the Not Surprised Collective
On 28 May 2024 a group of cultural workers, artists, and activists submitted a collective request to the Stedelijk Museum to loan Bakunin’s Barricade, an artwork by Ahmet Öğüt, to help protect protesting students from police brutality. They were deeply concerned about the ongoing genocide and human rights violations against the Palestinian people and the lack of action by the Dutch government and public institutions, including the Stedelijk, despite several preliminary rulings of the International Court of Justice.
Through their request they wanted to support the protesting students and their demand that educational institutions end their cooperation with the Israeli state and Israeli-affiliated companies and institute an academic boycott. The excessive police violence used during evictions of student encampments in Amsterdam, Groningen, and Utrecht, among other places, showed that these students needed effective protective measures. Bakunin’s Barricade could provide this protection. The loan also offered an opportunity for the Stedelijk Museum to be socially relevant and side with justice, after more than half a year of silently witnessing genocide. After going in conversation with the museum management, the loan request was denied.