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Alumnus Remco Torenbosch in Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam

Willem de Kooning Academy
Sat 12 Jan

Freedom of Movement
Municipal Art Acquisitions 2018
25 November 2018 until 17 March 2019

Freedom of Movement is the latest edition of the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam’s Municipal Art Acquisitions, a biannual exhibition that features recent work from artists living in the Netherlands. The Municipal Art Acquisitions always focuses on a different discipline, and this year’s version brings together artists who work within the field of time-based media, which includes film and video work, internet art, performance, choreography, sound art, and workshops.
“Freedom of movement” is a phrase that describes the right of a person to travel within a country, or to go abroad, whether as a refugee, immigrant, or vacationer. It is commonly used in a legal context to describe human and mobility rights. While the phrase often refers to physical movement, it can also be considered metaphorically in terms of social mobility. The privilege of being able to move freely in society is influenced by factors such as race, gender identity, ability, and sexuality. While privilege is often discussed in terms of lack, it is equally—if not especially—important to consider how privilege shapes power structures.

WdKA alumnus Remco Torenbosch (Fine Art, 2008) is one of the participants of this exhibition.

Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam: "Remco Torenbosch investigates the socio-economic and political forces that have a direct influence on our daily lives. He focuses on a wide range of themes, including the complex dynamics of the global political economy and the relationship between labour and property. For his site-specific audio installation Institute, the artist relocates the sounds produced in the Stedelijk Museum’s inaccessible administrative, operational, and storage spaces, and plays them through speakers in the exhibition’s gallery setting. While recognizing the museum’s need for secure, private areas, Torenbosch points out that who has access to these spaces is a matter that often remains unexamined." More about this project.

Header image: Remco Torenbosch, "Institute", 2018, audio installation, courtesy the artist and Wilfried Lentz Rotterdam.