Wanneer stopt toen? KarbonArnhemFile#5
2016 - now

I am very glad to inform you about the recent release of the publication Karbon Arnhem File #5: Wanneer stopt toen? (When does then stop?). This publication takes the form of two artistic tutorials about (post-/de-)colonialism which comes from the conviction that postcolonialism is not just an intellectual legacy, but actually necessary as an active practice. Published in the framework of SONSBEEK '16 transACTION as part of the editorial, the booklet Karbon Arnhem File #5 became a collaborative work between me as an artist/educator, the artist Agung Kurniawan, the curator/editor Sanne Oorthuizen, and the graphic designer Robert Milne (Werkplaats Typografie, 2017).

Karbon Arnhem File #5 is now digitally available as a PDF with annotations in English: If you are interested you are invited to open the link: http://www.sonsbeek.org/en/karbonarnhemfiles/
Please be aware that in order to see the English annotations you will need to actually download it (and not just open it as a preview)!

My aim with this social-artistic project is to investigate the traces of the colonial past in the field of education and art, together with participants of workshops, readings , walks etc.
I looked into the educational material about history, with a special focus on Dutch colonial past and found interesting gaps in the construction of a Dutch Identity. Spots of 'colonial afasia' in the field of education. Is there a big White elephant of Colonialism standing in the room?

To be able to reflect critically on current, political and social issues in their complexities, an awareness of so-called ‘coloniality of power’ is necessary, i.e. the fact that European colonialism affects present forms of social discrimination. This publication tries to bring to light those structures and ‘habits’ on an artistic, critical and playful manner and ultimately, to question them. The ‘Remember Day Parade’ by artist Agung Kurniawan plays with collective memory and the performativity as well as the (re)production of history. The first ‘Remember Day Parade’ on Dutch ground took place in June 2016 as part of the opening week of SONSBEEK '16 transACTION.

I have been investigating 'colonial matters' in the domain of education with the intergenerational workshop ‘Wanneer Stopt Toen (When Does Then Stop)’, to question, together with children and adults, the unilateral timelines that are being used in Dutch primary schools to teach history.

Finally the text by Hypatia Vourloumis offers a theoretical intermezzo. Although she wrote the text under separate cover, as an introduction for a symposium, we are of the opinion that the speculation by Vourloumis about what colonial practice looks like (“How does it read? How does it sound? How does it feel?”) grants important philosophical insights into coloniality. When you are aware of the effects (and affects) of coloniality, you can begin to wonder how you can shake off the yoke of coloniality in your daily life.

The tutorial 'How to organize a workshop de-postcolonial timelines' is part of a long term social artistic project Wanneer stopt toen? (When does then stop?) looks more closely at the time lines being used in schools to teach history. After researching the material used in primary schools for the lessons in history, and more specifically, the Dutch colonial history, I came to the conclusion that education in history and culture keeps reproducing stereotypical representations of the ‘other’, by showing one national timeline, and re-telling tales of national heroes and negating others, with the consequence that the cultural archive of future generations keeps being filled up with images that reproduce stereotypes and white innocence. How can we create different kind of visual representations of ‘histories and herstories’ and share them?

The first workshop took shape during an initial attempt in July 2016 at SONSBEEK '16 transACTION in the park Sonsbeek with children and adults. During the workshop we made personal and alternative Dutch timelines based on personal events, with a focus on colonial history. The adults shared their memories, experiences and stories, whilst learning from children how to deal with ‘awkward’ subjects. All events on the timelines were marked by signs, making ambivalent and sometimes conflicting feelings visible. Perhaps we can, for a moment, destabilize the ‘great’ history being impressed on us by the nation state, to use that unstable situation to embed alternatives and to insert footnotes. The aim of the workshop was to let ‘other’ perspectives and voices speak, and thus sketches a more diverse image of Dutch history. This was not meant to bond the ‘Dutch citizen’ through a source of national pride in a chronological, national timeline, but to show a web of interwoven stories and clashing interests.

The form of tutorials suggests now that everybody is invited to organize one of the actions themselves and share the outcomes for example on the following face book page: facebook page Wanneer stopt toen?

It is an ongoing project: In the course of the next year there will occur more workshops, readings, public city walks, performance lectures, expositions and other events.

