Attempts to Read the World (Differently): Three Exhibitions in Five Acts

27 November 2016 - 5 March 2017
Location: Stroom Den Haag, Hogewal 1-9, The Hague
Open: Wed - Sun, 12- 17 hrs
(closed on 25 December 2016 and 1 January 2017)
Admission: free
Part of Attempts to Read the World (Differently)
Download exhibition guide
(pdf)

In three successive solo exhibitions Max de Waard, Monira Al Qadiri and Jean Katambayi Mukendi present proposals that breathe new life into the way we think about our ever-changing world. In five acts, from the fall into the early spring, Stroom's exhibition space will gradually shift in both shape and in perspective.

Sunday 29 January 2017, 15 hrs
Stroom School: Talk & guided tour
with Max de Waard, Monira Al Qadiri and Jean Katambayi Mukendi.
View facebook event

Act 1: Max de Waard
27 November - 18 December 2016

Opening Saturday 26 November 2016, 17 hrs
Join the Facebook event
View facebook album

Act 2: Public transformation period

Act 3: Monira Al Qadiri
8 - 29 January 2017

Opening Saturday 7 January 2017, 17 hrs
View facebook event

Act 4: Public transformation period

Act 5: Jean Katambayi Mukendi
12 February - 5 March 2017

Opening Saturday 11 February 2017, 17 hrs
View facebook event

The work of these artists offers an impetus for a refreshing recap of the themes of Attempts to Read the World (Differently), a long-running program through which Stroom and various artists look at today's world in a searching and intuitive way. A world in which multiple realities circulate and profound changes are increasingly difficult to grasp. Are our prevailing assumptions and risk analyses in favour of progress, truth and security still valid when understanding these new realities?
Max de Waard, Monira Al Qadiri and Jean Katambayi Mukendi will be our guides in a re-evaluation of the durability and logic of our basic truths and assumptions.

All three artists use selective forms of fiction in order to rearrange reality. They appropriate alternative worldviews built on fiction, manipulate scientific theories, or propose alternative futures, rooted in a rewritten history.

The exhibition format reflects this need for multiple voices when trying to understand change and alternative interpretations of reality. Through new work the three artists will not only present individual, personal interactions with the changing world, but will also relate to the work of the others. During the weeks when one presentation transforms into the next one, the exhibition space is open to the public. This exhibition in five acts - three solo exhibitions and two transformation periods - will present a variety of artistic perspectives. Visitors can regard it as a kind of "exhibition mini-series", where the audience is invited to witness both the installation and the dismantling of an exhibition and the doubts and experiments that accompany this process.

Since his graduation from the KABK (Royal Academy of Art The Hague) in 2015 Max de Waard (Netherlands, 1992) has dedicated himself to the creation of digital universes through sound, objects and images, presenting an intriguing and fragmented commentary on concepts such as mindfulness and the pursuit of truths in online communities. His subject and raw materials are the images, social codes and subcultures of the Deep Web, the Wild West of the Internet that is not indexed by standard search engines. De Waard makes a poetic inventory of the (digital) origin and credibility of images and other source material such as software, viruses and sound. A central theme in his work is the multitude of ways in which man tries to nourish his soul and spirituality, in order to survive in a society in which our constant online presence has become almost invisible. For his exhibition at Stroom De Waard creates a number of new video installations with simulations and multifaceted views of reality.
www.maxdewaard.com
www.kabk.nl

When the present world is viewed through the lens of an imagined future, it can appear as an outlandish work of fiction. The drilling for oil takes center stage in Monira Al Qadiri's most recent works. The practice is symbolic for the renewed, yet already precarious, future of the Middle East. From the central cog in the workings of the economy Al Qadiri changes oil into a critical though fabulous metaphor for current developments, rewriting both the future and the history of the region.
Monira Al Qadiri is from Kuwait, received a Ph.D. in Inter Media Art in Japan and is currently resident artist at the Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten in Amsterdam. Her films, installations and sculptures explore the relationship between religious and social identity, gender roles and the politics of the image. Al Qadiri has been involved in numerous international solo and group exhibitions and film screenings. She is a founding member of the artist collective GCC.
www.moniraalqadiri.com
www.ica.org.uk
www.aqnb.com (interview)

The work of Jean Katambayi Mukendi (DR Congo, 1974) is about art, science and utopia. In drawings, installations, collages and spatial interventions he plays with the established forms of representation, language and image. His work is characterized by his fascination with technology, mechanics, geometry and centres on artistic proposals to alter these formal systems. Electricity is a crucial and returning element in his work and is used as a philosophical, technical and political metaphor for the challenges of the African continent. In an intuitive and multi-layered way Katambayi Mukendi is developing a body of work that does not provide objective answers for the complexity of the world, but instead creates temporary, poetic and playful allusions. Recently he completed an artist in residence period at the Institute for Human Activities in DR Congo. In preparation for his exhibition at Stroom, Katambayi Mukendi will come to The Hague in order to make new work.
www.trampolinegallery.com
http://ensembles.org (M UHKA)
www.metropolism.com (feature Jean Katambayi)
www.wiels.org

The exhibition Attempts to Read the World (Differently). Three Exhibitions in Five Acts is made possible in part by the Mondriaan Fund and the City of The Hague. The exhibition is part of the long-running thematic program Attempts to Read the World (Differently).

PRESS
chmkoome's blog, 16 February 2017 (in Dutch)
Villa Next Door, 16 February 2017 (in Dutch)
De Telegraaf, 16 January 2017 (in Dutch)
AQNB, 5 January 2017 (in Dutch)
Trendbeheer
, 17 December 2016 (in Dutch)
Jegens en Tevens, 6 December 2016 (in Dutch)


Clips below made by: The Rodina

Attempts to Read the World (Differently). Three Exhibitions in Five Acts. Act 5: Jean Katambayi Mukendi from Stroom Den Haag on Vimeo.

Attempts to Read the World (Differently): Three Exhibitions in Five Acts (Act 1. Max de Waard) from Stroom Den Haag on Vimeo.

Attempts to Read the World (Differently): Three Exhibitions in Five Acts
photo: design: The Rodina
Act 5: Jean Katambayi Mukendi, exhibition survey Stroom Den Haag, 2017
photo: Jhoeko, courtesy Stroom Den Haag
Act 5: Jean Katambayi Mukendi, exhibition survey Stroom Den Haag, 2017
photo: Jhoeko, courtesy Stroom Den Haag
Act 5: Jean Katambayi Mukendi, exhibition survey Stroom Den Haag, 2017
photo: Jhoeko, courtesy Stroom Den Haag
Act 5: Jean Katambayi Mukendi, performance during the opening
photo: © Bram Goots
Act 3: Monira Al Qadiri, exhibition survey Stroom Den Haag, 2017
photo: Jhoeko, courtesy Stroom Den Haag
Act 3: Monira Al Qadiri, exhibition survey Stroom Den Haag, 2017
photo: Jhoeko, courtesy Stroom Den Haag
Act 3: Monira Al Qadiri, exhibition survey Stroom Den Haag, 2017
photo: Jhoeko, courtesy Stroom Den Haag
Act 1: Max de Waard, exhibition survey Stroom Den Haag, 2016
photo: Jhoeko, courtesy Stroom Den Haag
Act 1: Max de Waard, exhibition survey Stroom Den Haag, 2016
photo: Jhoeko, courtesy Stroom Den Haag
Act 1: Max de Waard, exhibition survey Stroom Den Haag, 2016
photo: Jhoeko, courtesy Stroom Den Haag
photo: design: The Rodina