Tag: Talk

Tomorrow’s Language

A dialogue between Louwrien Wijers, her friend and colleague Rory Pilgrim and exhibition initiator Philipp Gufler.

First they will discuss Louwrien’s metal sculptures and invite the audience to listen to the sound of her brass music box titled ‘She and She’ (1977). Then time will be given to think in silence. How do we sculpt ourselves into the future? What is the relationship between the material and the immaterial? Egon Hanfstingl, chef and long-term collaborator of Louwrien, will then hand out yogurt curd with saffron and honey. Egon asks you to delve into what food does for your brain, for your health and for your life? ‘Food is the Future’ is his slogan, food determines tomorrow for you. Louwrien, Rory and Philipp will discuss the meaning of nutrition too and then move on to the meaning of intergenerational friendships between artists, the importance of learning from each other, especially by talking and finding the words together that are important for the future: Tomorrow’s Language, the words that help us make tomorrow. As the mediator, Rory will articulate what is happening and provide context to the discussion.

The dialogue will be in English.

Louwrien Wijers, born January 26 1941. Afraid of being indoctrinated, Louwrien avoided going to art school and instead wrote about art from 14 years of age and visited as many artists as possible in their studios. She started to make art in 1970. 40 woorden (1970-1971) is featured in the permanent Stedelijk Museum show. She continues to make, think, and write about art and artists today.

Rory Pilgrim works in a wide range of media including songwriting, composing music, film, music video, text, drawing and live performances. Centred on emancipatory concerns, Pilgrim aims to challenge the nature of how we come together, speak, listen and strive for social change through sharing and voicing personal experience. Strongly influenced by the origins of activist, feminist and socially engaged art, Pilgrim works with others through different methods of dialogue, collaboration and workshops. 

Philipp Gufler spans various media in his practice, including silkscreen prints on fabric and mirrors, artist books, performances, and video installations. Since 2013 he has been an active member of the archive Forum Queeres Archiv München.

Photography by Elodie Vreeburg.

Visual identity by Jacob Hoving.

DIWAN talks: First Event

DIWAN for Arts and Dialogue aims at supporting young contemporary art and design practitioners, especially those in the diaspora, in the development of their projects and artistic practice. The platform’s foundational focus is to facilitate navigating the Dutch art scene for post-graduate artists and curators, and tackle the collective struggles of residency permits, housing, and project funding, amongst others. DIWAN departs from the common experiences of its founders and seeks to stimulate public discursive events and knowledge exchanges that relate to these issues.

This first DIWAN event is aimed at mapping and understanding the particular urgencies and issues that postgraduate artists and cultural workers confront in the first years after their graduation. This meeting is an invitation for people who are now in this position, or have been through it before, so that we can share these experiences in a collective setting. DIWAN is based on the belief that openly sharing and discussing can be effective tools to confront, deal with, and navigate such challenges. We invite everyone to take part in this online round table and to share their thoughts in this regard.

Throughout these events, we will strive to build a public database of common questions and issues that migrant art practitioners are confronted with, along with references and leads towards resolving them.

Tonight’s event will be co-moderated by Fadwa Naamna and Margarita Osipian.

Joining the conversation will be Hilda Moucharrafieh and Emirhakin. Image and Streaming: Ehsan Fardjadniya and Bob Schoo.

Due to the Covid-19 regulations, the event will be held online.

Note: If you want to just watch and listen to the event, without taking part by sharing your experiences or questions, or if you cannot connect to the Zoom link because of maximum capacity, please follow the W139 YouTube channel and Facebook page for live streaming.

DIWAN is initiated by Fadwa Naamna, Hilda Moucharrafieh, and Ehsan Fardjadniya, in collaboration with Margarita Osipian and Sam Samiee from the W139 artistic core group (2021-2023).