14 May 2012, 16–20
Raw Material Company
Sicap Amitié 2
Dakar, Senegal
rsvp +221 33 864 0248
www.rawmaterialcompany.org
www.dutchartinstitute.eu
The Dutch Art Institute (DAI) connects art students to practitioners at the forefront of praxis worldwide. By initiating explorative associations DAI’s research trips aim to promote a better understanding of the (art) world in transition. From May 3 until May 16, during the Biennale and Dakar OFF events, the DAI teams up with colleagues in and around Dakar. Findings will be shared during a public “class” on May 14, organized in collaboration with Raw Material Company, center for art, knowledge, and society that works to foster appreciation and growth of African artistic and intellectual creativity.
DAI’s associate professor Grant Watson will moderate the discussion around three projects:
Negotiating Equity
…looks at ‘curation as artistic practice’ in regard to local contexts, in-situ installations, and digital technologies. This year it finds form and conclusion in the streets, landscapes, and with the people of Dakar. Participants develop projects that include tourist attractions such as the controversial Monument to African Renaissance, where the ideological ownerships of imported monuments will be questioned. Traversing two worlds, a sound composition will unite the distinct differences between Ile de Gorée, nowadays a Unesco heritage site that marks its importance as a monument for Atlantic slave trade, and the Dutch island of Goeree, which it was named after. The presidential palace is not only the seat of government in Dakar but has become the site of citizens’ self-immolation as a form of protest, which will be mapped through GPS and video interviews.
Negotiating Equity is curated and organized by Renée Ridgway and n.e.w.s.
With: Ingeborg Entrop, Yoeri Guepin, Maja Hodoscek, Magda Mellin, Momu and No Es, Padraig Robinson, Amoniak Graff, Pape Mamadou Camara (Youngnoble Outlaw), Docta, multimedia-lab Kër Thiossane, and Bram Posthumus.
Practice-theatre
…a performance project tutored by Ian White in collaboration with Emma Hedditch and Jimmy Robert, curated by If I Can’t Dance I Don’t Want To Be Part Of Your Revolution and coordinated by Tanja Baudoin. The project seeks to explore how ‘theatre’ can be understood from the position of artistic practice, to experiment with how such a set of interpretations might be of use within it. The project considers, occupies, and enacts aspects of theatre and its operations—to consider the positions from which we speak, how we act, and what, through different frames, speaking and action might be. The trip to Senegal begins with a working period at the Ecole des Sables, a dance company and school for African dance, located in the coastal village of Toubab Dialaw. Here the students will work on developing a model of ‘theatre’ as the group has come to understand it through their work together and develop a series of ‘performances’ through which this model might be demonstrated.
With: Mercedes Azpilicueta, Rosie Heinrich, Anna Hoetjes, Eden Mitsenmacher, Lara Morais, Ane Ostrem, Eric Philippoz, Vanja Smiljanic, Marija Sujica, Witta Tjan, Sander Uitdehaag, and Mariana Zamarbide.
Re-reading Public Images
…will conduct its research in Dakar with the aim to investigate images that relate to the notion of publicness. The participants will question images that appear in the urban context and ‘re-read’ them regarding their role in public life, politics, and common identities. They will collaborate in this project with students from the Collège Universitaire d’Architecture in Dakar. To gain a deeper understanding of the city, architect Jean Charles Tall and artist Viye Diba will lead the group on city walks to read Dakar from their specific points of view. Projectleader is artist Florian Göttke.
With: Katja van Driel, Fotini Goussetti, Susan van Hengstum, Rei Kakiuchi, Isabel Marcos, David Maroto, Toe Meisami, Pendar Nabipour, Fraser Stewart, and Rui Vilela.
Utilizing the landlines of Café Flinck and Café Berkhout in Amsterdam, their telephone will be receiving our incoming calls, audioworks, interviews, and sounds, connecting the local customers with Dakar. In cooperation with De Appel Curatorial Programme’s exhibition and public interventions: www.threeartistswalkintoabar.com.
Special thanks to Helmut Vogt and Koyo Kouoh.
Framework : Gabriëlle Schleijpen
Production: Jacq van der Spek
