Positions: Afterlives

Positions is Stroom's program focusing on artists from The Hague and their contemporary art practices. With Positions: Afterlives, Stroom introduces a series of events in which artists present imaginations of the impact of the Dutch and Hague colonial past in the present. What factors, narratives and systems shape our current reality, and in what ways do these legacies affect the present? What are the 'afterlives' of The Hague's colonial past?  

This year marks 150 years since the Dutch abolition of slavery. It marked the legal end of a range of dehumanizing laws that were designed and effectuated in The Hague. What are the contemporary effects of 400 years of colonial policies on our cultural archive, which bears many traces of this history? The 'cultural archive' is a term coined by researcher and writer Gloria Wekker to describe the multifaceted culture of culturally accepted norms, behaviors and manners as expressed in the media, politics, education and popular culture.   

Positions: Afterlives explores how artists in The Hague shape the experiences and realities that emerge from the violent history of slavery. How do we remember and imagine collective traumas? In what ways can (re)imagining this history - through arts - open up space for collectivity?   

Ongoing program
The program takes shape in public events, film evenings and other presentations at Stroom. To this end, artists are invited to present perspectives and (re)narratives through their work, interacting between personal and collective histories and speculations on the future. In the right column you will find the ongoing activities around Positions.