HOW FAR HOW NEAR – The World in the Stedelijk (2)

News — Sep 17, 2014

Amsterdam, September 17, 2014 - The exhibition HOW FAR HOW NEAR – The World in the Stedelijk argues for a greater emphasis on art from outside Europe and North America. Although the artworks were created at different times, they remain remarkably relevant today. In 2003, Ad van Denderen photographed posters commemorating Palestinian suicide bombers. A socially-committed photographer, van Denderen increasingly sought new ways to depict militaryconflict, poverty, violence, and human suffering. For this series, he made a straightforward photographic record of posters of suicide bombersused by groups such as Hamas, Jihad Islamiaand the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade as propagandain the conflict with Israel. By glorifying the deadfighters and portraying them as martyrs, the posters incite others to follow their example.This is the first time that Van Denderen’s series, partof the Stedelijk Museum’s collection since 2009, has been on public display at the museum. For HOW FAR HOW NEAR the Stedelijk also commissioned new work from two artists: Lidwien van de Ven and Godfried Donkor.

Godfried Donkor explores mass communicationand and challenges the stereotypes that are presented in the print media. Donkor developed the wallpaper during a workperiod in Johannesburg. The collage’s central motif derives from a 17th century German coat of arms, and features a Moorish figure. The motifis flanked by two Johannesburg icons, the holyibis and a photo of ‘short boy’, a reference to the impoverished black workers who gather recyclable plastic on the street. Against an orange background (Holland’s national color), the emblem pairs Dutch colonialism and slavery with migration and poverty. But it does so without telling any clear historical story, or offering a pat solution. The works suggests that the past haunts our present in the form of the casual and lingering use of racial stereotypes presented here in the guise of innocent wallpaper.

Geopolitical conflicts and the ensuing migration flows are recurrent themes in the work of Lidwien van de Ven. Since the terrorist attacks of 9/11, she has closely followed political discussions around Islam and the rise of right-wing populismin Western Europe. Made especially for the exhibition, her new work enters into dialogue with the monumental Fête Africaine (2012) by Abdoulaye Konaté. It is an equally large montage of photo sof a group of asylum seekers who recently bivouacked near the Brandenburg Tower in the heart of Berlin in protest against their conditions as refugees. Where Fête Africaine, an abstract scene of a colorful parade in Mali, responds to a sudden outburst of freedom fighting in the North of the country, the work of Van de Ven investigates the impact such a distant conflict may have on a world much closer to home.

The asylum seekers’ protests against the maze of conflicting provincial, national and European immigration legislation and their years of harsh social conditions garnered support in both Germany and abroad. Their experiences are shared by refugees currently living in the Netherlands and Amsterdam.

Performance Quinsy Gario

Thursday 18 September 2014
During the opening of the exhibition on Thursday, 18 September, Quinsy Gario will give the performance A Village Called Gario. The performance explores patterns of migration that shape family history in a variety of ways. Taking the village of Gario in the Central African Republic as his imaginary point of origin, the artist tells the story of a trip around the world. A blend of fact and fiction, the narrative is inspired by the stories of (colonial) explorers. Taking a similar approach, Gario combines locally-acquired knowledge with a generous helping of imagination. Previously seen in Kunsthal Nicolaj, Copenhagen and at the MACBA, Barcelona, the entire performance will be uploaded to the Stedelijk Museum website later, where it can be viewed.

About the exhibition

Presenting a broad selection of works from the Stedelijk’s historic and contemporary collections, HOW FAR HOW NEAR opens a fundamental debate about globalization in contemporary art.

As Stedelijk Director Beatrix Ruf says, “We need to investigate in depth the research and transparency of collections and the activation of the many hidden narratives. In that way, we can expand ways of our knowledge production. The task that museum institutions have is not just expanding a collection physically, but also mentally. What other stories lay behind the works? HOW FAR HOW NEAR shows how the works in the collection of the Stedelijk can stimulate new dialogues, and that is a topic that I find pivotal.”

The inspiration of the exhibition is the historic blockbuster presentation Moderne Kunst – Nieuw en Oud (1955). It presented work by modern artists like Klee, Picasso, Lipschitz, and Mondriaan amid African masks, Polynesian bark paintings, and decorated shields from Papua.

Moderne Kunst – Nieuw en Oud anticipated groundbreaking and much-discussed exhibitions such as Primitivism in 20th Century Art at the Museum of Modern Art in New York (1984) and Magiciens de la Terre in Centre Pompidou, Paris (1989). However, Moderne Kunst – Nieuw en Oud did not impel the Stedelijk to acquire more art from the decolonized regions or “the rest” of the world, with the exception of the poster and photography collections. Now, following in the footsteps of other major museums such as Tate Modern and Centre Pompidou, things are changing.

Artists in HOW FAR HOW NEAR

Dorothy Akpene Amenuke, Ian Berry, Ad van Denderen, Willem Diepraam, Godfried Donkor, Marlene Dumas, Ed van der Elsken, Gerard Fieret, Meschac Gaba, David Goldblatt, Grapus, William Irwin, Alfredo Jaar, Iris Kensmil, Paul Klee, Abdoulaye Konaté, Robert Lebeck, Jacques Lipchitz, Danny Lyon, Robert Mapplethorpe, Cas Oorthuys, Gordon Parks, Eddy Posthuma de Boer, Sem Presser, Walid Raad, George Rodger, Paul Schuitema, Malick Sidibé, Michael Tedja, Guy Tillim, Lidwien van de Ven, Vincent Vulsma, Koen Wessing, Billie Zangewa, Tito Zungu

Publication

HOW FAR HOW NEAR - The World in the Stedelijk is accompanied by a publication of the same title (63 pp, € 2) compiled by Jelle Bouwhuis, head curator of Global Collaborations. For the previous press release about the exhibition, the Public Program, the online Journal and the first issue of Stedelijk Studies, dedicated to Global Collaborations, click here.

About Global Collaborations

The exhibition HOW FAR HOW NEAR is part of the Stedelijk Museum’s three-year project Global Collaborations, launched at the start of 2013. The project aims to achieve a well-informed and nuanced view of developments in contemporary art from a global perspective. With Global Collaborations, the Stedelijk examines advances in the visual arts throughout the world with a particular emphasis on emerging regions such as Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. The project is based on collaborative projects and connections with experimental and multifaceted art institutions. It spans exhibitions, publications, events, an online platform, and activities involving the Blikopeners.

Blikopener Spot

Along with HOW FAR HOW NEAR, the Blikopener Spot will feature the final presentation from Ghanaian artist-in-residence Bernard Akoi-Jackson. In April, 15 schools from Amsterdam visited the Stedelijk to attend workshops with Bernard Akoi-Jackson and the Blikopeners, the young peer educators of the museum. The result of their interactive performances will be part of the presentation.

Global Collaborations is made possible through the generous support of Stichting Ammodo and the Mondriaan Fonds: