state of us is a project that comprises an exhibition at de Appel and a parallel series of screenings and performances, focusing on the inherited traumas of colonial violence and control that continue to shape social, mental and physical bodies across generations.

The project is a collaboration between EVA International – Ireland’s Biennial of Contemporary Art and de Appel. It features a new commission by Dina Mimi and presentations by artists and projects commissioned by EVA International between 2021 and 2025, including Ciarán Ó Dochartaigh, Family Connection, Sara Greavu & Ciara Phillips with Derry Film and Video Workshop archive and former workshop member Anne Crilly, Naeem Mohaiemen, Eoghan Ryan, Clíodhna Timoney and Eimear Walshe.

Thematically departing from Ireland – widely regarded as the first historical subject of the British colonial enterprise – state of us brings together artists who address Ireland or the Irish experience, alongside ongoing and historical struggles in places such as Palestine, Bangladesh and Curaçao. The research-based artworks trace how the everyday and insidious effects of colonialism and its legacies recur in aspects of memory, sexual relations, social behaviours and health dysfunctions, among other examples.

Taking its title from an Irish colloquialism used to describe a disordered appearance or situation, state of us plays on the word ‘state’ to span both the personal (the social and self-reflective) and the political (the national, territorial and sovereign). These two states – one internal, one structural – are the defining dynamics of the project, with many of the participating artists exploring the historical relations that connect them.

Event partnerships include Filmtheater Kriterion, Eye Filmmuseum and the international workshop LIBERATIONS: Questions for Art and Theory, hosted by the University of Amsterdam. state of us is curated by Ailbhe W. Drohan, Matt Packer, Eszter Szakács.

Join us for the festive opening of the exhibition on Saturday 18 April, between 16:00–20:00!
No registration necessary.

16:00: Doors open
17:00: Artist talks by Dina Mimi and Sara Greavu & Ciara Phillips; Conversation with Matt Packer and Eszter Szakács
18:00: Drinks

○ Film Screening: Derry Film and Video Workshop (Anne Crilly), Stop Strip Searching (1986)
+ conversation with Anne Crilly and Sara Greavu
Sunday 17 May 2026, 19:00 at Filmtheater Kriterion, Amsterdam

○ Film Screening: Eoghan Ryan, Carceral Jigs (2025) & A Sod State (2022)
+ conversation with Eoghan Ryan
Sunday 31 May 2026, 19:00 at Filmtheater Kriterion, Amsterdam

○ Film Screening: Naeem Mohaiemen, A Missing Can of Film (2025) & Zahir Raihan, Stop Genocide (1971)*
+ conversation with Naeem Mohaiemen
Tuesday 2 June, 19:15, at Eye Filmmuseum, Amsterdam

○ Performance: Eimear Walshe, The Piper’s Grip
Wednesday 10 June 2026, 19:00, at Cinetol, Amsterdam

○ Performance by Family Connection
Friday 12 June 2026, 19:00 at de Appel

*In partnership with the Eye Filmmuseum and the international workshop LIBERATIONS: Questions for Art and Theory, hosted by the University of Amsterdam.

Tickets and reservations will be available soon.