Curatorial Programme 2010/2011 presents
Fluiten in het Donker
21 May–26 June 2011
Opening:
20 May 2011, 6–9 PM
de Appel Boys’ School
Eerste Jacob van Campenstraat 59
(Entrance: Ferdinand Bolstraat)
Amsterdam
Opening Hours: Tue–Sun from 11–6 PM
Amsterdam, 4th of May 2011Allow me to begin with a story – of a disconcerting incident in a city that is sleeping anxiously these days. On Remembrance Day—4th of May, 2010—we gathered at Dam Square. As the two minute silence approached its end, a sudden scream. Ripples of panic spread – as the bodies broke, a stampede ensued and we realized—we are outside and vulnerable.
Someone once said to me, if you define a situation as real, it often becomes real in its consequences.
The streets are calm—most of time—but my door and bicycle are always double locked. Official letters in the mailbox encourage me to be vigilant. News says the economy is looking up—yet the downward spiral is so present as to be invisible. They decide who is allowed in and on what terms.
Twelve months have passed and I’m here to present you with an exhibition. I’ve decided to call it Fluiten in het Donker. Whistling in the dark—a nonchalant gesture set within an anxious environment; to summon your courage in the face of projected danger. A whistle emanates from the gut, proceeding to circulate beyond the body, as an absent presence that is felt rather than seen.
I seek refuge but am met by a labyrinth—what if we set out to confront these phantoms of uncertainty? To give bodies to the voices in our heads; a struggle to see the inability to see.
You whistle—and ask, am I alone in here?
Artists
Absalon, Samuel Beckett, Pierre Bismuth, Maze de Boer, Tania Bruguera, Jasper Coppes, León Ferrari, Sara van der Heide, Jenny Holzer, Luciana Lamothe, Monika Sosnowska
Curators: de Appel Curatorial Programme 2010/2011 (Marie Frampier, Natasha Ginwala, Jacob Korczynski, Javier Villa, Rieke Vos, Vivian Ziherl).
An exhibition publication will be launched at de Appel Boys School on 26 June 2011. To make book orders in advance please contact bookshopATdeappelDOTnl
For press enquiries please contact: Natasha Ginwala (nginwalaATgmailDOTcom) or Rieke Vos (riekevosATgmailDOTcom) / For information on expanded programming please visit our website.
The project Fluiten in het Donker by de Appel Curatorial Programme 2010/2011, is supported by SKOR| Foundation for Art and Public Domain in the framework of the institutional alliance between SKOR and de Appel.
Made possible with the generous support of Amsterdam Fund for the Arts (AFK)
