Programs
Programs
Symposium: ‘What do we bring to the table?’
Images: Rebeca Pardos Valls
ArtTable Nederland x Amsterdam Art
On Tuesday 20 May, ArtTable and Amsterdam Art joined forces to present the symposium What do we bring to the table?
Calls from within the cultural sector emphasize the need to increase our resilience and flexibility to better adapt to the constant changes we face. More and more, we realize that we can only reach the necessary level of resilience through collaboration, as it opposes the individualistic, competitive and extractivist tendencies that we now recognize as the cause of our vulnerability. With the symposium ‘What do we bring to the table?’, we ask ourselves what skills, practices, methods and means we have that we use in our day-to-day work that contribute to the strength of the sector. What are the problems we face and which practices have we formulated in response? Can we create alliances to respond to some of these issues, or unite ourselves to demand change from other sectors when we can’t solve them ourselves?
This symposium brought various (inter)national art practitioners together to engage in meaningful and practical conversations about what they have to give, providing an opportunity for collective solidarity to arise and for alliances to be formed. The symposium was opened and led by Fatoş Üstek. She engaged in conversation with Zoé Whitley, Zeynep Kubat, Sophie Mak-Schram and Jeanne van Heeswijk in a plenary panel discussion. This was followed by interactive roundtable sessions, in which all participants were split in groups to exchange action-oriented strategies. By highlighting best practices and promoting reciprocity, the symposium strived for a strong, connected, and future-proof cultural field.
Framing Sounds: Exploring Sonic Influence with Sakir Khader, Diaspora Radio & Karmel Sabri
Image: Leonel Piccardo
Foam
On this dynamic evening, we dove deeper into the work of Sakir Khader and reflected on ways that we unite through image and sound.
Karmel Sabri hosted a live performance of 'You tell us not to sing our song', a sonic collage with an element of audience engagement through activation of a collective voice.
Then, Common Ground (Anna Celda and Saja Amro) invited you to sit with bitterness. Through their work, they brought you into a space of mourning by bringing in culinary rituals and funeral etiquette, bringing together the themes of food and death.
Afterwards, Sakir Khader joined host Hani Rahsepar in a live episode recording of Diaspora Radio. Diaspora Radio is a monthly show on Echobox Radio that unfolds stories from the diaspora. In conversation with Hani, guests share their stories and the music that influences them.
Thinking Forest: En Plein Air
Image: Petra Katanic
Thinking Forest Foundation
On Saturday April 12, 2025, we organized Thinking Forest: En Plein Air, in collaboration with artist Wapke Feenstra (Myvillages). This afternoon in part responded to the book Apprendre à Voir (Leren Kijken) by art historian Estelle Zhong Mengual—a plea for slow, careful observation to deepen our relationship with nature. For this occasion, we gathered to do plein-air drawing at Welna.
Thinking Forest: Dear Wood
Image: Petra Katanic
Thinking Forest Foundation
The last event of Thinking Forest Foundation of 2024 took place on Sunday November 9th.
We're looking back at a beautiful afternoon with the performance of Dear Wood by Gerbrand Burger together with Divakar Nambiath, Annelinde Bruijs and Manizja Kouhestani. The day included a workshop chaos weaving by Gina Maffey.
The performance was produced in collaboration with Claudy Jongstra and LOADS Collection.
Keti Koti 2024: Dinner experience by Code Noir
The Legacy of Rice
Image: Rowan Stol
Code Noir / Foam
For the annual commemoration of Keti Koti, Foam partnered with Code Noir to explore themes around enslavement and emancipation in Suriname and the Dutch Antilles.
Through a dining experience centring around the foodways of rice from Africa to the Caribbean (Oryza glaberrima), participants learned about African rice, the erasure of African agricultural heritage and the knowledge excluded from our history books around this commodity. The program included a two-course meal and a poetry performance by Julia-Beth Harris, all taking place in Foam’s garden.
Thinking Forest: Growing Roots (as art economy)
Image: Matthijs Immink
Thinking Forest Foundation
On Friday June 21st, the second event of Thinking Forest Foundation took place at the Welna estate.
