Translocality in the Arts

What does it mean to work internationally anno 2020? Are the traditional categories, such as ‘international’ and ‘cosmopolitan’, still sufficient to both describe the ambitions of artists and cultural workers, and address the challenges of working in a globalised world? In our colloquium on translocality in the arts, prof. dr. Maarten Doorman (Maastricht University, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) explained how the arts can be both globally oriented and locally embedded in his keynote speech, referring to the current coronacrisis. Read his speech in our magazine.

The next colloquium will be on June 25th about Cosmopolitanism in the Arts. Please send us an email if you want to receive an invitation for the colloquium.

Infected Cities #5: São Paulo

Online LIVECAST. Thursday June 4th. 4 – 5pm (CEST).
Amid the developing coronavirus crisis, international focus is starting to turn more and more to South America, and Brazil in particular, the country with the highest number of confirmed cases within the region. Brazil’s most affected city is São Paulo. Together with speakers Tuca Vieira (photographer and architect/urbanist), Juliana dos Santos (visual artist and researcher), João Leiva Filho (cultural entrepreneur and researcher) and others, we will reflect on the situation in the city and how artists cope. Read more about the programme and watch the episode tomorrow live via our website.

The series Infected Cities is developed in collaboration with Pakhuis de Zwijger.

The situation in Shanghai

In the past years, Shanghai’s art scene was flourishing with various new initiatives and infrastructure. How could the cultural sector continue to develop during this impactful pandemic? And, what is the role of art and culture in (post) COVID-19 Shanghai? In the sixth episode of Infected Cities, we will zoom in on the Chinese city that is trying to recover from the impact of coronavirus. The LIVECAST will be broadcasted on Thursday June 11th at 2pm. Read more about the situation in Shanghai and the programme at this page.
 

Art in Times of Corona: Dutch children’s books presented on video

For the annual Children’s Book Fair in Bologna – the most important international book fair for children’s books – the Dutch Foundation for Literature usually provides a brochure with a selection of titles they recommend to foreign publishers. As the fair was cancelled this year due to the corona crisis, instead of simply sending a pdf-file of this year’s brochure, they asked the writers and illustrators of the books to make a one-minute video in which they present their book, which resulted in a series of fun and colourful video’s of Gideon Samson, Tonke Dragt, Edward van de Vendel and Milja Praagman, among others. Read the article about the initiative.

Credits image: Joren Joshua