Course

12 October, 19.00–16 November, 21.00 2021

 

Course: Art as Politics

The sessions take place on the following Tuesdays, online via Zoom: 
12, 19 and 26 October 2021, 19–21 hrs CEST,
and 2, 9, and 16 November 2021, 19–21 hrs CET

We are happy to announce a new open call for BAK online course Art as Politics! 

Art as Politics, a digital extension of BAK Public Studies, is prompted by the urgency to engage in collective thinking through, learning about, and imagining critical, politically-informed artistic practices that graspand intervene intothe presentThe course brings those involved and/or interested in art, theory, and social action into collective conversation with a focus on: the changing nature of artistic practices in the face of multiple and entwined crisescritical redefinitions of “publics,” institutional structuring, and art as envisioning and actualizing politics of “being together otherwise in— and in spite of—the impending and prolonged “age of pandemics.” 

Over six sessions, the participants engage in an in-depth analysis of concrete works of art and projects from within the BAK archive of practice, focusing on the historical period starting with the pivotal year 1989. The case studies and examples of artworks are mainly from BAK’s renowned international projects Propositions for Non-Fascist Living (2017–ongoing), Former West (2008–2016), and Future Vocabularies (2013–2016), and include works by artists such asKader AttiaForensic ArchitectureJeanne van HeeswijkAernout Mik, Rabih Mroué, andJonas Staal, among others. The course takes a broad view on artistic production, institutions, and publics, and attempts to build a critical vocabulary through which to reshape understanding and practice of art in the face of present global challenges.  

The course is taught by Maria Hlavajova, BAK’s general and artistic director.  

Participating in the course is open to all concerned with the question as to what art can do in times like ours. Prior knowledge or experience in the subject matter is not required. 

Practical information 
Applications should be sent in via the form on the BAK website, click button “APPLY NOW” at the top. 

Deadline for Applications: 4 October 2021
Fee Waiver Deadline for Applications: 28 September 2021
Dates & Times: Tuesdays on 12, 19 and 26 October 2021, 19–21 hrs CEST, and 2, 9, and 16 November 2021, 19–21 hrs CET
LocationOnline via Zoom 
Language: English  
Fee: € 200 (individuals, incl. VAT) and € 350 (institutions, incl. VAT), to be paid before the start of the course. Participants are welcome to pay a larger fee in case they are willing and able to do so; BAK will match these additional funds and offer additional fee waivers to those unable to afford the course fee.  
Fee waiverBAK offers five scholarship positions, for which the participation fee will be waived. If you wish to apply for one of these positions, please check the box in the application form, and let us know why you are applying for a scholarship. The deadline for applying for a scholarship is 28 September 2021.
Study material (reader): optional – € 15 plus shipping coststhe core reading material is included in the course fee and will be made available digitally. Check shipping cost/check shipping time (please note that due to Covid-19, shipping times can take longer: there is a risk you will not receive the reader in time for the start of the course). 

Please note: if we receive the maximum amount of applications we have to close the open call early. This will be indicated as soon as possible on our website; please check before sending in your application.  

Click here to view the terms and conditions. 
If you have any questions, you can contact us via publicstudies@bakonline.org

BAK Public Studies 
BAK Public Studies offer critical insights into theoretical foundations and concrete actualizations of art as public practice. Understanding art in relation to both theory and social action, BAK Public Studies form a space for collective thinking, imagining, and acting in parallel to BAK’s politically-driven and theoretically-informed research, discourse, exhibitions, and publications.  

*  Credits image, l.–r. (all photographs taken at BAK, basis voor actuele kunst, Utrecht by Tom Janssen):
– Maria Hlavajova speaks during Propositions #10: Instituting Otherwise, 7 December 2019
– Forensic Architecture, M2 Hospital Bombing, 2017, installation view exhibition Forensic Justice
 – Kader Attia, Les Entrelacs de l’Objet / The Object’s Interlacing, 2020, installation with video and objects, 2021, BAK, basis voor actuele kunst, Utrecht, photo: Tom Janssen
– Homebaked Community Land Trust (CLT), Homebaked Co-operative Bakery, and Homegrown Collective in collaboration with Britt Jürgensen, URBED, and Jeanne van Heeswijk, Brick by Brick and Loaf by Loaf We Build Ourselves, 2019­, installation view Trainings for the Not-Yet

Suggestions from the archive

Sint Maarten Parade

22 October–10 November 2023

BAK at the Sint Maarten Parade 2023

For Sint Maarten Parade 2023, Tools for Action—a non-profit organization that develops artistic interventions for political actions—collaborates with Utrecht-based members of Filipino, Caribbean, and other communities to collectively dream a parade compartment.

Crowdfunding Campaign

09 September–08 December 2023

Join Our Crowdfunding Campaign: Support Freefilmers!

The project To Watch the War: The Moving Image Amidst the Invasion of Ukraine (2014–2023) and the project To Watch the War, In Solidarity are accompanied by a crowdfunding campaign in support of Freefilmers—some of its members are artists and activist filmmakers included in the exhibition and public program.

Panel Discussion

30 September 2023, 16.30-18.30

To the Other Side of the Concrete Wall

A book launch and panel discussion reflecting on the Jina Uprising, one year after its beginning.

Saturday, 30 September, 2023, 16:30–18:30 hrs at BAK, basis actuele kunst, Utrecht Organized by Jina Collective, a Netherlands-based feminist, leftist, anti-capitalist, anti-sexist, and pro-LQBTQIA+ action group that emerged from the Jina Uprising. This event launches a book of translated essays, co-published with BAK, which include some of the first English translations of texts by journalists […]

Public Program

09 September–29 October 2023

To Watch the War: The Moving Image Amidst the Invasion of Ukraine (2014–2023)/Public Program

To Watch the War: The Moving Image Amidst the Invasion of Ukraine (2014–2023) involves a hybrid off- and online sequence of conversations and screenings around discursive and artistic interventions that reimagine the social implications of watching the war through ways that disrupt, subvert, resist the media’s incessant spectacularization of war.