In Our People are Our Mountains (quoting from Amílcar Cabral’s words on the Guinea-Bissau’s liberation movement), artists and collectives in Palestine and elsewhere who work on questions around land from different perspectives, collaborate with majelis (assembly) Jakarta by sending instructions remotely. Utilizing instructions, rather than physically transferring works or facilitating travel, stems from ethical, political, and environmental considerations. The act of sending instructions is also a way to point to the physical and symbolic distances, particularly emphasizing the profound difficulties associated with moving in and out of Palestine, especially during the ongoing genocide. This initiative, therefore, is an act of transmission and trust—artists will transmit their creative directives to counterparts in Jakarta, who will, in turn, realize, contribute to, perform, or enact the instructions in place.
In the Amsterdam iteration, the instructions will be presented, whereas some of them will be activated throughout the coming weeks. Every week of the presentation span, a new video by the participating artists and others will be screened on loop for one full exhibition week. In addition a programme of performances, workshops and gatherings will take place throughout the project span. The group project opens with to her, and with her, a performance by Noor Abed and Zeynep Kayan.
About to her, and with her by Noor Abed and Zeynep Kayan
In the midst of these dreadful times, we found ourselves naturally in a continuous correspondence – on friendship, on what is to be done, on cultivating hope and a space for creation. Through improvisation, the performance reflects a space in the making; a correspondence of sound and scenes in creation. Holding the very present moment in a stream of our unconscious, on continuous grief, death, friendship, and ways of being and acting together. The performance will be on intermittently during the opening of the exhibition.