The afternoon program started with a lecture by curator, sustainability consultant and writer Alice Bonnot, and continued with a conversation with artist Germaine Kruip, art consultant Siebe Tettero, and artist Nina Backman. Later on, guests were invited to take place at the dinner table for The Silence Meal led by Finnish artist Nina Backman. This performative, culinary experience consisted of three courses with a menu of carefully selected dishes by D.O.N.S. Catering / De Groene Ketel. As the title of this experience suggests, the meal was consumed completely in silence.
Thinking Forest: Deep Storage
Image: Petra Katanic
Thinking Forest Foundation
On Sunday April 7th, the first event of Thinking Forest Foundation called ‘Thinking Forest: Deep Storage’ took place on Landgoed Welna. On this day, Gerbrand Burger’s large sculptural installation was revealed in the forest of Welna. The supporting program consisted of a Deep Time Walk, led by Lian Kasper and Simon van der Els, plant-based catering by D.O.N.S. catering and an introduction to the work On a Trajectory Through a Maze of Trajectories by artist Gerbrand Burger and chair of Thinking Forest Foundation Marjolein van der Loo. Furthermore, designers of Studio Oblique Lacey Verhalen and Alexander Sand presented the visual identity of Thinking Forest Foundation.
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Industry Forum
Image: Aileen de Ruijter
Cinekid for Professionals
On October 26th, 2023 in Amsterdam, the Industry Forum of Cinekid for Professionals took place. With nearly 50 speakers divided over an expert panel, two keynotes and 40 roundtable sessions, developments in the children’s media sector were discussed. Speakers included Deanna Marsigliese, Matt Weckel, Rikke Flodin, Patrick Chin, Francine Oomen, Zainab Goelaman, Iraida Markus-Meerzorg and Manoushka Zeegelaar Breeveld, Sumita Majumdar, Bianca Maasdamme and Peggy Reiziger and many more!
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Tabili NO. 11 - Collectors
Image: Victor Wennekes
Tabili, Amsterdam Museum, Huis Willet-Holthuysen
The Amsterdam Museum invited Tabili to host a special dinner event at Huis Willet-Holthuysen around the theme ‘Collectors’. The event responded to the exhibition by Maaike Schoorel, which was on show at Huis Willet-Holthuysen, and the research project De Andere Helft.
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Museumnacht 2022
Image: Jaimy Gail
Huis Willet-Holthuysen
Program in collaboration with The TittyMag.
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The Future of the Dutch Colonial Past
Amsterdam Museum
Two-day symposium in collaboration with The Black Archives, Rijksmuseum, NIOD, Stadsarchief, Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen & ASCA.
Speakers included: Ciraj Rassool, Clémentine Deliss, Kader Attia, Anthony Bogues, Iswanto Hartono, Rolando Vázquez, Sherida Kuffour and many more.
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Relevant Response
Image: Rowan Stol
Amsterdam Museum, Pakhuis de Zwijger
What can cultural institutions do in times of political conflict, with war and violence taking place across the world? How do we define our role and respond in a way that’s relevant? What helpful practices can we share with each other? Who should we involve in that process? What are the vulnerabilities of doing so? And are we able to develop practices that aligns with our principles as an institution and which we can apply in similarly, future situations?
The program series Relevant Response sought to find answers to these and other questions that came up as the series progressed.
The series was made in co-creation with Sahar Shirzad.
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Museumnacht 2021
Image: Amsterdam Museum, Françoise Bolechowski
Amsterdam Museum
An evening surrounding the theme ‘gold’.
Program
Music by Mairo Nawaz, Sekan and KAMMA
Performance by Naomie Pieter
Paneltalk with Agnes Montecinos Muñoz, Daniël Declerq and Mairo Nawaz
Workshop with Sarah van Sonsbeeck
The Architecture of Sex
Amsterdam Museum
Symposium curated by Simon(e) van Saarloos With Kübra Uzun, Jeanette Chedda, Tracian Meikle, Benjamin Asante, René Boer, Kevin Gotkin, and Sophie Lewis.
The symposium explores some of the many questions and ambiguities in the work Cruising Gezi Park (2021) by Kübra Uzun and Simon(e) van Saarloos. Topics range from ableist architecture and surveillance technologies, to sexual communication and disobedience in the city.
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Symposium Refresh Amsterdam
Image: Karin Tang
Amsterdam Museum
A symposium dedicated to the first edition of the biannual manifestation Refresh Amsterdam. In this symposium, makers and representatives of cultural institutions were brought together to engage in conversations about the cultural climate in the city.
See full program.