Annette Krauss will talk about her research into unlearning in relation to the Anti-Zwarte Piet project Read the Masks. Tradition is Not Given (in collaboration with Petra Bauer) that blurs the boundaries between art, activism, institutions and real life to think about how speech and gesture might wage political and institutional power.
The project Read the Masks. Tradition is not Given was commissioned by Van Abbemuseuem, Eindhoven, within the context of a two-year research programme concerned with Dutch national identity entitled Be(com)ing Dutch. Petra and Annette worked with local activist groups including Doorbraak and Untold, aiming to generate a space in which to debate the problematic facets of this tradition. One output of the project is manifested in the 2009 film Read the Masks. Tradition is not Given, which triggered intense discussions in the media.
The phenomenon and the subsequent debates circulate around the issues of national identity, racism, the ownership of culture and the right to speak.
Click here to watch the film
Annette Krauss works as an artist, writer and educator. In her conceptual-based practice she addresses the intersection of art, politics and everyday life. Her work revolves around informal knowledge and normalization processes that shape our bodies, the way we use objects, engage in social practices and how these influence the way we know and act in the world. Her artistic work emerges through the intersection of different media, such as performance, video, historical and everyday research, pedagogy and texts. Annette Krauss has (co-)initiated various long-term collaborative practices (Hidden Curriculum / Sites for Unlearning / Read-in / ASK! / Read the Masks. Tradition is Not Given / School of Temporalities). These projects reflect and build upon the potential of collaborative practices while aiming at disrupting taken-for-granted “truths” in theory and practice.
Lecture is part of Exhibiting/IZK Theory Lecture Series and is organised in cooperation with < rotor > center for contemporary art.
