Click here to book your ticket for the Platform BK Solidarity Camp via Eventbrite
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This is an English-spoken event

Introduction

How to convince a museum to abandon fossil industry sponsoring? How to take action against gentrification in your neighborhood as a cultural worker? How to you write a good open letter? In short: How to create political change through activism in the arts?

Platform Beeldende Kunst celebrates its 10th anniversary with the Platform BK Solidarity Camp. Join us for three days of discussions, talks and skill-sharing at Casco Art Institute: Working on the Commons in Utrecht on 22, 23 and 24 September 2022.

There is no such thing as solodarity. Therefore we organise this event together with Casco Art Institute: Working on the Commons, Cultural Workers Unite, Engagement Arts NL, Fossil Free Culture NL, Tools for the Times, and Salwa Foundation. These organizations take action to make the arts fairer, safer, more diverse and more inclusive. Each has their own expertise and skills to create political change. During the Solidarity Camp, the organisations and participants exchange skills, strategies and visions, because we stand stronger together. Thus, we learn from each other and lay the ground work for future activism and solidarity in the arts.

Program

The daily programs (below) of the Solidarity Camp have been carefully created by Platform BK in collaboration with Casco Art Institute: Working for the Commons, Fossil Free Culture NL, Cultural Workers Unite, Salwa Foundation, Tools for the Times, and Engagement Arts NL. Each day includes two workshops. There will also be plenty of time during breaks and common meals to get to know each other and explore ways of working together. Some days also include extra activities, like walks and lectures, to keep a good balance and flow.

On each day, we will open the program with a check-in and close the program with a check-out. The student-teacher-led initiative Tools for the Times from HKU will facilitate these moments to share urgent questions and take-aways of the program.

The goal of the Solidarity Camp is creating connections, sharing skills en learning together towards durable solidarity in the Dutch arts. However, we also want to creat space for social urgencies within and outside the art world. We will therefore have a series of spatial interventions throughout Casco Art Institute that allow participants to connect to issues such as the horrible treatment of refugees in Ter Apel, the war in Ukraine, and the vivid discussions around Documenta15.

Intensive learning together sometimes requires a space to retreat and reflect by reading a book, thinking, or simply relaxing a bit. A dedicated space will be available for this purpose throughout the program.

Each day program includes coffee, tea, snacks, and a vegetarian lunch (with vegan options). The program of Day 3 (Saturday) also includes a dinner and a party, which both take place at ACU.

Day 1: Thursday 22 September, 10 am – 6 pm

Performative Workshop ‘Disobedient Art School: Towards a Non-extractive Art Education’ by Fossil Free Culture
From the starting point of the creation of the Disobedient Art School, in this workshop, we propose an approach to decolonise minds and bodies through unrestrained creative practices and to practice disobedience together. Through the practice of Body Territory methodology, we suggest other ways of seeing, knowing, learning, other than the binary logic that is forced upon us. We invite you to share knowledges and experiences throughout this time together.

Workshop’Writing Effective Open Letters’ by Platform BK
One of the most often used tactics to change the actions of governments and companies is writing open letters. But how to know if an open letter gets read? What are the minimum requirement of the contents of such letters? In short, what makes for a good open letter? Platform BK shares lessons from 10 years of open letter writing.

Day 2: Friday 23 September, 10 am – 6 pm

Workshop ‘Good Neighbour RPG’ by Cultural Workers Unite
What does it mean to be a good neighbour as a cultural worker, an atelier association, a cultural institution? Through a group role playing game (RPG) we wil question: How do we grapple with our individual and collective identities when strategizing against gentrification in our cities? The scenarios are based on stories encountered during Anti-Gentrification School.

Discussion ‘Commons Dot Art’ by Yin Aiwen and Binna Choi (Casco Art Institute: Working for the Commons)
Commons dot Art is an online as a platform that facilitates and supports the creative and social caretaking of art as a way of generating new commons. Commons dot Art aims to offer artworks or art projects with a set of toolkits and support mechanisms for their use and maintenance. By sharing authorship as much as increasing the social and affect value of art, Commons dot Art would lead to an art economy that opens up to society at large.

Day 3: Saturday 24 September, 11 am – 9 pm

‘Cheat Sheet \ ^0^ /’ by Salwa Foundation
An anti gate-keeping workshop, focusing on general contribution and activism in the arts from the perspective of generosity, sharing knowledge, and tools. During this workshop, knowledge will be transferred on two levels. The first is in terms of the content itself, through links and general resources for artists with a migrant background in the Netherlands; and the second is through print-making.

Intimacy Workshop and Brainstorm by Engagement Arts NL
Merel Severs will give a two hour intimacy workshop. Delphine Bedel and Vivian Cintra, cofounders of Engagement Arts NL, will brainstorm about active listening, community building and political activism as an artistic practice. They will all share about their work to fight abuse of power, discrimination, sexism and gender-based violence.

Party: 24 September, 9 pm – 2 am at ACU

The Platform BK Solidarity Camp closes with a party t celebrate 10 years of Platform BK, 10 years of solidarity. Participants are invited to join us for dinner, dancing, and scheming at the political-cultural centre ACU, iconic venue for the scene in Utrecht.

ACU is located at Voorstraat 71, 3512 AK Utrecht.

Practical Information

You can book a ticket for the Platform BK Solidarity Camp via Eventbrite. Click here to proceed to the booking page.

Registrations are organized per day. The program of each day was carefully composed and includes extra activities, general discussions on activism in the arts and solidarity. The day program includes coffee and tea, a vegetarian lunch, and snacks.

This is a pay-what-you-want event. We suggest a contribution of €10 per day for regular participants, €5 per day for students, and free entrance for members of Platform BK. Contributions can be made on-site (Tikkie).

If you want to join the Solidarity Camp but cannot afford the travel costs, we can reimburse these costs. For this, please get in contact with us beforehand at kantoor@platformbk.nl.

Organization

The Platform BK Solidarity Camp is organized by Platform BK in collaboration with Gizem Üstüner, Casco Art Institute: Working on the Commons, Cultural Workers Unite, Engagement Arts NL, Fossil Free Culture NL, Tools for the Times, and Salwa Foundation. The event is supported by Pictoright Fund and the members of Platform BK. If you’re not a member of Platform BK yet, please become a member here.

The Solodarity campaign was designed by Yuri Veerman.