Joram Kraaijeveld, chairperson of the board, says on the new appointment of Arthur Kneepkens and Hilda Moucharrafieh:

“We are delighted with the arrival of Arthur and Hilda as the new co-directors of our organization. We have great confidence that they will continue the important work that was started over 10 years ago with conviction. The urgency to increase solidarity through and with the arts seems higher than ever. Arthur and Hilda have extensive experience in building coalitions and partnerships in various self-initiated innovative organisations in the arts field. Consequently, we have great trust that they will be able to represent the visual artists and art workers in the Netherlands, contribute with a critical voice in response to urgent matters, and develop new ideas through which we can imagine a more artistic and just world.”

Arthur and Hilda on their co-directorship:

“In the artistic collaborations we have done together and in other constellations, we have always been concerned with establishing and supporting justice-driven solidarities and the amplification of marginalised voices. In this spirit, the poetic and political practices of Platform BK resonate within us and encourage us to continue building on that legacy.

In a paternalistic democracy with hyper-surveilled bureaucratic mazes, such as in The Netherlands, we maneuver within rhizomatic underground tunnels, planting and nurturing seeds of solidarity. While we don’t have much hope for strategies of structural reform, we will not give up on shaking the pillars of post-colonial extractivist policies. And as might be true at any moment in time: it is urgent work, now more than ever.

As the new co-directors of Platform BK, we look forward to developing gatherings and tools that strengthen the position of artists. This is the starting point from which we embrace and support anti-colonial transnational solidarity practices within the field of the (visual) arts and across socially engaged disciplines. Together we work towards a world where we can all live in creativity and dignity, which uncompromisingly includes a free Palestine.”

More on Arthur and Hilda:

Arthur Kneepkens (b. 1981, The Netherlands) works as a maker, dramaturge, curator, and teacher with, for, and in collectives, collaborations, and communities. He has a background in theatre, initially with (new) dramatic repertoire and autofiction, which developed towards site-specific and community-sensitive practices. Hence his practices organically became interdisciplinary.

Currently, he is a member of the artist-run collective Theaterstraat, where he co-initiated the Social Art Museum (SAM). He is also part of the artistic core team of the site-specific theatre festival Over het IJ, curating the social practice program. Both places are situated in the North of Amsterdam, which has led to various volunteer roles in its cultural and social domains. Also on behalf of the organisations mentioned above, he is a co-initiator of the Social Art Network (SAN).

At the Academy for Theatre and Dance, he is (co-)teaching Art & Theory, Dramaturgy and Interpersonal Sensitivity. Finally, he is also involved in the foundation of the new Bajesdorp building, a social housing co-op with ateliers, a cultural cantina and a performance space; and of its related artists’ association GROND.

Hilda Moucharrafieh (b. 1986, Lebanon) develops her artistic and cultural work based on anti-colonial solidarities and communal well-being. She makes site-specific interventions in public space which tells stories of people that are excluded from West-Europe’s dominant narratives, and therefore not reflected in its designed public spaces, and further marginalised by its neo-colonial policies. She works collaboratively with friends and artists with aligned political and social values yet of different lived experiences as a way to learn and foster transnational solidarity.

Institutionally, she mentors, supports, and shares tools of documenting and disseminating artistic research processes to students at HKU Master Scenography program in Utrecht. She is also the artistic coordinator at (A)WAKE, co-developing artist residency programs for WANA artists in diaspora, transnational para-union solidarity networks, and the New Radicalisms biennial festival in Rotterdam.

She previously served as the artistic coordinator at the Sea Container program at Over het IJ festival for site-specific performances in Amsterdam, and as jury member in the design committee at Stimuleringsfonds in Rotterdam.