Formation Camp

“A formation camp is an anarchist tradition whereby different groups convene every summer to draw ideological blueprints of worlds that are already possible. As a rendering in time and space of our own work in de Appel’s Curatorial Programme, this public offering will host diverse interventions attuned to a common aspiration of making and thinking with community.” —Àngels Miralda, Edwin Nasr, Hera Chan, Laura Castro, Masha Domracheva 

De Appel is honoured to present the final outcomes of the 2020/2021 Curatorial Programme whose participants arrived in Amsterdam during an extraordinary time of social transformation. Drawing on their respective experiences of history, present and future, each forged new alliances. These now begin to materialize inside de Appel’s aula and linked sites as the five sessions of Formation Camp:

ALI R U OK? is an ongoing investigation initiated by Edwin Nasr, which summons artists, scholars, and cultural workers in and outside of the Netherlands committed to dismantling carceral infrastructures. The project orients itself to the future of October 22, 2007, a day when Bilal B., a 22-year-old Dutch-Moroccan resident of Amsterdam Nieuw-West was savagely murdered by local police officers. Close by, at de Appel, participants are invited to draw escape routes and articulate a poetics of abolition. 

July 8: Spatial intervention by Farah Fayyad and Ayman Hassan (Disarming Design, Sandberg Instituut); July 9: Roundtable discussion with Julienne Weegels, Barak Kalir, and Thijs Jeursen; July 11: Lecture by Nicole R. Fleetwood (via Zoom).

Initiated by Hera Chan, een Kamer naar het hart is dedicated to builders and fighters. The independence of Suriname in 1975 (also the founding year of de Appel) marked a new era of coalition-building among emancipation movements in The Netherlands and in regions occupied and colonized by Europe. Today, the first European political party founded by a Black woman (Sylvana Simons of BIJ1), holds a seat in the Dutch Second Chamber (Tweede Kamer). Resistance takes on monumental forms with new commissions by Farida Sedoc and Lidwien van de Ven—a shadow cabinet calling to representatives living in our midst. 

On a daily basis, ideological memers—those who meme for a social/political cause, not just the LOLZ—contend with the awkward and uncomfortable moments of the thick institutions that they critique. These institutions wear, they are resistant/afraid/hostile to change. What are the missteps, failures or frustrations, loopholes, victories, and hardships of laboring in this contested frontline? Initiated by Àngels Miralda in close collaboration with Clara Balaguer and Santiago Pinyol, SoMeMeR uNSCHooL / SMMR NSCHL / oeeoou prepares for MOOC (Minimal Open Online/Offline Course) with the participation of: CLUSTERDUCK, Florian Cramer, Jeanne van Heeswijk, Czar Kristoff, Cengiz Mengüç, Shailoh Phillips, Marina Prada, and Francesc Ruiz among others.

July 26–27: Undisclosed location (accessible via Zoom). 

Initiated by Masha Domracheva, with graphic interpretation by Austin Redman, Future everyday life addresses the lived reality of the WOW artists residency in Amsterdam Nieuw-West (Domracheva’s home while attending de Appel, itself housed in a similar broedplaats nearby). Founded on the ideas of squatting and grassroots management, WOW is succumbing to the laws of gentrification. The values of sustainable communities are lost as temporary contracts prevent tenants from forming long-term relationships with each other and the place. But what if residents would imagine staying longer? 

July 7:  Following an open call for proposals, residents of WOW consider scenarios for their more meaningful and sustainable presence in the area. 

Dark Black is a cooperatively imagined space initiated by Laura Castro, involving artist Los Tejedores, Patricia Castillo and Ro Acosta. Inside de Appel’s aula, they distribute works, activate instruments and compose the “Treaty of Sensibility”—in part to replace the Treaty of Rijswijk, which split Hispaniola into two nations (Haiti and the Dominican Republic) resulting in the birth of “dark black” as a racial distinction; and in part to conjure Quisqueya, as the island was called by locals before the colonial invasions.

More information about each session and all contributors is available on de Appel’s website.