On October 25, Stedelijk Museum Bureau Amsterdam hosted two book launches of two publications that each focuses on the postcolonial discourse.
The publication If you want, we’ll travel to the moon together is initiated by a group of Art History students of the University of Amsterdam. The book presents a collection of essays that students wrote during the (Dutch) research seminars ‘Kunst en Globalisering’, directed by dr. Marga van Mechelen. During the research seminars, the students focused on the question how artists have been responding to globalism during the past fourty years. The publication includes essays on Rinke Nijburg, Mark Lombardi, Yael Bartana, NSK-State en Transnational Republic, Dan Perjovschi, Banksy, Ai Weiwei, Dinh Q. Lê, Aernout Mik, Sharmila Samant, Renzo Martens and The Action Mill. Prof. dr. Mieke Bal provided an introductory lecture during the book launch, in which she reflected on the topic art and globalism.
Prof. dr. Mieke Bal's presentation during the book launch of 'If you want, we'll travel the moon together'.
Secondly, artist Sara van der Heide presented the publication 24 European Ethnographic Museums at SMBA. The publication, which consists of a series of 24 drawings, lays bare the Western obsession with the categorization and conservation of artefacts and people. Van der Heide’s series becomes a collection of artefacts in and upon itself by recording the names of European ethnographic institutions. While some of the European ethnographic institutions have attempted to come to terms with the past of their collections and heritage, Van der Heide focuses upon the way in which language continues to reflect the political present of these institutions. This publication includes the story The Museum of Western Folklore: A Commemorative Speech, written by Moosje Goosen, which was presented during the book launch.
Moosje Goosen introduces her story to the audience during the book launch of '24 European Ethnographic Museums'.
If you want, we’ll travel to the moon together. Twaalf verkenningen van kunst en globalisering. Redactie en organisatie: Judith Konz, Lotte Batelaan, Edith Rijnja, Else Siemerink en Jesse Ahlers. Auteurs: Judith Konz, Ruud Waterhout, Lotte Batelaan, Else Siemerink, Sasha van Aalst, Jacqueline Arends, Jesse Ahlers, Saul Roosendaal, Irene Huberts, Edith Rijnja, Cindy Pols en Roel van der Vlies. ISBN: 978-94-6190-249-8, € 25.
24 European Ethnographic Museums – Sara van der Heide; contributor: Moosje Goosen; graphic design: Mevis & van Deursen; type casting cover: Stichting Lettergieten 1983, Westzaan; printing interior: robstolk® Amsterdam; English; Eng; ISBN 978 90 77459 68 3, €10.