From Dusk Till Dawn
19 – 20 March 2010
Produced by If I Can’t Dance, I Don’t
Want To Be Part Of Your Revolution
Presented in the
Van Abbemuseum
Bilderdijklaan 10
5611 NH Eindhoven
The Netherlands
Masquerade
If we understand the cultural history of masquerading as an accessing of alterity in a situation of social conformity, then we think it is interesting to readdress this notion today precisely because there has never before been such an intense reinforcement of the cult of the individual. Despite years of serious questioning of the construction of subjectivity through feminism, post colonialism, post communism and other intellectual and activist strategies, we seem to have been over taken by events. Consumer culture strategically reinforces individualism – the channels of new media provide endless possibilities for intense self-articulation and yet where does this bring us in relation to the complex understanding of the constructions of singularity and other emancipatory possibilities? Reading the mask right now and addressing a sense of alterity in a moment of unilateral governmentality or status quo seems prescient.
Final episode in the Van Abbemuseum
With these questions in mind, we have, for a period of more than two years, been researching the multiple meanings and implications of the notion of the masquerade with a variegated group of cultural practitioners. Now we have come to the moment to bring together all the divergent interpretations as developed by the participants in this long-term project. This will take place in the Van Abbemuseum where the closing event of the project will ‘happen’ on the 19th and the 20th of March, from dusk till dawn.
From Dusk Till Dawn
With both the masquerade in mind, as well as with If I Can’t Dance…’s fundamental aim of exploring the performative in art, the curatorial model for this event comes out of an exploration of the ‘flip side’ of the museum. At five o’ clock, when the museum normally closes to the public, If I Can’t Dance… will enter, and at 11 o’ clock the following morning, when it normally opens its doors to the public, If I Can’t Dance… will leave again. Within this time span we want to create a ‘presence’ that allows us to experience the museum in an alternative way, aiming to heighten our awareness of the transitory moments between evening, night and morning. In the old part of the museum, a programme will be orchestrated that will unfold in different rhythms and intensities throughout the whole night, embedded in installations and presentations of work from the collection. Different live moments will pass in review, playing with the genres of performance, theatre, conversations, lectures, etc.
Participants
Most of the artists that we have been working with in the last two years will be present in the Van Abbemuseum – the artists we have commissioned to develop new works and the artists who presented performances in the series If I Can’t Dance Tonight.
Alongside the international trajectory of the Masquerade edition, we have invested in discursive activity. Every month the Reading Group came together to read, discuss, and disagree at If I Can’t Dance…’s premises at Westerdok in Amsterdam. In addition, two workshops were organised in collaboration with the Dutch Art Institute and the Piet Zwart Institute. Some of the guests we presented in the public programme of these workshops will also return in Eindhoven.
The practitioners involved in the discursive programme have also contributed to a masquerade reader titled (Mis)reading Masquerades. The book will be published by Revolver and will be launched on the 19th of March in the Van Abbemuseum.
Please look for programme information at our website www.ificantdance.org.
General information
Reservations for the programme in the Van Abbemuseum are not required, visitors are welcome to come and go at any time between 5 PM and 11 AM.
Van Abbemuseum, Bilderdijklaan 10, 5611 NH Eindhoven
Keren Cytter & D.I.E NOW present The True Story… at Plaza Futura Theatre (10 minute walk from the Van Abbemuseum). Performances at 20.30 and 22.30 hrs.
Bookings: www.plazafutura.nl
Plaza Futura Theatre, Leenderweg 65, 5614 HL Eindhoven
Radio Van Abbe
In the Van Abbemuseum’s tower a live radio programme will cover the whole event from dusk till dawn, through interviews with the artists, sound recordings of the performances, and other sound registrations. You can tune in at: www.ificantdance.org.
Publication
Edition III – Masquerade is accompanied by the publication (Mis)reading Masquerades, edited by Frederique Bergholtz and Iberia Perez, designed by Joris Kritis and Julie Peeters, coproduced by Dutch Art Institute, If I Can’t Dance…, Piet Zwart Institute and Van Abbemuseum. The book is published by Revolver (ISBN 978-3-86895-071-7). From Dusk Till Dawn visitors can purchase (Mis)reading Masquerades for a reduced price.
Partners
Partners in Edition III – Masquerade are Overgaden (Copenhagen), de Appel arts centre (Amsterdam), Sala Rekalde (Bilbao), Project Arts Centre (Dublin) and the Van Abbemuseum (Eindhoven). The final episode of the project, From Dusk Till Dawn, is realized in partnership with the Van Abbemuseum.
Financial support
The financial partners in Edition III – Masquerade are the Mondriaan Foundation, the European Union, Culture Programme (2007-2013), the SNS Reaal Fund, the Amsterdam Fund for the Arts (AFK), the Prince Bernhard Cultural Foundation, the Danish Arts Council, Seacex and the Arts Council Ireland.
If I Can’t Dance, I Don’t Want To Be Part Of Your Revolution
Westerdok 606
1013 BV Amsterdam – NL
+ 31 (0)20-3378711
info@ificantdance.org
