights, made for data creation, curation, and community-sourced data aggregation. Staff, researchers, and visitors can contribute by digitizing objects. During Museumnacht the Silverfish will be demonstrated and experimented with together with the visitors.
Schedule
7pm, podium (1st floor): Start Museumnight
7.30-8.30pm, podium (1st floor): Performance Blue Gaze by Mohamed Abdelkarim
8.45-9.15pm, podium (1st floor): Complaints Choir with Azubike Onwuka
9.30-10.30pm, foyer (ground floor): Sonic activation by Loma Doom
9.30-10.30pm, office (1st floor): Knowledge Market by Gudskul
10.30-11pm, podium (1st floor): Performance Garden as System by Junhao Xiang
11-midnight, foyer (ground floor): Sonic activation by Loma Doom
Throughout:
7pm-midnight, podium (1st floor): Our People are Our Mountains: Instructions for Placemaking, + Screening Suspended Dawn by Essa Grayeb
7pm-midnight, foyer (ground floor): Archival Consciousness, live Silverfish in archive