Reading Group: Why Stay if you can go?

Dates: February 22, March 13, April 24, and May 15, 2012
Entrance fee: Free
Language: English

Reservation: is not possible anymore.

De Appel arts centre and the Stedelijk Museum proudly present Why stay if you can go, a reading group of four sessions, starting in February 2012 and organized by the curatorial collective The Black Swan (de Appel Curatorial Programme 2011-2012).

Through open dialogue, translation, and exchange, the content of the reading groups will be shaped in collaboration with the Center for Cultural Decontamination (Belgrade, Serbia), Xenia Kalpaktsoglou & Poka-Yio (XYZ Projects, Athens, Greece), and Townhouse Gallery (Cairo, Egypt).

“We are a collective of six individuals from various geopolitical backgrounds, brought together through the shared experience of de Appel Curatorial Programme.Our encounter with the cultural and political climate in the Netherlands and a recent research trip to Belgrade, Athens and Cairo, among other cities, have given us a sense of urgency in exploring the role of art in these specific contexts. For instance, what does it imply when artists put their practice aside to be activists, or when art organizations work towards an understanding of political subjectivity with otherwise invisible communities? These are only some of many responses to particular politically charged moments.

By partnering with an organization or set of individuals from the cities we visited, we will develop the material and focus of each session. We hope to locate the current discussion surrounding art’s use and value in the Netherlands in relation to the multitude of roles art can play in times of socio-political upheaval. Through open dialogue, translation, and exchange, the content of the reading groups will be shaped in collaboration with the Center for Cultural Decontamination (Belgrade, Serbia), Xenia Kalpaktsoglou & Poka-Yio (XYZ Projects, Athens, Greece), and Townhouse Gallery (Cairo, Egypt). “

The Black Swan is Antonia Alampi, Katia Krupennikova, Qinyi Lim, Sanne Oorthuizen, Alec Steadman, and Ivana Vaseva.

How to register:
Please send an email to theblackswanCP@hotmail.com with “reading group” in the subject line. Please indicate your name, email address, and the sessions you would like to attend (either all sessions or specific ones). Upon registration, we will send you the reading material by email. Places will be very limited.

More information about The Black Swan:
For more information regarding the de Appel Curatorial Programme and The Black Swan, please continue to the following pages.