About the part that art plays in a globalising society

Framer Framed

Photo: © Betul Ellialtioglu / Framer Framed (2019)

Linnemore Nefdt

I’ve been a host at Framer Framed since 2016 and am now also a tour guide. I enjoy being surrounded by a changing spectrum of socially and visually engaging art, the surprise, every time, of a new exhibition with another point of view and often from another part of the world. Also, each exhibition attracts different people and many visitors are from abroad and seek out Framer intentionally, so one is not confronted with the same crowd all the time. I feel very much at home with the international ambiance -and the warmth of the Framer people.

 

The discussions with the visitors are fascinating. A visitor I’d had a long talk with returned later and insisted I accept a bunch of tulips to make up for what she felt was an insensitive remark on her part.  That was totally unnecessary but very sweet – and very sensitive of her.

 

The discourse at Framer Framed ticks many boxes for me – growing up in Apartheid South Africa as a person of colour gave direction to my study and practice in art, fashion and education. Now that I am retired from education (Amsterdam Fashion Institute, AUAS), I enjoy being part of the discourse as a supporter of organisations like Framer Framed; Rambler Studios Amsterdam, a creative organisation for challenged youth; Easy Essentials, a circular/sustainable/ethical collaborative t-shirt brand and co-developing the Camissa Museum as a designer, unearthing the challenging story of the Indian Ocean slave routes and the peopling of Cape Town.

 

How visual artists in different parts of the world are reacting to the social challenges imposed by the pandemic. Also reflections on how the media in the Netherlands are framing the situation, whose stories are being told and whose not.


Magazine