Margret Wibmer has initiated a series of artist talks under the title ‘Mbassy Unlimited’: the idea was to introduce emerging visual artists who work in various disciplines, areas of knowledge and methodologies to a non specialist public in the intimate setting of the ‘conversation’. The artists shared their viewpoint as inquisitive minds who dare to negotiate their position regardless of the art canon. The events were hosted by different organisations between 2013 and 2015 as art experiences that provided expertise and tools for looking at contemporary art in a direct and informal atmosphere.
29.11.2013 – Florian Krepcik
Hosted and supported by the Austrian Embassy, The Hague
Florian Krepcik, a young emerging visual artist, talks about his short film ‘Is this real love? Of course Not!’, his views on the contemporary art world and his innovative cinematic approach. Florian Krepcik was the winner of the TENT Academy Awards, a prize for the best short film/movie/animation of young graduates. He was also selected for the Best of Graduates 2013 exhibition at Ron Mandos Gallery in Amsterdam.
06.02.2014 – Marianna Maruyama
Hosted by GEMAK, The Hague/ Supported by the Austrian Embassy, The Hague
Marianna Maruyama performed a multi-layered collaborative text, relating to the great Tohoku Earthquake of 2011.
“What is movement without mobility? Resistance faced and the false notion of having choices. We, that is, the entire planet, live with nuclear energy, nuclear weapons, radiation uncontained which threatens all forms of life. Decisions made prior to our births or with-out our consent or even with our consent now force us to take positions and to stand somewhere – are we for or against? Do we remain, abstain, or evacuate? Affirm, reject, revolt?”
Marianna Maruyama
06.03.2014 – Chris Meighan
Hosted by GEMAK, The Hague/ Supported by the Austrian Embassy, The Hague
Chis Meighan presents his hand-bound publication ‘Alpha, gala, omega, agelada’ , which focus on the conceptual and aesthetic implications of technical research, as opposed to its practical outcomes. In this way, his role can also be described as that of a ‘subjective scientist’, one for whom the practical is personal. Performance, video and writing also play key roles in his practice.
18.06.2014 – Ruth Verraes / So it must be a stone
Hosted and supported by Vlaamse Vertegenwoordiging, Belgian Embassy, The Hague
Leave a bag of salt lose its charge and you get the idea of thunderous, sparkling waterfalls. But maybe it just stays a bag of salt that is emptied.
Ruth Verraes delves into the discrepancy between the concept and the use of language. By putting the source material, the visual work and the documentation on an equal footing, she investigates how the imagination works and can be used.
20.08.2014 – Annet Couwenberg
Hosted and supported by the American Embassy, The Hague
On the occasion of Annet’s work being included in the ART in Embassies exhibition, she presented her sculptural works and social practice, focused mainly on her research project at the Smithsonian Institute at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington where she was a 2014 Smithsonian Research Fellow, studying the relationship between the bone structures and the outer membranes of fish.
23.11.2014 – Mehregan Kazemi / Acrobat
Hosted and supported by GEMAK
Mehregan Kazemi explores, through her various works, themes such as loneliness, the passage of time, nostalgia and the place of women in society. Through her works she raises questions about Human Rights. She participated in the exhibition LOCUS: Upcoming Iranian Artists Abroad which took place between October 23 and November 22nd 2014 at GEMAK.
14.04.2015 – Barbara Philipp / Echoing
Hosted and supported by the Austrian Embassy, The Hague
I live in The Netherlands, in a surrounding which does not know a natural echo. The voice disappears in the distance, the landscape swallows it. I hear water, wind. After a while I stop shouting. I gradually forget my own voice. And suddenly I found it again, the echo, in the Swiss village Wald. Who is the owner of this voice? Where does it come from? What does it tell me and why am I touched by it?
Barbara Philipp
25.09.2015 – Helen Zeru / One foot in
Hosted and supported by Dutch Culture, Center for international cooperation, Amsterdam
Helen Zeru who had just arrived in the Netherlands to commence her study at the DAI – Roaming Academy in Arnhem, presented her video ‘One foot in’. Helen is one of the most promising young artists operating between Europe and the Ethiopian capital city, Addis Ababa. On her own initiative, she has taken influential leadership roles in collaborative projects and self-run artists’ organizations in Ethiopia and abroad. While working with fellow artists during residencies in Berlin, Vienna, and Kampala, and performing and exhibiting in the Netherlands, the US, Georgia, Egypt and Serbia, she has demonstrated an ability to thrive and exchange knowledge in various cultural contexts.