AC Assembly: reflection of day 1–3

In the first three days of the Arts Collaboratory Assembly, 24 arts organizations from Africa, Asia, Latin America, The Middle East and Europe, reunited after a hiatus during the last few years. Casco Art Institute: Working for the Commons and Stichting DOEN had the honor to host the Assembly together in the Netherlands.

Generously hosted by Framed Framed (FF), the first evening was dedicated to landing and catching up with each other through sharing food. The assembly participants were welcomed by Aline Hernández and Marianna Takou from Casco team and by Josien Pieterse and Emily Lee from FF whom spoke about the various ways they collaborated with Arts Collaboratory members over the past decade. As the assembly took place at a moment when our Palestinian members were (and still are) under military attack by the Israeli military, it served as a painful reminder that some of us could not be present. In solidarity, Aline read a statement from our fellow members addressing those present.

The next day, the assembly bus headed to de Appel, one of the main locations of our assembly process, as AC was one of the partners de Appel’s curatorial fellows’ final program Hope is a discipline. The first internal working session occurred, starting with a tea ceremony by members of Centre du Soleil from Mali, followed by reflections and discussions on transnational networks of solidarity from Mali to Palestine. For the second half, we welcomed Yazan Khalili for a Learning Palestine Group session followed by a hybrid conversation with AC members from Palestine, during which they shared how their organizations operate and their programs under the prism of the colonial occupation. 

On the second day, we traveled to Eindhoven. We landed at the Van Abbemuseum, starting with an inquiry into its exhibited works in the permanent collection presentation Delinking and Relinking and the role a museum plays in de-modernizing art, guided by director Charles Esche. Following this, a long and worthwhile afternoon of discussions occurred between Arts Collaboratory, Lumbung and L’Internationale. 

Here, we delved into the intricacies and challenges of critical alternative networking, collaboration, and cooperative efforts within the arts. It was symbolically held in the Museum as Parliament Room, a replica artwork of where the stateless democracy of the Rojava Revolution in Northern-Syria is conducted.

The emphasis on the third day at de Appel shifted towards building connections and embodying the lumbung ethos—an ethos characterized by communal sharing of resources through friendship and joy. The assembly participants were joined by fellow lumbung members based in the Netherlands. They closed with an evening program, a(n) (af) fair, where lumbung kios and AC members merged their publications, prints and merchandise to create an economy for further exchanges and collaborations.