News — Dec 28, 2015

Amsterdam, 24 December 2015, As we enter the last few days of December, we’re also nearing the end of an entire year of live works by Tino Sehgal at the Stedelijk.

We look back at visitors surprised by This is propaganda. At visitors uncomfortable yet fascinated by Kiss. And visitors made even more uncomfortable by Kiss (clean version). At visitors delighted by This is so contemporary, and curator Martijn van Nieuwenhuyzen who sometimes danced in this work himself. Visitors mesmerized by This variation, when the biggest fans simply had to be there to witness the final few minutes, and applauded and cheered the interpreters. Visitors to Museum Night who didn’t know how to react when they were suddenly confronted by a ‘security guard’ performing a striptease in Selling out. The author Arnon Grunberg who, intrigued by the work of Sehgal, joined in as an interpreter in This progress, and wrote about it for the NRC. 

The Dutch newspapers called the retrospective of Tino Sehgal "a brilliant move by the Stedelijk” (NRC) and “a great way for the new director to make her mark” (Volkskrant).
In his review in the Volkskrant, Rutger Pontzen wrote: “Tino Sehgal knows how to make a museum visit unforgettable” and that the exhibition “is unparalleled in museum land”. And then there was young Dutch journalist Laure van den Hout, who reviewed each edition in fantastic articles on 8Weekly.

Artforum selected the survey for its highlights of the best performance art of 2015 and the New York Times described it as "an unusual level of collaboration between artist, interpreters and the museum: Tino Sehgal and the curators worked closely to create meaningful combinations".

At times, even the artist was surprised. At the request of Beatrix Ruf, he devised a special work for the Friends of the Stedelijk Museum. Everyone who became a Tino Friend would receive a word. She asked him to write a 365-word text – a word for every day of 2015. He was sure it would be far too much. But the work sold out.
 
Martijn van Nieuwenhuyzen, who jointly curated the exhibition with Beatrix Ruf, wrote a blog for the Stedelijk website in which he looks back on this superlative year.

But… we still have a few more things to say about the work of Tino Sehgal. Hopefully, we’ll be able to make a fantastic announcement in the New Year.
We’ll keep you posted!

Very last chance

As December draws to a close, there’s a final chance for you to experience another three works by Tino Sehgal:

Until 31 December 18.00 This occupation (2005) will be performed, realized by the Stedelijk in partnership with the Straatpastoraat, an initiative of the Protestant Diaconate in Amsterdam.
 
Also on view throughout December: Instead of allowing some thing to rise up over your face dancing bruce and dan and other things of 2000, which is where it all started on 1 January 2015 – a work acquired by the Stedelijk in 2005. 

As a special treat for the Stedelijk visitors who followed the survey throughout the year, on Sunday 27 December starting at 15:00, Tino Sehgal is giving a sneak preview of a brand new work, Ann Lee & Marcel after a few try-outs in the museum last month.

 

The Stedelijk Museum: open 365 days a year

The Stedelijk Museum is open 365 days a year, also on public holidays.
On Thursday 31 December, New Year’s Eve, the museum is open until 18:00.
For an impression of the Stedelijk in 2015, watch this video.

 

Overview of A Year at the Stedelijk: Tino Sehgal:

January
Instead of allowing some thing to rise up to your face dancing bruce and dan and other things, 2000

February
This is new, 2003
This is good, 2001
 
March
This is good, 2001
This is propaganda, 2002
This is exchange, 2002
Instead of allowing some thing to rise up to your face dancing bruce and dan and other things, 2000

April
Kiss, 2002
This is so contemporary, 2004

May
Kiss (clean version), 2006

June
This variation, 2012
(co-produced with the Holland Festival)

July
Yet untitled, 2013

August
Ann Lee, 2011

September    
This situation, 2007

October
This progress, 2006

November
Selling out, 2002
This is critique, 2008
This is propaganda, 2002

December
This occupation, 2005
Instead of allowing some thing to rise up to your face dancing bruce and dan and other things, 2000

27 December
Ann Lee & Marcel, 2015

A Year at the Stedelijk: Tino Sehgal is made possible with the support of the principal benefactor Stichting Ammodo and benefactors Fonds 21, benefactors Stedelijk Museum Fund, the Goethe Institut and Outset.

Note to editors:

For more information, please contact the Press Office of the Stedelijk Museum, +31 (0)20 573 26 56 or pressoffice@stedelijk.nl