Short Online Talks

The exhibition Kirchner and Nolde: Expressionism. Colonialism takes a fresh look at the work of these two artists, focusing on the mutual relations between expressionism and colonialism. Have a look at the Short Talks that will appear online in the coming months, in which a variety of experts will discuss the complex social issues raised in this exhibition and address the impact of the past on the present.

Dealing responsibly with a problematic past – Jerry Afriyie

18 November

We are all products of our environment. Kirchner and Nolde's art shows how they were inspired by the 'other' they found in Germany and Papua New Guinea as a result of colonialism, and the way in which blackfacing possibly influenced their work. In turn, their work also contributed to the prevailing (stereotypical) image of people of color at the time. Based on historical sources, Jerry Afriyie offers a sketch of this image, which is – unfortunately – still alive in the present.

Art with a capital A? – Charl Landvreugd (cancelled)

25 November - Unfortunately, this Talk has been cancelled.

In Western museums, a distinction is often made between art with a capital A and ethnographic art. Why do we make that distinction? Can we abolish this colonial legacy and create an equal art environment? 

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

WIETEKE VAN ZEIL

Wieteke van Zeil (The Hague, 1973) is a culture journalist and writer. She has been writing about old masters and today’s culture in the Dutch national newspaper de Volkskrant since 2003. Her articles reveal her sharp eyes and associative mind. After graduating from the University of Amsterdam as an art historian, she worked for several museums and organized debates on art, diversity and religion. For the newspaper's Saturday Magazine, she pens a weekly series about details of art entitled Eye for Detail (Oog voor Detail). In the articles she describes and marvels on the act of looking at (art) details. Great works of art can reveal how artists, often hundreds of years ago, saw what we still regularly seem to miss: essential details about how people live and love, struggle and suffer, and how they have fun. In 2018 her book Seeing is Ignoring: the Art of Attentiveness (Goed kijken begint met negeren, de kunst van opmerkzaamheid) was published by Atlas Contact. Previous works include Up Closer: Art in

Details (Dichterbij, kunst in details). In 2015, the Eye for Detail-series was recognized with a European Newspaper Award.

CHARL LANDVREUGD

Charl Landvreugd is Head of Research & Curatorial Practice at the Stedelijk museum in Amsterdam, artist, researcher and educator. He grew up in Rotterdam in an environment and time when many different migrant communities were making the Netherlands their home. Being part of this vibrant space, he advocates for local continental European concepts and language coming out of these spaces, that have the potential to speak about the sensibilities specific to the area. Using a broad range of artistic disciplines, he applies the results of his research to think about citizenship and belonging and how this is expressed in the visual arts in continental Europe. As a Goldsmiths (BA), Fulbright and Columbia University (MA) alumnus he completed his PhD in Curating Contemporary Art at the Royal College of Art in London.

He is on the supervisory board of the Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst and the board of the Akademie van Kunsten (Dutch Society of the Arts ). Next to that, Landvreugd is connected to the Masters Institute of Visual Cultures AKV| St. Joost as Pathway Leader for Visual Arts & Post-Contemporary Practices. He is also a regular tutor at several Dutch art academies.

JERRY AFRIYIE Jerry King Luther Afriyie is a poet, dad and human rights activist. As a poet Jerry can be found on large and small stages across the country: from the Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam and TivoliVredenburg Utrecht to meetings and festivals such as Welcome to The Village in Friesland. When Jerry is not involved with poetry he writes op-ed pieces about social issues that matter to him. His opinion pieces regularly appear in the NRC, Het Parool, Trouw and De Volkskrant newspapers and on Joop.nl, amongst others. As a social critic he provides guest lectures on racism, exclusion and awareness about the colonial and slavery history of the Netherlands through his The Netherlands Is Getting Better Foundation (Stichting Nederland Wordt Beter). Various organizations, schools and municipalities in the Netherlands call on Jerry in combating everyday racism, social exclusion and inequality. In 2011, together with fellow artists, he initiated the awareness campaign Zwarte Piet is Racism.