Bringing together essential voices from artists’ initiatives, past and present,
Quartair will host an event to consider the enduring influence of artist-run spaces in the Netherlands. The event merges three causes to celebrate: the launch of the two latest issues of Kunstlicht, which consider the means by which artists subvert and demystify power structures in art’s institutions and in public space; the launch of a new online publication series with Platform BK that will feature articles that delve into the history of artist-run spaces in the Netherlands from the 1980s/90s; and the 25th anniversary of Quartair, an artists’ initiative that has itself been subverting conventions since 1992. At the crux of the event is the significance of the artists’ initiative as a space for unmitigated expression, with a focus on the important role such spaces have played in the Netherlands over the last three decades.
With short lectures at 19:00 by Angela M. Bartholomew (art historian, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, editor of Kunstlicht), Eva Fotiadi (art historian, UvA & AKV|St Joost), Jack Segbars (artist, critic, co-founder of Platform BK), and Marjolein van den Ven (Kunstvlaai); a moderated discussion between influential figures from artists’ initiatives of the 1980s and 1990s and the present; and a performance of the ¡Cumbia Lunática! by the notorious Dick El Demasiado.