Digital Explorers at distant.gallery festival

On Sunday 9 November, the online festival distant.gallery came to a finale at the De Balie debate centre in Amsterdam. Witte Rook participated in the online presentations prior to the panel discussion, together with the Ukrainian organisation Zapravka.

The evening was entitled “Artistic Resistance in the Age of Big Tech” and featured artists, journalists and organisers presenting a showcase of (digital) projects that seek to evade the watchful eye of meddlesome governments and capitalist tech companies as much as possible. The locations from which participants joined online were Georgia, Sudan, Germany, the United States, Ukraine, and the Netherlands via the cities of Amsterdam and Breda. Our contribution is a preview of the continuation of the Digital Explorers project, in which we invite artists to set up an online studio as digital Artists in Residence. This time, the theme is “Across Borders”, in which we seek collaboration between Dutch and Ukrainian artists who are restricted in their freedom of movement. Together with Anastasiia Manuliak, head of the visual arts programme at the Ukrainian Institute and member of Zapravka, Esther van Rosmalen presented the plan via the common.garden platform.

The evening concluded with a physical panel discussion at De Balie with Astrid Weij (Kunsten 92), Joke de Wolf (art historian), Sepp Eckenhaussen (researcher) and Constant Dullaart (artist), moderated by Merlijn Geurts. Reflecting on the online presentations, concerns about censorship and exclusion were raised from the perspective of artists and arts organisations. The idea of a Dutch Free Haven was also discussed, with the caveat that exclusion within the boundaries of our constitutional state is unfortunately conceivable. How can we arm ourselves against populism and fascism? Astrid referred to De Correspondent 10 rules for remaining open, honest and curious about others. You can watch a recording of the evening via this link.