Artist Talk: Amsterdam Art Week
3 June 2023
6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Artist talk with Jeanne van Heeswijk and Isshaq Albarbary.
This artist talk is the first gathering of the experience circle 'The Chiselling of Collectivity'. Jeanne van Heeswijk talks with artist and researcher Isshaq Albarbary about the cross-fertilisation between a social artist practice, 'community assembly' and practice research.
The experience circle 'The Chisseling of Collectivity' brings together 'tanaqush', which means 'discussion' in a mujaawara (neighbouring) environment to shed light on the material conditions of our experiences and struggles. We challenge the divide between knowledge and social marginalisation, refugee and citizen, centre and periphery, and theory and practice. Without claiming a fixed identity or territory, we thrive in non-hegemonic political and social ecologies to celebrate our survival.
About Isshaq Albarbary
Isshaq Albarbary is a Palestinian artist living and working in Amsterdam. His work focuses on the heritage of refugees and how culture is used as a weapon. He is part of the collective Urban Front, was 2017/2018 fellow at BAK, basis for contemporary art. Previously, he was a member and coordinator of Campus in Camps Collective. Albarbary initiated the It's OK... circle 'Tanaaquah, chiselling collectivity'.
About Jeanne van Heeswijk
Jeanne van Heeswijk is seen as an important representative of wider social engagement in art. She is a Dutch artist living in Rotterdam. Her large-scale projects focus on creating communities that take independent initiative to shape their urban future. In her work, she connects art with social design, social issues and political activism. In recent years, she initiated long-term local initiatives in Philadelphia, Rotterdam, Liverpool, Edinburgh and elsewhere.
