Finissage: On the Nature of Botanical Gardens
Performative lecture by Amy Pekal and Marit Mihklepp outside the Hortus Botanicus, Amsterdam.
(De)Colonial Presence
This topic of research explores the ways in which colonial history is embedded in current structures and affects our daily lives. How are these relations made visible by contemporary artists and activists today? This differs from other research on colonial structures of knowledge by engaging with “multiple tenses” i.e. past, present, and future. Inspired by previous Framer Framed curators, Sadiah Boonstra and Chandra Frank, the facets of research for (De)Colonial Presence use decolonial praxis to rethink art, cultures, the role of cultural institutions and representation.
On the Nature of a Name
This strand of Framer Framed's research was initially inspired by the decolonial theoretical framework of the exhibition On the Nature of Botanical Gardens. For the finissage of the exhibition, in collaboration with Cultureland, Framer Framed invited artists Amy Pekal and Marit Mihklepp to create a playful performative lecture entitled On the Nature of a Name that investigates the etymology of plant species.
The performance embodied a decolonial lens to challenge our undertsnainf of plants and the garden, and by extension our own colonial world-view of knowledge and being.
Decolonial Futures
Decolonial Futures is an exchange programme organised between the Sandberg Instituut, the Gerrit Rietveld Academie and Framer Framed in Amsterdam as well as Funda Community College in Soweto, South Africa. The programme was inspired by the desire to work collectively towards a decolonial future in which an equal exchange of knowledges and perspectives from students working across the disciplines of art and design could be established.
Decolonial Futures
Each term will focus on a specific project or thematic informed by some of the current efforts undertaken by counter-hegemonic movements and initiatives around the world. In other words, the projects - by the nature of the participants 'and their institutions' endeavors and practices - will be centered around questions of decolonization in the context of art and education.
Being Imposed Upon
Being Imposed Upon is an Afro-feminist publication in Dutch and French initiated by publiekeacties. The book features non-fiction essays, literary reflections, poetry, testimonials, activist and academic texts which reflect on what it means to be black and be a woman in Belgium today, written by black women themselves.
Framer Framed organised the Dutch launch of the publication to host an online panel discussion on how black women can create and occupy spaces in arts & culture. The conversation is still available to watch on YouTube.
This event was a continaution from the 2018 book presentation for When we speak about colonisation.
Atelier KITLV
Atelier KITLV: Experimental Knowledge in Art, Activism, and Academia is a collaboration with Framer Framed and the Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies (KITLV).
Atelier KITLV crafts a space for cross-over experimentation between academics, artists, activists, writers, and journalists. The Atelier will conssist of a series of public programs and culminate in a residency for one or more fellows, working, in close collaboration with KITLV researchers, on the intersections of arts, social sciences and the humanities.
Read more about the project and programs below.