Confrontations

stedelijk | triple a
Confrontations: ‘Scandalous!’
Januari 18, 2013, 4 – 5:45 pm 

Location: Teijin Auditorium, Stedelijk Museum

Language: Dutch

Entrance: Entrance fee for the museum (regular discounts apply)

Reservations: It is necessary to make a reservation by sending an e-mail to reservations@stedelijk.nl stating your full name, e-mail address, telephone number, and the date of the program you want to visit.

The Stedelijk Museum - in collaboration with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and other partners - proudly presents the first event in the stedelijk|triple a series 'Confrontations', themed “Scandalous!”, with lectures and performances by Rutger Pontzen, Cyrus Frisch, Cornelis de Bondt, and Joris de Man, and music by Het Atelier: Yedo Gibson and Jeremiah Runnels. Every Confrontations event will take place at the Stedelijk  starting January 18 – previously they were held at the Concertgebouw.

Was film director Pier Paolo Pasolini right when he said, referring to his horrific work “Salo or The 120 Days of Sodom”, “This is the only film about reality”? Scandals are concerned with the truth, or with a collision of the norms and values of the age concerned, at any rate. Behavior, by both groups and individuals, which had previously been permitted and condoned suddenly appears to be completely unacceptable. You can recognize the new zeitgeist in the scandals that emerge.

While scandals in politics or the world of showbiz often have a semi-criminal or sexual basis, a different dynamic is at play in the arts. In this field, it is precisely the honesty of the artist that comes first, if we can still believe this. With the credo “Art does not reassure anyone” (Edgard Varèse), a civilized public sees and hears different things, their perspective is broadened, and in the best-case scenario this can herald a new zeitgeist.

In a time full of public scandals, things seem to have become rather quiet in the arts, even in a period when some cultural institutions have had to close their doors for good. Has postmodernism removed taboos in the arts? Have we become completely desensitized by the dogma of innovation?

The Friday afternoon Confrontations program is organized by the Stedelijk Museum in collaboration with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in the context of the AAA Festival of Music and Art. The art critic Rutger Pontzen will talk about scandals in the arts. Following Pontzen there will be a meeting with the “enfant terrible” film director Cyrus Frisch, game creator Joris de Man (“Killzone”), and composer Cornelis de Bondt. De Bondt recently decided to stop composing because of his dissatisfaction with the current political climate in the arts, views directly opposed to those of de Man, who writes orchestral music for games. Yedo Gibson and Jeremiah Runnels from Het Atelier provide a musical commentary.

Afterwards, you will be able to discuss the presentations and have something to eat in the Stedelijk Museum Café (not included in the entrance price). At 8:15 pm, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra will play a “scandalous” concert with - among other things - Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring.” This is preceded by a free introduction at 7:15 pm. For more info on the program, see www.AAAfestival.nl.

About the AAA Festival of Music and Art

The AAA Festival of Music and Art is a cooperation between the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and other institutions in Amsterdam related to contemporary art and music. The AAA aims to create surprising bridges between contemporary music and other artistic disciplines, and between artists, the public, and current events. Concerts are given on a particular theme six times a year. Every AAA consists of a concert by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, concerts and/or films at various locations, a lecture in SPUI25, a Friday afternoon program of visual arts, music, and debate (the Confrontations), and a concluding Late Night organized by Entrée.

AAA Festival Partners: 
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Stedelijk Museum, De Groene Amsterdammer, De IJ-Salon, Entrée, EYE, Het Concertgebouw, Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ, NIMK, SPUI25.