On 20 May 2021, the Dutch pavilion at the 17th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia will open, one year later than planned. As the Covid-19 pandemic continues, Het Nieuwe Instituut will not be able to safely invite visitors to the opening in Venice. This offers the opportunity to develop a hybrid opening that is more freely accessible, while still doing justice to the theme of the pavilion and the efforts of all those involved.

This is why Venice comes to you from midday on 20 May in a digital programme with outgoing Minister of Education, Culture and Science Ingrid van Engelshoven, Amsterdam Deputy Mayor for art and culture Touria Meliani, Guus Beumer, Francien van Westrenen, Afaina de Jong, Debra Solomon, Caroline Nevejan, Mike Emmerik, Simone Rots, Lada Hršak, Chiara Dorbolò, Daphne Bakker, Tymon Hogenelst, Jesse van der Ploeg, Mistah Isaac, Sirishkumar Manji and Reinier van Houdt.

Who is We?

Together with architect Afaina de Jong and artist Debra Solomon, Het Nieuwe Instituut presents Who is We? in response to the central theme of the Biennale, ‘How will we live together?’ While ‘we’ seems to imply inclusion, it often represents a very singular perspective. At a time when social and ecological urgencies demand immediate care and action, it is fundamental to regard ‘we’ as an even more pluralised pronoun that encompasses all humans and non-humans such as soil, plants, animals, and microbes. This position should guide all human behaviour, but Who is We? specifically calls for architects and urbanists to commit to this plurality by presenting an empathic plea against monoculture and homogeneity. Who is We? illustrates that polyphony and plurality create the relations and interactions essential to building just and resilient societies and cities.

Programme

Register for this event via this link. The official opening of the pavilion by Ingrid van Engelshoven, outgoing Minister of Education, Culture and Science starts at 12PM. Followed by a presentation of Values for Survival, the research programme created with the Cities of Amsterdam and Rotterdam, by Touria Meliani (Amsterdam Deputy Mayor for art and culture), and Caroline Nevejan (Chief Science Officer for the City of Amsterdam), Presentation of The Polder of Babel: A Super-Diverse City in the Anthropocene by Mike Emmerik and Simone Rots (Independent School for the City)

At 1PM – Space of Other talk with Afaina de Jong

2PM – Radical Observation Exercise with Debra Solomon and the Amsterdam Zuidoost Food Forest Community of Praxis

3PM – Presentation of the design teams selected to develop research proposals as part of the parallel public research programme in cooperation with Creative Industries Fund NL – Failed Architecture, Bureau LADA, and Studio Wild

4PM – Presentation of The Polder of Babel by the Independent School for the City by Mike Emmerik

5PM – Presentation of Values for Survival Cahier 3: Tuning to Rhythm, with live concert with Sirishkumar Manji (tabla, vocal), Mistah Isaac (gitar, vocal), Reinier van Houdt (piano). An online improvisation between different rhythm traditions, overcoming delay, sharing the first beat, offering an entrance to each other and rhythm as a uniting force in diversity is explored. With thanks to Source Elements for the networked music support.

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