stedelijk @ de appel arts centre - reading group: why stay if you can go?
wed 22 february 20:00

Dates: February 22, March 13, April 24, and May 15, 2012
Time: 8:00 pm
Entrance fee: Free
Language: English
Location: de Appel Boys’ School, Eerste Jacob van Campenstraat 59, 1072 BD Amsterdam
Reservation: Required. Please see below for instructions.  

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.  

“We are a collective of six individuals from various geopolitical backgrounds, brought together through the shared experience of de Appel Curatorial Programme (for more information about this, please visit www.deappel.nl/cp). 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 visit http://www.deappel.nl/cp/p/74  

Antonia Alampi (b. 1983, Italy) is an independent curator, currently participating in the Curatorial Programme of de Appel arts centre and member of The Black Swan curatorial collective. She graduated with honor in art history from La Sapienza University in Rome and is currently writing on the rise of autobiographical discourse in artistic practices in relation to mass democracy and neo-liberal capitalism. She is co-director of the non-profit association Opera Rebis, and has worked for organizations and institutions including Galleria Civica di Arte Contemporanea of Trento, Manifesta7, and Studio Stefania Miscetti in Rome, coordinating shows of artists such as VALIE EXPORT, Yoko Ono, and Nancy Spero. She is a freelance contributor to Arte e Critica, Cura Magazine, Flash Art and luxflux.net, reports for RAM LIVE radio, and has edited and contributed to several publications. Past curatorial projects include Once upon a time there was a future (2009), How to make a Revolution - Anetta Mona Chisa & Lucia Tkacova (2010), She Devil (2009, 2010, 2011), and Stormed, Reading Room and Unbearable Dissertation on a broken line - Marco Fedele di Catrano (2011).

Katia Krupennikova (b. 1982, Moscow) is an independent curator and art writer. She studied history of art at the Moscow State University for Humanities and completed her MA with a thesis entitled “Contemporary Concepts and Tendencies in the Interaction between Art and the Urban Environment (Artistic and Social Aspects).” She has worked as a PR manager and art writer for a number of Russian cultural institutions, including BAIBAKOV art projects (2009-2010). She has twice participated in the Moscow Biennale of Young Art “Que Vive” (2008-2011) with curatorial projects. She co-curated a non-profit project that used a marine container as an art space supporting young artists in Russia (2008-2010). She was correspondent-in-residence at Swedish Travelling Exhibitions (2010) and contributed to Spana!, an online cultural magazine in Sweden. She is currently a participant of de Appel’s Curatorial Programme and part of The Black Swan curatorial collective. 

Qinyi Lim (b. 1981, Singapore) is an independent curator currently based in Amsterdam. Her curatorial background is established from her role as a curator with the National University of Singapore (NUS) Museum and at the Singapore Art Museum. She graduated with honors in art history from the University of Queensland, Australia and has a MA in Southeast Asian studies from the National University of Singapore. Her past exhibitions include Telah Terbit: Out Now (2006) for the inaugural Singapore Biennale, And the Difference Is: The Independence Project (2008-09) with Gertrude Contemporary in Australia, Bound For Glory: Wong Hoy Cheong  (2008), Curating Lab: 100 Objects (Remixed) (2009) for the Singapore Art Show, and Discordant Symmetries: Wei Leng Tay (2010). She is currently participating in de Appel’s Curatorial Programme and is a member of The Black Swan curatorial collective. 

Sanne Oorthuizen (b. 1984, the Netherlands) is an independent curator. She graduated with a degree in art history from Rijksuniversiteit Groningen and is currently completing her MA in museum curating at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Her current research focuses on contemporary artistic practices that analyze the construction and representations of history, thereby intersecting discourses on postcolonialism, transnationalism, and globalization, as well as notions on the archival, memory, and the perception of time. In her practice, she aims to break free from prevailing paradigms by means of transnational and collective exchange. She was assistant curator at Centraal Museum Utrecht and Stedelijk Museum Bureau Amsterdam, where she worked on exhibitions, workshops, and discursive programmes. She independently curated The Mental Archive (2010) at Cemeti Art House in Yogyakarta and A gallery claimed (2011), No Holds Barred, Art Amsterdam. Recently, Oorthuizen has been working as a curatorial member of Electric Palm Tree, a long-term project/platform/community, currently powered by Casco – Office for Art, Design and Theory in Utrecht, that deals with the politics of culture and issues of co-existence in the current global society. She has been a contributing writer and editor for a number of catalogues and magazines and is a member of The Black Swan. 

Alec Steadman (b. 1983, England) is a curator and artist based in London, where he completed his BA in fine art at Middlesex University. From 2010 to 2011, he held the position of associate curator for Zoo Art Enterprises while concurrently working as studio manager for Smadar Dreyfus and fair manager for SUNDAY Art Fair. Prior to this, he spent five years as head of exhibitions for Zoo Art Fair and a year as program coordinator for Max Wigram Gallery. He has also developed an independent curatorial practice, recently founding The Enlightenment Gallery, an exhibition space and commissioning agency which to date has worked with artists including Vanessa Billy, Alan Kane, Kelly Large, Negociatas, Giorgio Sadotti, and John Seth. In addition, he is a member of the artist collective The Hut Project. Recent solo exhibitions include Giles said…, Limoncello, London (2010); Machine Gun Corridor, The Corridor, BolteLang, Zuric (2010); and Old Kunst, ICA, London, part of Nought to Sixty. He is currently participating in de Appel’s Curatorial Programme and is a member of The Black Swan curatorial collective.

Ivana Vaseva (b. 1984, Macedonia) studied history of art at the University St. Cyril and Methodius in Skopje. In addition, she has formal training in collective self-educational and self-organizational processes as part of the year-long project “Deschooling classroom” (organized by TkH, Belgrade and Kontrapunkt, Skopje). Currently, she works at Press To Exit Project Space in Skopje as a program coordinator. She co-organized several projects as part of this organization: Project 35, initiated by Independent Curators International in New York; Urgency vs. Leisure; OuUnPo meeting in Belgrade; OPEN City with aMAZE, cultural institute from Milan. She has also independently curated a number of exhibitions in Macedonia, mainly with young artists, and co-curated several international group exhibitions including Creative Cities, Artistic Towns and Fantastic Villages as part of the festival 4Tuned Cities, the 4th Performance Art workshop & shows in Cairo, Egypt and the XIV Biennale for young artists from Europe and Mediterranean, Skopje. Until recently, Vaseva wrote for a daily newspaper in Macedonia. She is currently participating in de Appel’s Curatorial Programme and is a member of The Black Swan curatorial collective.