Be[com]ing Dutch - The Exhibition
Be[com]ing Dutch The Exhibition
The exhibition Be(com)ing Dutch is part of a large scale project that has been in progress for two years. During that time, the museum has focused on what have become sensitive issues for the Netherlands, such as identity, nationality, citizenship and social cohesion. In those two years artists, intellectuals, politicians and the people of Eindhoven were invited to find possible answers to awkward questions. What does ‘Being Dutch' or ‘Becoming Dutch’ mean in the 21st Century? Who are ‘the Dutch’ anyway and how do we want to be seen by ourselves and others? The outcome of this whole process is being shown in an exhibition of artists’ works in the museum and throughout the city of Eindhoven.
Be(com)ing Dutch is unusual in the Netherlands because it takes on an outright political and social subject and translates it into artistic terms. Since 2006, when the Van Abbemuseum was awarded a prize that made it possible to turn our existing ideas into reality, the discussion in the Netherlands about who we are, where we come from, where we are heading and about our norms and values in a globalising world has become even more topical and urgent. The long term planning allowed the museum to talk with people at length and to organise major public discussions such as the Eindhoven Caucus. Now it is the turn of artists, many of whom have participated in all the stages of Be(com)ing Dutch, to show you what they have found. Twenty one of the thirty seven artists have conceived new works for the exhibition, guided by three broad directional themes: ‘Imaginary Past’, ‘ Imaginary Present’ and ‘Imaginary Future’. Look for more information about the complete Be(com)ing Dutch project at www.becomingdutch.com.
Charles Esche & Annie Fletcher
Be(com)ing Dutch activities & Art beyond the walls
The Question Paintings March
Saturday 24 May from 15:15 h.
Arabic course
25 May, 7, 21 and 28 June, 6 and 13 September
Johan van der Keuken - Amsterdam Global Village, 1996
28 and 29 June, 26 and 27 July, 30 and 31 August and 13 and 14 September at 12:00 hours
Phil Collins – Free fotolab (Eindhoven)
24 May until 28 July 2008
Libia Castro & Ólafur Ólafsson - Avant-garde Citizens
24 May until 14 September 2008
Erwin van Doorn - A Stop for the Crowd/ Halte voor de Menigte
24 May until 14 September 2008
The State of Translocality - Series in the State of Translocality
5 until 11 July 2008
Petra Bauer & Annette Krauss - Read the masks. Tradition is not given
30 August 2008
Ronen Eidelman - Means of survival
From 12 September 2008
Bik Van der Pol - Close Encounters
14 September 2008
With the artists:
Petra Bauer
Abdellatif Benfaidoul
Michael Blum
Libia Castro & Ólafur Ólafsson
Phil Collins
Carla Cruz
Gerrit Dekker
Erwin van Doorn
Ronen Eidelman
Ed van der Elsken
Hadassah Emmerich
Alexandra Ferreira
Daan van Golden
Rana Hamadeh
Nicoline van Harskamp
Alicia Herrero
Hans van Houwelingen
Johan van der Keuken Annette Krauss
Agung Kurniawan
Surasi Kusolwong
Toos Nijssen
Ahmet Ö?üt
Wendelien van Oldenborgh
Bik Van der Pol
Ilya Rabinovich
Mario Rizzi
Mounira Al Solh
Fiona Tan
Alite Thijsen
Lidwien van de Ven
Tintin Wulia
Bettina Wind
Stephen Willats
The Mondriaan Foundation awarded its 2006 Development Prize for Cultural Diversity to the Van Abbemuseum for the Be(com)ing Dutch project. Within this project’s framework, the museum has organized a diversity of gatherings over the last two years resulting in The Be(com)ing Dutch exhibition.
A comprehensive catalogue will be published in autumn 2008.
The communication campaign is coordinated by ‘Claire Beke – Communicatie in Cultuur’, Rotterdam.
