Curatorial Programme 2024 open call

Lumbung Practice: An Educational Programme for Collectives Organised by de Appel, Sandberg Instituut, and Gudskul

On the occasion of documenta fifteen, 68 artist and interdisciplinary collectives came together to build a lasting “lumbung”; to work towards the endurance of locally anchored social art practices and their ecosystems. Lumbung is a pre-colonial rural practice where the surplus is collectively governed, shared, and celebrated for the future wellbeing of the community. During documenta fifteen it grew into even more: both a rhizomatic collective of collectives, and the practice of decentralised collective redistribution, transforming the art institution and its exhibitionary logic.

Building on knowledge and experience gained since 2019, several members of documenta fifteen’s artistic team have developed an educational programme called Lumbung Practice. Lumbung Practice guides young artist, curatorial, and interdisciplinary collectives in building their own lumbung, as well as learning from the rich experiences of the lumbung interlokal, lumbung Indonesia, and lumbung Kassel, and how these translated into the exhibition of documenta fifteen. Lumbung Practice is developed by Lara Khaldi, Gertrude Flentge, and Gudskul. It will be hosted as a collaboration between three existing educational programmes: de Appel Curatorial Programme (Netherlands), Sandberg Instituut Temporary Master (Netherlands), and Gudskul Collective Studies (Indonesia).

The collectives selected for each of these programmes will build a lumbung together over a period of two years while simultaneously following the educational programme of one of the three institutions. While large parts of the programmes of the three institutions overlap, other aspects are specific to each. We advise you to attend the information meetings in order to find out more. 

Below you will find the open call for curatorial collectives that would like to participate in Lumbung Practice through de Appel’s Curatorial Programme. The open calls for Sandberg and Gudskul will be launched in January 2024; more information on these can be found here and here respectively.

De Appel Curatorial Programme open call
De Appel’s Curatorial Programme is thrilled to open the application process to local and international curatorial and artistic collectives who are interested in learning and practising lumbung as a model and method for collective organisation. This edition of the programme is dedicated to collectives whose practice is embedded in socio-political movements, and whose art and curatorial practice is an extension of their communal lives. The programme will be geared towards taking the lumbung practices of documenta fifteen as a case study. 

De Appel’s Curatorial Programme is a life-changing experience consisting of an intensive ten-month period spent together in Amsterdam, fully immersed in the city’s local scene, with de Appel as an institutional base. The rich curriculum is intended to provide direct insight into the work of artists as well as the building of institutions, collectives, and communities.

Throughout the 2024–25 period, participants will gain full access to de Appel’s distinctive three-part institutional structure comprised of our open, lively Archive; our free-thinking, hands-on Curatorial Programme; and our community-oriented Education Initiatives—all of which contribute to the learning ethos in our programming. 

The 2024 CP will unfold through a series of workshops, sessions, and collective work at Sandberg Instituut and online with Gudskul, Jakarta. Their time will be punctuated by intensive site visits and research. They will travel to each other’s localities, that of the participants of the Sandberg Instituut programme and to Gudskul in Jakarta. They will spend time learning about each other’s practices and concerns and forming lasting relationships.

They will form working groups together and develop long term projects. At the end of the first year, they will collectively curate a project that furthers their research and practice. In 2025 and 2026 the collectives will meet more sporadically, online from their own localities, where they focus on realising their planned projects. In June 2026, they will collectively organise a harvest festival: a summation of their learning processes and provisions for the future, which could take the shape of exhibitions, public programmes, or performances to which their ecosystems are invited.

How can collectives apply
Applications are open to either an entire collective, or several members of a collective (in agreement with the full collective) if not all collective members are able to be present for the full programme cycle.

More information on de Appel’s Curatorial Programme (curriculum, current and previous participants and advisors, and application procedures, including fees and forms of financial assistance) may be found here.

De Appel will host an online information session about the Curatorial Programme on Thursday December 14 at 3–4:30pm (CET). Based on the submitted documents, approximately twelve candidates will be short-listed. Interviews with the jury will take place in January 2024, after which the final participants will be selected. The complete application PDF should be emailed by January 15, 2024 to the Curatorial Programme Coordinator Maria Nolla (maria@deappel.nl). Any questions can also be emailed to Maria Nolla.

*Image above: A jamming session by Jamal Liance with Özgür Atlagan, Simnikiwe Buhlungu, Sungeun Lee, and Daniel Aguilar Ruvalcaba during the 2023 Curatorial Program exhibition, Hope is a discipline, De Appel Amsterdam. November 12, 2023.