Go-Between in the Bijlmer

The other day I attended the Go Between curatorial project in de Bijlmer, which is an area of southeastern Amsterdam. This art event, through de Appel museum, is a collaboration among several young curators from around the world. They have curated various artworks, also by international artists, that pertain in some way with to de Bijmer, which was planned after the Second World War and consists of many high-rise and futuristic apartment complexes, a far cry from the mainly 1600s and 1700s architecture of Amsterdam centrum. Though originally planned for "regular" middle class Dutch families, de Bijlmer ended up being mainly filled with immigrants and many people of Suriname heritage. This multicultural neighborhood is a reminder (and educator) of the Netherlands' history of colonialism. In fact, I didn't know much at all about Suriname until I attended the Kwakoe festival in de Bijlmer last year.

Since we forgot the map of how to get to the Go Between, it took us a good deal of time -- we soon discovered that the "Florijn" flat that we sought was not one, but several, huge apartment complexes. This meant stopping to ask at least five different people for directions. It was very exciting to get there at last; I found it interesting that they chose to use an apartment as the primary location for the project, which is spread throughout the area.

It was disappointing that Surasi Kusolwong, a Bangkok artist who was supposed to be there that evening, was unable to come (visa and financial problems were mentioned). They did have a Mexican artist there, Gustavo Artigas, and they showed his video art called "The Stumble Project." I must say that I was not too excited by this -- sometimes I like video art, sometimes I don't, and this one was just a so-so in my book. What surprised me was that two of the curators praised his project because it was supposedly one that really focused on the people of the area. Artigas collaborated with the people of the community, but unfortunately what I saw did not really reflect that. The video-taped area consisted of a square drain-thingy in the concrete that had dirt in it, and it was uneven and therefore could easily make people stumble (hence the name). People's lower bodies were filmed as they walked or ran by, some of them seemingly tripping on purpose. To me, this could have been in so many places of the world; its "universal" feel actually reminded me of a Coca-Cola commercial. I thought that the film would have been localized by his collaboration with the people, but it did not seem this way after all. I think part of the reason for its de-localization is because the heads of the people are not shown. There is also little sound, with Dutch not being recognizable. Perhaps this was a project that did "represent" the community at the time because its people are, after all, the bodies within it. It is a shame, though, that its filming process localization could not have been preserved in the end product.

The main event of this Go Between evening was a discussion, part of which we missed due to our late arrival. The debates over how to reach / satisfy certain audiences and over art versus momument were not really my thing; this curatorial realm is just a bit too nitpicky for me. However, I was all ears (and suppressed laughs) during an interesting, quintessential, mock "encounter with the Other" which took place in the middle of the dialogue. While the Dutch curators and random art industry people were less than respectful to one another (their discussion was replete with interruptions, accusations, and general butting-in), their attitude, and even tone of voice, changed when trying to bring the "foreigners" into the debate. A couple of them looked toward some members of the Chinese art industry who were there exploring the project, stating super sweetly that they would love to hear their thoughts. During all of the time-consuming translation process, broken English, and blank spells for thinking, the Dutch discussion leaders were very respectful and quiet. This went on for quite awhile -- apparently it is more interesting to hear the opinions of "Other" others as opposed to others from your own culture.

The Go Between project did not get a good review in the Volkskrant's article, which argued that they put their party organizing before the community members. I wouldn't say that, but I do know that they will be having two sheep roasted this weekend at a party. The curators even saw the slaughtering of the sheep, so at least they paid attention to the animal members of the community. But seriously, from their discussion, I do believe they attempted to immerse themselves in the community and to engage community interests, but this is always a challenge in the field of art.