The art world is becoming more intimate due to bonds forged at a cultural development conference in The Netherlands Alex Sudheim A seminal, international art initiative has been launched by 12 young artists from India, Indonesia, Mexico, Mali, Argentina and South Africa. In June, at the behest of the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten and the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I was part of a mission to the Dutch capital to collectively give birth to what has been termed Rain – the acronym for Rijksakademie International Network. With the exception of a few chancers such as myself, all of the participants in this continental bosberaad were ex-students of the world-renowned art academy.
Since The Netherlands, like most wealthy European states, possesses something of a global social conscience (though not many protesters outside the International Monetary Fund/World Bank meetings would agree), the Dutch government annually funds the placement of several promising young artists from “developing countries” in the prestigious Rijksakademie. During their two-year stint, these artists are exposed to the best facilities, studios, materials and exhibition space the First World can offer. Then they return to their home countries with what experience they’ve gathered, an impressive addition to their CV and a taste of the good life where the role of the artist in society is highly respected. Yet it was in this business of returning home that the fundamental problem of the Third World artist-in-residence programme lay: from the moment they set foot on their native soil again, the young artists encountered the same set of overwhelming obstacles they faced when they departed. Absence of funding, absence of exhibition space, absence of public interest and – in some cases – governments and societies hostile to new ideas, pitched them back into the front lines of the familiar struggle for survival. It was thus inevitable that at some point the Dutch government would have to realise that, no matter how noble their venture, they simply weren’t doing enough. Rain, therefore, backs up the Rijksakademie residence programme by providing structural and financial support for artistic projects initiated by ex-students in their home countries. Another crucial aspect of Rain is its facilitation of the exchange of artists between participating countries to remedy what outspoken Cuban critic Gerardo Mosquera termed “the lack of horizontal interaction in the world … a colonial legacy barely modified”. Mosquera, who was present at the Amsterdam gathering to lend theoretical support, illustrated this assertion when he recalled: “In the years I was travelling through Africa, I found that frequently the best way to get from one country to another bordering country was via Europe.” Indeed, much of the debate in Amsterdam focused on the iniquities of the margin-versus-centre/periphery-versus-metropole axis. Tension arose over the patronising attitude of our Rijksakademie hosts, who, though committed to the project, became surly when several margin-dwellers, frustrated by the interminable “Dreams and Realisation” workshops, demanded to know exactly how much hard cash they were getting. Stung, the Dutch responded like an impatient parent dealing with a demanding brat, dishing out an “It’s not only about the money!” sermon. A sour moment, since pains had been taken to assure us we were active partners in the project, not passive beneficiaries. Nevertheless, everyone was great pals as the intensive week-long indaba drew to a close, and the months since then have proven to be most fruitful, with artistic projects and exchanges vigorously underway in all the Rain partner countries. Open Circle in Mumbai, India, recently caused a stir in the country’s art circles while Ruang Rupa in Jakarta, Indonesia, transforms November into a month of unprecedented artistic intervention in the city’s public space. Trama, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, is a bold incursion into the mysteries surrounding the “disappearance” of hundreds of activists in that country’s recent political turmoil and Centre Soleil d’Afrique is single-handedly repositioning the status of art-making in Mali. El Despacho and Los Mutantes take art to the streets of Mexico City in ground-breaking fashion while South Africa’s Pulse makes its mark with a landmark exhibition opening at Durban’s NSA Gallery this Friday.
Brainchild of Durban artist and ex-Rijksakademie student Greg Streak, the project’s central aim is to articulate creative dialogue between – and possible resolution of – the myriad contradictory forces at play in South Africa’s complex conceptual landscape. The exhibition – which features a potent cast of South African and international contemporary artists – explicitly addresses the issues surrounding the interface between hi-tech and lo-tech; the collision of First and Third worlds and the conflict/overlap between technology and tradition. A one-day conference wrestling with these themes also takes place on October 27 and includes a strong contingent of guest speakers. With its incendiary artistic collision between the tried and the trusted and the new and the dangerous, a thrilling schizophrenic edge attends the exhibition. Yet, when attempting to engage with and surmount the devastating paradoxes that characterise “modern” life, this is par for the course. As Deleuze and Guattari incisively observe: “The schizophrenic deliberately seeks out the very limit of capitalism. (S)he is its inherent tendency brought to fulfilment, its surplus product, its proletariat and its exterminating angel.” In providing sensual and cerebral stimulation of both the fulfilling and the exterminating kind, Pulse looks set to boldly go where no art initiative has gone before. With the search for answers only triggering a new multitude of questions, the gyre widens in frightening and exhilarating fashion. The Pulse one-day conference takes place at the Technikon Natal’s Mansfield Hall on October 27 from 9am to 4pm. The exhibition opens on the same day at 6pm at the NSA Gallery. Both events are open to the public and entrance is free of charge