Dutch Treat

‘In December 1979, Martha Wilson of Franklin Furnace Archive in New York (a centre whose aim was comparable with that of De Appel Foundation) and Wies Smals of De Appel discussed the possibility of organizing an exchange of artists and their work. The idea was that that the personal approach within each institution and the so-called house style would also be expressed in the exchange. De Appel applied for a subsidy from the Ministry of Culture, Recreation and Social Work, in the Department of Visual Arts Abroad, and received about 25,000 guilders to cover travel costs for seven artists and to enable the organization of ten events in New York. Unfortunately it was not possible for Franklin Furnace to obtain a subsidy for the American artists in the Netherlands. But Franklin Furnace was able to offer use of its rooms and facilities to the Dutch artists for a period of six weeks (from 5 November to 18 December). In addition, we were given a weekend (5 and 6 December) in The Kitchen (a centre specializing in performance, video, dance and sound) to put on a number of performances. Several artists also performed activities in a studio at 626 Broadway (during the weekend of 21 and 22 November). The Dutch artists presented a diversified programme that included installations, video presentations, photographic works and performances. A poster designed by Marja Samson announced the events. All this occurred alongside an extensive documentation exhibition on activities in De Appel in general.' (Press release De Appel, 22 October 1980.) Programme: Gerrit Dekker: installation (8-17 December, Oil and Steel Gallery) Madelon Hooykaas & Elsa Stansfield (White Bird): installation Void Videoenvironment/Video Voidsound (3-12 December, Franklin Furnace) and performance (5 December, The Kitchen) Servie Janssen: installation (5-10 November, Franklin Furnace) and performance (21 November, 626 Broadway) Harrie de Kroon: photo's (26 November-2 December, Franklin Furnace) and performance (22 November, 626 Broadway) Marja Samsom: performance (13 December, Franklin Furnace) Moniek Toebosch: performance/film If it's beautiful, does that mean three? (6 December, The Kitchen) Nikolaus Urban: Paws and comets: A wall oriented installation of photo's of comets, a rope loop smeared in with clay and a pair of sculptural phantasy paws. Glass Installation: Broadway, Broadway... Wine glass arrangement. The spiltters are always contained in the other half. (12-24 November, Franklin Furnace)