Cinema Olanda Platform: Black Figures, Black Voices
Cinema Olanda: Platform
17 June - 20 August 2017
Witte de With transforms into an adaptable platform for groups and individuals who have informed Cinema Olanda, artist Wendelien van Oldenborgh and curator Lucy Cotter’s presentation in the Dutch pavilion of the 57th Venice Biennale 2017. A series of changing presentations and public events will be programmed by Quinsy Gario (Artist, Poet), Charl Landvreugd (Artist, Curator, Writer), Patricia Pisters and Esther Peeren (ASCA, University of Amsterdam), New Urban Collective (Jessica de Abreu, Mitchell Esajas), and First Things First (Katayoun Arian; Curator, Researcher, Writer, Louise Autar; Activist, Organiser, and Max de Ploeg, Activist, Cultural & Political Programmer).
Black Figures, Black Voices
Monday 3 July - Sunday 9 July 2017
A series of events, talks, performances, and screenings programmed by participants at the Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis (ASCA), University of Amsterdam, chaired by Patricia Pisters and Esther Peeren. See impression of both evenings at the ASCA website here. Under 'Photos' on this site there is a visual impression.
Tuesday 4 July 2017, 7 - 10 pm
An evening about hidden black (art) histories
The first session of Black Figures, Black Voices focuses on the documentary Zwart Belicht; Painted Black(2008) by Tessa Boerman, which zooms in on the hidden stories behind black figures in 17th century Dutch and Flemish paintings Shedding new light on famous paintings such as those of Pieter Paul Rubens and Rembrandt van Rijn, as well as less famous works of art, the film tempts us to look at what was meant to be seen, but has often been overlooked. In response to Zwart Belicht, Valika Smeulders (researcher at KITLV/Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies) discusses issues of representation, colonial history and art historical canons with Boerman, and performer Naomi Veldwijk reads from Robin Coste Lewis’ collection of poems, Voyage of the Sable Venus (2015).
Recordings of the entire Cinema Olanda Platform at Witte de With can be found on the gallery's Youtube channel.
A Dutch James Baldwin or Frantz Fanon? Whose voice spoke the Dutch (post-)colonial context?
A second session of Black Figures, Black Voices focuses on the work of the Surinamese -Dutch poet and author Edgar Cairo (1948-2000). The evening starts with a screening of Cindy Kerseborn's (Film Maker) documentary 'Edgar Cairo: ‘Ik ga dood om jullie hoofd’ (2011), about the life and work of this writer, poet, painter and performer. Kerseborn's film highlights Cairo's role as a pioneer in the thinking about a black identity and a black consciousness in the context of the Dutch colonial history and post-colonial present. During this evening, Charl Landvreugd (Artist, Researcher) will read from Cairo’s poems and present a performative lecture that focuses on reading Cairo as theory. In the exhibition space, a number of rarely exhibited paintings by Edgar Cairo will be on display. The program ends with time for questions and a dialogue between the audience, Charl Landvreugd and Cindy Kerseborn. Read more
Location: Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam (entrance fee for the museum, event is free)