A symposium on the civic practice of art institutions with contributions by: Yasmin Ahmed (activist, Amsterdam), Isshaq Al-Barbary (artist and researcher, Amsterdam), Barby Asante (artist, curator, and educator, London), Matthijs de Bruijne (artist and union organizer, Amsterdam), Mitchell Esajas (anthropologist, curator, and social entrepreneur, Amsterdam), Jeanne van Heeswijk (artist, Rotterdam), Maria Hlavajova (General and Artistic Director of BAK, basis voor actuele kunst, Utrecht), Triwish Hanoeman (musician and cultural entrepreneur, Utrecht), Nicoline van Harskamp (artist, Amsterdam), Natalia Kulik (public speaker, moderator and project coordinator, Utrecht), Andrea Phillips (theorist and writer, London), Laura Raicovich (curator and writer, New York), Shay Raviv (social designer and researcher, Utrecht), Jun Saturay (artist, Utrecht), Mustapha Seray Bah (trainer, organizer, discussion leader, Utrecht), and others.

Propositions #10: Instituting Otherwise is a one-day public symposium organized by BAK, basis voor actuele kunst, Utrecht on Saturday 7 December 2019, from 13–21 hrs. The symposium probes the question of how to institute spaces for art in the face of the pressing urgencies of the present.

Driven by these urgencies—such as environmental violence, persistent racism, systemic inequalities, as well as fascisms and micro-fascisms—the symposium engages a proposition of the art institution as a microcosm of a world centered on social and ecological justice. In this proposition, the practices of the art institution are the actualization of the collective alternative imaginings of the “not-yet”: of “another world” and “another future.” Key to such an imaginary are the constituencies the institution serves, and the consequent re-compositions of institutional practice not only in respect to what western modernity used to call “audiences,” but across all institutional processes. The symposium discusses challenges related to such a re-purposing of the art institution, and considers notions of civic practice, collaborative learning and radical pedagogy, solidarity and mutual care, as well as the fallacy of institutional politico-ideological neutrality.

The notion of “instituting otherwise” has been an adage since the inception of BAK in 2000, which has driven its practice as a basis where art, research, theory, and social action meet in coalition to imagine and actualize alternatives to today’s world. Over the past twenty years, BAK has been developing this notion through various multifaceted programs, research, and publications and in intensive collaborations with its multi-talented, poly-vocal constituencies. “Instituting otherwise” is a method of continuous interrogation into the conditions of the world with and alongside these constituencies, and a way of confronting the injustices in the world collectively and propositionally. It is at the same time a systematic move away from institutions as they persist—specifically in the west and in ways redolent of the colonial era—as custodians of power engaged in depoliticizing and neutralizing the possibility of art as aesthetic-political experimentation geared toward another future. Instead, this method moves toward a concrete, tactical realization of alternatives to the world we know today.

When:
Saturday 7 December, 13–21 hrs, with an option to have dinner at 17.45 hrs in the Basic Activist Kitchen.
Language: English

Tickets:
Normal tickets: €20 incl. dinner / €10 excl. dinner
Student tickets: €17.50 incl. dinner / €7.50 excl. dinner

Solidarity tickets:
BAK provides solidarity tickets for those who would otherwise not be able to attend. These tickets provide free entry. If this applies to you, please choose the option Solidarity Ticket (please note: there is a Solidarity Ticket without dinner, and with dinner - for dinner, there is a fixed prize of €10).

For the most recent updates on the program, check the symposium on the BAK website.

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Trainings for the Not-Yet, a project by BAK and artist Jeanne Van Heeswijk, is an exhibition as a series of "community learnings", performative workshops, artworks and conversations, for a future of "being together otherwise". With contributions by over 50 (inter)national and local guests, initiatives and communities.

Propositions #10: Instituting Otherwise is a temporary spin-off from Trainings for the Not-Yet (14 September 2019–12 January 2020) currently taking place at BAK. It is preceded by a series of workshops for fellow art institutions, funds, and policy makers in the Netherlands, held at BAK on 6 December 2019. Both these events are part of BAK’s commitment to public practice aimed at sharing preliminary learnings from the Trainings for the Not-Yet with others, specifically in the moment when many art institutions in the Netherlands finalize their policies for the forthcoming four-year funding period.

Propositions #10: Instituting Otherwise is the tenth iteration of BAK’s long-term research series Propositions for Non-Fascist Living (2017–ongoing), which seeks to collectively think and act out ways of being together otherwise.

[Image: Carmen Papalia, Open Access, collective performance in the context of Trainings for the Not-Yet, BAK, basis voor actuele kunst, Utrecht, 26 October 2019, photo: Tom Janssen]