Dorothy Akpene Amenuke
Ian Berry
Ad van Denderen
Willem Diepraam
Godfried Donkor
Marlene Dumas
Ed van der Elsken
Gerard Fieret
Meschac Gaba
David Goldblatt
Grapus
William Irwin
Alfredo Jaar
Iris Kensmil
Paul Klee
Abdoulaye Konate'
Robert Lebeck
Jacques Lipchitz
Danny Lyon
Robert Mapplethorpe
Cas Oorthuys
Gordon Parks
Eddy Posthuma de Boer
Sem Presser
Walid Raad
George Rodger
Paul Schuitema
Malick Sidibe'
Michael Tedja
Guy Tillim
Lidwien van de Ven
Vincent Vulsma
Koen Wessing
Billie Zangewa
Tito Zungu
The exhibition opens a fundamental debate about globalization in contemporary art. It argues for a greater emphasis on art from outside Europe and North America. Although the artworks were created at different times, they remain remarkably relevant today.
The exhibition
HOW FAR HOW NEAR
–
The World in the Stedelijk
argues for a greater
emphasis on art from outside Europe and North
America. Although the artworks were created at
different times, they remain
remarkably
relevant
today.
In 2003, Ad van Denderen photographed posters
commemorating Palestinian suicide bombers. A
socially
-
committed photographer, van Denderen
increasingly sought new ways to depict military
conflict, poverty, violence, and human suffering.
For this series, he made a straightforward
photographic record of posters of suicide bombers
used by groups such as Hamas, Jihad Islamia
and the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade as propaganda
in the conflict with Israel. By glorifying the dead
fighters and portra
ying them as martyrs, the
posters incite others to follow
their example.
This is the first
time that Van
Denderen’s
series, part
of the Stedelijk
Museum’s
collection since
2009, has
been on public
display
at the
museum.
For
HOW FAR HOW NEAR
the Stedelijk also
commissioned new work from two ar
tists:
Lidwien van de Ven and Godfried Donkor.
Godfried
Donkor explores mass communication
and challenges the stereotypes that ar
e
presented in the print media.
Donkor developed the wallpaper during a work
period in Johannesburg. The collage’s centr
al
motif derives from a 17th century German coat
of arms, and features a Moorish figure. The motif
is flanked by two Johannesburg icons, the holy
ibis and a photo of ‘short boy’, a reference to the
impoverished black workers who gather
re
cyclable plastic
on the street.
Against an orange background (Holland’s
national color), the emblem pairs Dutch
colonialism and slavery with migration and
poverty. But it does so without telling any clear
historical story, or offering a pat solution. The
works sugges
ts that the past haunts our present
in the form of the casual and lingering use of
racial stereotypes presented here in the guise
of innocent wallpaper.
Geopolitical conflicts and the ensuing migration
flows are recurrent themes in the work of Lidwien
van de Ven. Since the terrorist attacks of 9/11,
she has closely followed political discussions
around Islam and the rise of right
-
wing populism
in Western Europe. Made especially for the
exhibit
ion, her new work enters into dialogue
with the
monumental
Fête Africaine
(2012) by Abdoulaye
Konaté. It is an equally large montage of photos
of a group of asylum seekers who recently
bivouacked near the Brandenburg Tower in the
heart of Berlin in protest
against their conditions
as refugees. Where
Fête Africaine
, an abstract
scene of a colorful parade in Mali, responds to a
sudden outburst of freedom fighting in the North of
the country, the work of Van de Ven investigates
the impact such a distant conflic
t may have on a
world much closer to home.
The asylum seekers’ protests against the maze
of conflicting provincial, national and European
immigration legislation and their years of harsh
social conditions garnered support in both
Germany and abroad. Their
experiences are
shared by refugees currently living in the
Netherlands and Amsterdam.
About the exhibition
Presenting a broad selection of works from the
Stedelijk’s historic and contemporary collections,
HOW FAR HOW NEAR
opens a fundamental debate about globalization in contemporary art.
As Stedelijk Director Beatrix Ruf says, “We
need to investigate in depth the research and
transparency of collections and the activation of
the many hidden narratives. In that way, we can
expand ways of our knowledge production. The
task that museum institutions have is not just
expanding a collection physically, but also
mentally. What other stories lay behind the works?
HOW FAR HOW NEAR shows how the works in
the
collection of the Stedelijk can stimulate new
dialogues, and that is a topic that I find pivotal.”
The inspiration of the exhibition is the historic
blockbuster presentation
Moderne Kunst
–
Nieuw
en Oud
(1955). It presented work by modern
artists like Klee, Picasso, Lipschitz, and
Mondriaan amid African masks, Polynesian bark
paintings, and decorated shields from Papua.
Moderne Kunst
–
Nieuw en Oud
anticipated
groundbreaking and much
-
discussed exhibitions
such as
Primitivism in 20th Century Art
at the
Mu
seum of Modern Art in New York (1984) and
Magiciens de la Terre
in Centre Pompidou, Paris
(1989). However,
Moderne Kunst
–
Nieuw en Oud
did not impel the Stedelijk to acquire more art from
the decolonized regions or “the rest” of the world,
with the except
ion of the poster and photography
collections. Now, following in the footsteps of
other major museums such as Tate Modern and
Centre Pompidou, things are changing.
HOW FAR HOW NE
AR. The W
orld in the
Stedelijk
is accom
panied by a publication of the same title
(63
pp, €
2) compiled by Jelle Bouwhuis, head
curator of
Global Collaborations.
Image: Godfried Donkor,
Organized creation of dissatisfaction I
(Short boy wallpaper), 2014
Press office
Marie-José Raven or Annematt Ruseler t: + 31 (0)20 – 5732 656 or +31 (0)20 – 5732 660 e: pressoffice@stedelijk.nl
Thursday 18 September 2014 Performance Quinsy Gario during the opening of the exhibition
Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam
Museumplein 10 Amsterdam The Netherlands
OPENING HOURS:
Daily 10 am – 6 pm
Thursday 10 am – 10 pm
Early opening for schools 9 am
ADMISSION:
Adults € 15
Students, Cultural Youth Pass (CJP) € 7,50
Children and Youth (18 years or younger) free
Museumkaart free
Students 18+ in groups (registered in advance) € 3,50
Teachers with Docentenpas Stedelijk Museum free