Tag Archives: contemporary art

My plans for establishing a contemporary art department at the ethnographic ‘Tropenmuseum’ in Amsterdam

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The Tropenmuseum was looking for a contemporary art curator, and I applied. They asked me what I would do were I to get my job. As with the vacancy of director for De Balie (see below, in Dutch) I got through to the last round but ultimately didn’t land the job (the main reason being that they thought I didn’t have a sufficiently solid theoretical basis in art history). However since I enjoyed writing these plans, and thinking about how a ‘stuffy’ old ethnographic museum that wants to renew its appeal could go about doing it, I’m sharing them with you here: Continue reading →

Snow Whites Invade The Hague

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Performance organized by me on 22 Sept in the city hall of the Hague

Performance organized by me on 22 Sept in the city hall of the Hague

On 26 September a group of Snow Whites will invade the city hall of The Hague. This performance by the French choreographer Catherine Baÿ will be accompanied by an sound and video installation on the adjacent Spui Plein and an exhibition in <tag>, a temporary exhibition space nearby. Continue reading →

Palestine Exhibition in Paris

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Review of the Exhibition: « Palestine, la création dans tous ses états ».

Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, June 23 to November 22, 2009

Palestinauts 

A Palestinian woman in a cute white spacesuit plants a Palestinian flag on the moon. The image used for the poster and other communications for this exhibition is drawn from Larissa Sansour’s video ‘A Space Exodus’(2008). The artist remarks ‘One small step for Palestinians is a giant leap for mankind’ and waves the blue earth goodbye. A homeland, finally? No, because the film ends on the astronaut hurtling through space on an outbound journey from the earth. The exodus is not over. Continue reading →

The vibrant Syrian art scene part 2

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The old city of Damascus counts dozens of ateliers and artists initiatives, especially in the Jewish quarter, which was neglected after most of its inhabitants emigrated to Israel.

 

Ammar al Beik: Basic Instinct, 2008

Ammar al Beik: Basic Instinct, 2008

For example Mustafa Ali, the ‘Syrian Picasso’, bought an old house in this area. His professional success – last year he completed a giant installation on top of the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris, and now he’s crafting iron gates for the presidential palace – allow him to live as a patron of the arts. He organizes concerts and performances in the central courtyard, which along with the bar in the ancient cellars, rooms for visitors, friends and family and a gallery which sells his sculptures, make his compound a forum for art lovers.

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The vibrant Syrian art scene part 1

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Syria has always had a lively visual arts scene. Appreciated by regional Arab collectors it failed in contrast to attract the attention of the West, where Syrian art was seen as a decorative mix between traditional Islamic themes and dated Western influences. Over the past two years, however, Syrian artists and galleries have rejoined the Middle-Eastern avant-garde, which is slowly but surely establishing itself internationally. Continue reading →