Stedelijk x Rietveld Uncut: Friday Night Program

Mia Kokine Joensen | Ceramics

Constricted Spaces (hemicranial press moulting)
Plaster sculpture and performance

When I am caught in the space of a migraine, I feel as if I am being pressed into a mould that wants me to become someone else. ‘Headache disorders’ are recurrent headaches that are associated with personal and societal burdens of pain, disability, reduced quality of life and financial costs. Migraine remains a mystery, with limited understanding and treatment. It unfolds behind the scenes, in the darkness where individuals cope with their pain and struggle. 

In Constricted Spaces, the imagery of the word ‘mould’ intertwines with the process of ‘moulting’: moulting as known from insects and arthropods that shed the exoskeletons of their previous life stages. Some will look for a dark space to spend the long hours of moulting in solitude. Moulting and mould together refer to the restricting body space of migraine, which can be experienced as an immobilising mould. The work unfolds as a sculpture and a performance in which the human body goes through a process of moulting, shedding its constricting exoskeleton.  

Sohju Kim | Fine Arts 

Crosswalk Talk
Performance

English is both an inclusive and an exclusive language. It connects people globally, but it also marginalises those who do not meet its implicit standards. Crosswalk Talk recreates the experience of taking the first step into an unfamiliar linguistic environment. English is presented as a traffic signal, which the performers attempt to interpret through their native languages. Some move forward, others pause, misinterpret or wait. As they cross, they navigate the complexities of language, access and understanding. How do we create space for different voices to merge, for communication beyond linguistic boundaries? 

Handa Youn | VAV - moving image

Unto This Last
Performance, mixed media

Unto This Last is an experimental performance that explores how moments of misunderstanding, interruption and fragmented communication can shape new ways of relating to one another. Through live interactions, amplified whispers and projected close-ups of gestures and expressions, the performance reveals how meaning is constantly being formed and negotiated – often beyond conventional language and physical abilities. 

The title is borrowed from John Ruskin’s Unto This Last, in which he argues that true wealth lies not in material accumulation but in the care and ethical responsibility we have for one another. In the same spirit, this performance seeks to create fleeting yet profound exchanges where presence, vulnerability and collective adaptation become forms of abundance. 

Embracing miscommunication as a generative force, Unto This Last invites audiences to experience connection not as a given, but as something we build together – through patience, improvisation and attention to what is often overlooked. 

Katinka K. Olrik | Ceramics

Unrecognisable Syllables
Video and performance

How does one navigate a world where words and writing are central, yet inaccessible, when living with an invisible disability like dyslexia? The world of writing feels alien, fragmented and impenetrable, like walking blindfolded through a labyrinth. For people with dyslexia, the words that most people glide through effortlessly become an endless repetition, leading back to the beginning. This work explores the loneliness and frustration that arises when language becomes a barrier. It highlights the gap between spoken and written words, leaving a sense of alienation and isolation from the world around us. 

Gabriel Fontana  

Queer Sports
Presentation and play

What if sport wasn’t about winning or losing, but about reimagining how we relate to one another? Combining action and reflection, a workshop at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie and a presentation at the Stedelijk reimagine sport as a means of fostering inclusivity and challenging traditional group dynamics.  

By creating alternative team sports, Gabriel Fontana’s work highlights how play can encourage social empathy and solidarity. The goal of his methods is to give people a playful way of experiencing what the prevailing norms of identity, community and belonging really mean, and how we can bring about change. He uses sport as the perfect metaphor, where the idea of playing ‘against each other’ is usually the norm. By subverting traditional norms and suggesting deviations, this session reinvents sport as a queer pedagogy. Come play differently. The game is ours to reinvent.  

Gabriel Fontana is an independent designer known for his unique approach to social design. His work proposes to reshape society by creating new sports games tailored to today’s world. 

Wenzhu Song & Yunji Song | VAV - moving image & Graphic Design 

knock, ʞɔonʞ
Performance

As queer Asians, many of us cannot freely express our identities in our homelands. In Europe, we exist in the tension of longing for our homes that feel unsafe, while seeking belonging in places that mark us as outsiders. This double marginalisation makes us both hyper-visible and invisible, shaping what we call the ‘Asian Crip’ within the Western gaze. 

In Chinese and Korean cultures, opening a door symbolises opening one’s heart. As Crip bodies, we see doors as both barriers and tunnels – blocking and connecting us. This project unites queer Asian performers from diverse backgrounds. Through collective movement, we reclaim space, forge bonds, reimagine thresholds and move beyond judgement. 

Anna Fastnacht, Jihwan Kim, Maria Goncalves Geraldes Pinto, Philippe Luptak, Rubin Verhoog, Ryu Koivukoski, Zina Tzioufa and Mariken Overdijk | VAV – moving image

A Room to Escape (Is there a back door?)
Performance

“The body is lying down, but it is not resting. It has exhausted all its internal resources. It is suspended in the moment.” – Gosia Wdowik, Body in Resistance 2024 

Bodies.
In their contours, we recognise a human figure
No matter what shape or size
What about the shape of what lies beneath the surface of the skin?
When you close your eyes and shut your ears and cover yourself up
You might be able to escape the world for a moment
Time will pass
Time will waste
All things left undone.
As soon as we open our eyes, the world is back in full force
In its all-encompassing dimension
No room to escape
No back door
or
Escape room

Can we offer you a space to back off, to escape, to exist, to move gently, to listen deeply
No, no spectacular event
Just some lying down time
Can we back you up?
PS: “Just to recognise diversity as part of natural variation, rather than a departure from sameness.” – Jodie Hare in Autism Is Not a Disease: The Politics of Neurodiversity, 2024