Noordkaap
In 2011-2012 art initiative Noordkaap (Dordrecht, The Netherlands) researched the rise of populism in Europe. As part of this research several European cities were paid a visit: Istanbul, Munich, Cologne, Lisbon, Budapest. In these cities Noordkaap wanted to research how populism manifestated itself, and how artists dealt with the rise of populism. Artists were asked to respond to local phenomenons, habits and current developments in society. Art initiative Extrapool (Nijmegen, The Netherlands) was invited by Noordkaap to come to Munich and Istanbul as well, presenting sound art pieces and wallpapers on the spot. Curators of the project were Jan Kryszons and Katja Diallo.
I helped Noordkaap out as project assistent, joining them on their trips to Munich, Cologne and Istanbul. I was editor-in-chief of the first three publications that were being released, I interviewed several artists on camera, helped to ask for funds and so on.
Noordkaap in Munich
The European tour started with the ‘Adios Holanda’ exhibition in Munich, Germany.
Artists: Achim Mohné/ Uta Kopp: REMOTEWORDS (DE), Hans van den Ban (NL), Nada van Dalen (NL), Extrapool (NL): Anna McCarthy (UK) and Rumpeln (DE), Fabian Hesse (DE), Daan den Houter (NL), Tassilo Letzel (DE), Tirzo Martha (AN), Filippo Minelli (IT), Federico d’ Orazio (IT), Abner Preis (US) en Yvo van der Vat (NL), Ron Petrol (DE), Tim Wu and Piko Be (DE).
Curators: Katja Diallo & Jan Kryszons
Video
Video item about the Adios Holanda project Noordkaap did in Munich. For the video I inetrviewed artists Tirzo Martha, Yvo van der Vat, Nada van Dalen and Fabian Hesse.
Camera: Jan Kryszons/Jeanne van der Horst. Editing: Jan Kryszons/Jeanne van der Horst.
Artist Abner Preis transformed a playing field next to art space WhiteBOX (Munich) into a Superhero booth camp. Local artist Tassilo Letzel organised biking tours to his favourite spots in the city, spots that were good examples of how the city was being transformed the last couple of years. Fabian Hesse did a performance marathon, in which he read the Civil Code of Germany. While Dutch artist Daan Den Houter did invite you to join him on his huge stammtisch.
Noordkaap in Istanbul
Artists: Hans van den Ban – Johannes Brechter (DE) – Nada van Dalen – Susi Gelb (DE) – Daan den Houter – Tassilo Letzel (DE), Ferhat Özgür (TR). Extrapool invited: Ivette Mrova Zub (NL/PL) and Piotr Kurek (PL)
Curators: katja Diallo & Jan Kryszons
The second city that we paid a visit was Istanbul. In Istanbul, Noordkaap didn’t exhibit in a traditional art space, but in stead organized a program in a yellow container, which was located in front of the Mimar Sinar University of Fine Arts (adress: Meclis-i Mebusan Caddesi No.2). The title of the project directly referred to this location: Meclis-i-Mebusan. As part of the project several performances were organized in public space in Istanbul as well. The project also included screenings of videos by Turkish artists.
Photos © Roel Weenink
7 artists did create new work on the spot, referring to specific elements in Istanbul and Turkish society as a whole. The performances and actions were documented on camera. In the weekends of 16th and 17th of September 2011 and 23rd and 24th of September 2011, the videos were screened in front of the University. On the 16th of September it started with performances by Piotr Kurek and Ivette Mrova, both invited by Extrapool. Kurek created a ‘radio play’ in which one could hear fragments of police officers talking, while also hearing personal stories of migrants. A film by artist Johanned Brechter was screened as well, who did a puppet theater performance about the Turkish characters Karagöz and Hacivat, the two main characters of traditional Turkish Shadow Play, which was very popular during the Ottoman Empire. Earlier on Brechter performed his play in the Streets of Istanbul, and let the characters a.o. discuss the importance of art. Artist Tassilo Letzel organised a city tour via public transport. The video documentation was shown at the screening.
Two videos of artist Ferhat Özgür were shown at the screening as well.
In ‘I can Sing” (2008) a woman mimicked the song “Halleluja” by Leonard Cohen, in front of newly built areas in Ankara, a city in which the transformation is visible everywhere. In the other video, called “Metamorphosis Chat” (2010), one could see a Turkish woman being visited by her neighbour, who had a more traditional style of clothing. The two women changed clothes, while discussing eachother’s worldviews. The way of filming referred to that in Turkish soap operas.
Video:
Video item about the Meclis-I-Mebusan project Noordkaap organized in Istanbul in 2012. For this video I interviewed Turkish assistants Guclu Polat & Cigdem Asatekin and did interviews with artists Ferhat Ozgur, Burak Delier, Ivette Mrova Zub and Johannes Brechter. Camera: Jan Kryszons. Editing: Jan Kryszons/Jeanne van der Horst.
Noordkaap in Cologne
Artists: Arturo Hernández Alcázar (Mexico City), Hans van den Ban (Amsterdam), Nada van Dalen (Dordrecht), Dan Dryer (Keulen), Foundland (Amsterdam), Fabian Hesse (München), Oliver Kunkel (Keulen), Daan den Houter (Rotterdam), Filippo Minelli (Brescia), Federico D’Orazio (Den Bosch/ Bangkok) and Art van Triest (Utrecht)
Curators: Katja Diallo & Jan Kryszons
The third city we paid a visit was Cologne, a city where there has been a lot of fuzz about the erection of a huge mosque the last couple of years. This time my only task was being editor-in-chief of the Cologne edition of Noordkaap Times
Photos © Roel Weenink
The opening of the exhibition was on the 3rd of February 2012. It included film screenings and performances by Phillip Ruch (Zentrum fur Politische Schonheit), Hall & Rauch, and Ron Petrol. The exhibition lasted till Sunday 5th of February 2012. On Sunday the 5th of February there was a performance by artist Nada van Dalen.
Video:
Item about the project Noordkaap did in Cologne (Germany). Camera: Jan Kryszons. Editing: Jan Kryszons/Jeanne van der Horst.
Noordkaap Times
With every city that Noordkaap attended, a new version of the Noordkaap Times was being released. Included in this newspaper – of which the design referred to that of populist newspapers of the countries we visited – were columns, articles written by artists, researchers and writers and so on.
The Adios Holanda publication. The newspaper a.o. included articles by Machteld Leij, Merijn Oudenampsen, Macha Roesink.
The Meclis-I-Mebusan publication. The newspaper include articles by a.o. Bas Heijne, Pelin Tan, Wouter Osterholt & Elke Uitentuis, Jonas Staal.
The Cologne publication. The newspaper a.o. included articles by Benjamin Durr, Lotje Dercksen, Frank and Maarten Meester.
