Platform BK is happy and grateful that the important organization ENGAGEMENT ARTS NL will be officially launch on 8 March, International Women’s Day, and present its website https://engagementarts.nl/. For this occasion, we share a statement by ENGAGEMENT:

What started with the #metoo movement years ago, has since manifested itself in many different industries, namely: public indignation over abuse of power and the discrimination, sexism, and gender-based violence that follow in its trail. Over the past year alone, Dutch football team Ajax, the Dutch State ́s go-to law firm, TV-hits ́The Voice of Holland ́ and the Springer Verlag faced allegations of abuse. ENGAGEMENT ARTS NL believes it is time for change.

The art scene remains a high-risk environment for many, with its concentration of power in the hands of few art academy professors and gallerists, its concept of artistic freedom, the trope of the Artistic Genius, the inherent subjectivity of art, and the social and economic precarity that accompanies the lives of many aspiring artists. With more and more artists and art workers coming forward in Europe and the Netherlands, ENGAGEMENT ARTS NL believes that it is time to remind institutions, businesses, and organizations in the field of their legal and societal obligation to provide a safe learning and/or working environment.

ENGAGEMENT ARTS NL is an artist-led organization addressing sexual harassment, sexism, and abuse of power in the Dutch arts field. As a low-threshold, peer-to-peer initiative, ENGAGEMENT ARTS NL offers support for individuals and communities and actively engages with institutions and organizations to create safer and more inclusive working environments.

ENGAGEMENT ARTS NL is immensely grateful to the generous support of ENGAGEMENT ARTS BE in helping us to start off. We are also deeply grateful to the incredible hard work and funds made available by F-RAZZOR, as facilitated by PLATFORM BK, that enabled us to start off and helped so many people in our community. The solidarity of these organizations proves that communities can change and heal and is a great source of inspiration to us.

ENGAGEMENT ARTS NL is also excited to have been selected for the three-month Art-up Incubator as of March 7th, 2022.

As an organisation, ENGAGEMENT ARTS NL stands in solidarity with Ukraine, the Ukrainian population and all Russians who do not support this war. Platform BK has compiled an overview of joint solidarity actions (https://www.platformbk.nl/en/what-can-we-do-for-those-affected-by-war-in-ukraine/) in the Dutch, Ukrainian and Russian art communities for the victims of war in Ukraine and all people who are diaspora.

Send us an email to contact@engagementarts.nl to sign up to our newsletter and receive more information on our events.

 

The four events accompanying the launc of ENGAGMENT ARTS NL are:

5 March, 18:00: round table ‘Sexism, Positive Discrimination, and Artistic Quality’, hosted by RawRadical.com. More information here.

8 March, 18:00: round table ‘Complaint Collective: Activists Against Abuse and Discrimination in Design’, hosted by Futuress.org. More information here.

9 March, 10:00-11:30: workshop ‘Fighting abuse of power in the arts, starting with Compliance’, by Hogan Lovells. Send an email to contact@engagementarts.nl for more information and to register

11 March: round table in the Kunst & Bondcast. Listen here.