Opening Weekend

A day of talks and screenings included conversations with two protagonists of Prologue: Squat/Anti-Squat ︎ (one of the works presented in Cinema Olanda in Venice), Juanita Lalji (educator and former activist) and Andre Reeder (Film Maker and former activist). The discussions and screening were accompanied by an intervention by Patricia Kaersenhout. In the afternoon a panel was led by Lucy Cotter addressing Cinema Olanda and its underlying questions surrounding the Netherlands' (inter)national image regarding the Dutch cultural, political, and historical landscape. These questions were meditated upon in dialogue with David Dibosa (writer, theorist), Charl Landvreug (artist, curator, theorist) and Amandla Awethu! (activist and member of University of Colour) in the spirit of Wendelien van Oldenborgh's wider practice, expanding on key topics that have emerged through her process and collaborations with academics, thinkers, writers, artists and institutions.

The day before the opening of Cinem Olanda: Platform an Open Letter ︎ was published by a group of cultural critics and artists, questioning the stated criticality of Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art by pointing to its failure to acknowledge its entanglement with colonial violence. The project Cinema Olanda: Platform was implicated in this proposed failure and it was decided to spend part of the opening events on unpacking and discussing these issues.

Witte de With has since taken up the task to examine the origins of its name  and think about how to change this to do justice to the public discussion. ︎


Photographs by Aad Hoogendoorn


back to Cinema Olanda Platform ︎