Wanneer stopt toen? KarbonArnhemFile#5
2016 - now

I am very glad to inform you about the recent release of the publication Karbon Arnhem File #5: Wanneer stopt toen? (When does then stop?). This publication takes the form of two artistic tutorials about (post-/de-)colonialism which comes from the conviction that postcolonialism is not just an intellectual legacy, but actually necessary as an active practice. Published in the framework of SONSBEEK '16 transACTION as part of the editorial, the booklet Karbon Arnhem File #5 became a collaborative work between me as an artist/educator, the artist Agung Kurniawan, the curator/editor Sanne Oorthuizen, and the graphic designer Robert Milne (Werkplaats Typografie, 2017).

Karbon Arnhem File #5 is now digitally available as a PDF with annotations in English: If you are interested you are invited to open the link: http://www.sonsbeek.org/en/karbonarnhemfiles/
Please be aware that in order to see the English annotations you will need to actually download it (and not just open it as a preview)!

My aim with this social-artistic project is to investigate the traces of the colonial past in the field of education and art, together with participants of workshops, readings , walks etc.
I looked into the educational material about history, with a special focus on Dutch colonial past and found interesting gaps in the construction of a Dutch Identity. Spots of 'colonial afasia' in the field of education. Is there a big White elephant of Colonialism standing in the room?

To be able to reflect critically on current, political and social issues in their complexities, an awareness of so-called ‘coloniality of power’ is necessary, i.e. the fact that European colonialism affects present forms of social discrimination. This publication tries to bring to light those structures and ‘habits’ on an artistic, critical and playful manner and ultimately, to question them. The ‘Remember Day Parade’ by artist Agung Kurniawan plays with collective memory and the performativity as well as the (re)production of history. The first ‘Remember Day Parade’ on Dutch ground took place in June 2016 as part of the opening week of SONSBEEK '16 transACTION.

I have been investigating 'colonial matters' in the domain of education with the intergenerational workshop ‘Wanneer Stopt Toen (When Does Then Stop)’, to question, together with children and adults, the unilateral timelines that are being used in Dutch primary schools to teach history.

Finally the text by Hypatia Vourloumis offers a theoretical intermezzo. Although she wrote the text under separate cover, as an introduction for a symposium, we are of the opinion that the speculation by Vourloumis about what colonial practice looks like (“How does it read? How does it sound? How does it feel?”) grants important philosophical insights into coloniality. When you are aware of the effects (and affects) of coloniality, you can begin to wonder how you can shake off the yoke of coloniality in your daily life.

The tutorial 'How to organize a workshop de-postcolonial timelines' is part of a long term social artistic project Wanneer stopt toen? (When does then stop?) looks more closely at the time lines being used in schools to teach history. After researching the material used in primary schools for the lessons in history, and more specifically, the Dutch colonial history, I came to the conclusion that education in history and culture keeps reproducing stereotypical representations of the ‘other’, by showing one national timeline, and re-telling tales of national heroes and negating others, with the consequence that the cultural archive of future generations keeps being filled up with images that reproduce stereotypes and white innocence. How can we create different kind of visual representations of ‘histories and herstories’ and share them?

The first workshop took shape during an initial attempt in July 2016 at SONSBEEK '16 transACTION in the park Sonsbeek with children and adults. During the workshop we made personal and alternative Dutch timelines based on personal events, with a focus on colonial history. The adults shared their memories, experiences and stories, whilst learning from children how to deal with ‘awkward’ subjects. All events on the timelines were marked by signs, making ambivalent and sometimes conflicting feelings visible. Perhaps we can, for a moment, destabilize the ‘great’ history being impressed on us by the nation state, to use that unstable situation to embed alternatives and to insert footnotes. The aim of the workshop was to let ‘other’ perspectives and voices speak, and thus sketches a more diverse image of Dutch history. This was not meant to bond the ‘Dutch citizen’ through a source of national pride in a chronological, national timeline, but to show a web of interwoven stories and clashing interests.

The form of tutorials suggests now that everybody is invited to organize one of the actions themselves and share the outcomes for example on the following face book page: facebook page Wanneer stopt toen?

It is an ongoing project: In the course of the next year there will occur more workshops, readings, public city walks, performance lectures, expositions and other events.