On Saturday 3 June, Jeanne van Heeswijk will talk to Isshaq Albarbary about the cross-fertilisation between a social artist practice, ‘community assembly’ and practice research. Albarbary is one of the central participants in the collective project It’s OK… in the Oude Kerk. Initiated by artist Jeanne van Heeswijk, more than a hundred local and international makers, residents and thinkers will gather in the Oude Kerk between 26 May and 24 September. They will discuss current social issues with each other and visitors. Over forty public meetings will be organised during the event. At the invitation of the Oude Kerk, Van Heeswijk will investigate how various forms of collectivity contribute to a more resilient social fabric. It’s OK… does not want to be an exhibition as a mirror on today’s social issues, but a place where these issues can be freely discussed by the people it (affects).

Jeanne van Heeswijk is seen as an important representative of wider social engagement in art. She is a Dutch artist living in Rotterdam. Her large-scale projects focus on creating communities that take independent initiative to shape their urban future. In her work, she connects art with social design, social issues and political activism. She initiated long-term local initiatives in recent years in Philadelphia, Rotterdam, Liverpool, Edinburgh, among others.

Isshaq Albarbary is a Palestinian artist living and working in Amsterdam. His work focuses on the heritage of refugees and how culture is used as a weapon. He is part of the collective Urban Front, was 2017/2018 fellow at BAK, basis for contemporary art. Previously, he was a member and coordinator of Campus in Camps Collective. Albarbary is initiator of the It’s OK… Circle ‘Tanaaquah, the chiselling of collectivity’.