Wild Summer of Art – 50 Rotterdam based artists exhibit work at Brutus
For the second edition of Wild Summer of Art, 50 Rotterdam based artists exhibit work at Brutus, alongside a dynamic public program of events, screenings and performances guest-curated by Amira Gad in collaboration with Sophie de Vos. The selection came from nominations by a group of scouts who are well-versed with Rotterdam’s art scene.
Recently, I visited Wild Summer of Art at Brutus, an enormous space of a disused silo, now an art institution by Atelier Van Lieshout located in a former harbour complex in the creative M4H area of Rotterdam West. Amongst the vast and broad range of subject matters within the exhibition, the one that stood out for me the most is the notion of human strength and perseverance despite serious circumstances.
The Disaster Cannot Be Contained (2022) is a short film by a visual artist and filmmaker Diana Al-Halabi. This impressive award winning film is a documentary of the aftermath of the explosion of Port of Beirut. What starts with a personal fascination with ships, scenes of recognisable Rotterdam and Beirut skylines, a struggle to find a dream job of being a woman who drives boats through the layers of bureaucracy at the Port of Rotterdam, quickly evolves into an honest and emotional account of surviving workers in the aftermath of the disaster. As Faisal — the main protagonist — recalls the moment of worry for his missing son, and describes the collective depression that took hold of all the other workers of the port after the traumatic explosion, his story is interlaced with poetry carefully handpicked by Al-Halabi. This is journalism with a personal touch. There is a level of care that can be felt through the screen, as well as the deep feelings of pain, loss, and immense strength of the port workers through the process of supporting each other’s mental health in order to eventually continue with their work.
Centre for Creativity (2024) is a collaborative film of Marta Hryniuk and Nick Thomas. As it shifts through scenes shot on 16mm black and white film and still photographs, broken up by coloured digital fragments of scrolling through social media, it quickly grounds you into the context of the events in the area of a community space in Kosiv, west Ukraine. The main message that comes through is the absolute resilience of the Ukrainian people through self organisation. The film shows scenes of the process of producing and packing garlic and salo (salty pork fat) sandwiches for the battle front — a quintessential Ukrainian snack, of weaving military camouflage netting from fishing nets and pieces of cut fabric, other resourceful use and recycling of materials, of communal rooms of tools, and of volunteers at the community centre. The sound consists of recordings of various conversations with Oksana Sokoliuk (a psychologist, dance teacher and activist) and Margarita Polovinko (a visual artist and a volunteer medic). The Centre for Creativity emerges from the activist work carried out in Ukraine by the artists in collaboration the Freefilmers Collective. Aside from showing a portrait of resistance, it is a hopeful account of strength of collective efforts and of artists finding their place within a war.
Viuva Branca (2023) is an installation by Sandim Mendes. Combining photography, printmaking techniques, and drawing from personal identity of her Dutch birthplace and Cape Verdean roots, she reconstructs historical and personal narratives. With this work the artist is exploring a phenomenon of the White Widows of Cape Verde — widows with living husbands. This is a direct consequence of colonialism that occurred with the return of settlers to Portugal, leaving the black women behind. This important piece of history has been passed onto her from her mother and grandfather, showing the importance of oral history in order to reconstruct the identity of the nation. Usually these women were looked down upon by the rest of the society, but Mendes uses her generational and geographical distance to her advantage, which allows her to transform infamy of her family and many Cape Verdean women into a narrative of empowerment. Here, the Viuva Branca is a symbol of a strong persevering woman, with an altar dedicated to her.
When The Gods Have Been Done (2023-2024) is a longterm research project conducted by Merve Kiliçer in West Phrygia (Western Central Anatolia) and the Aegean region of Turkey. In this rendition of the work, she chose a carousel slideshow projector which cycles through black and white photography showing encounters of active mining sites for coal, gold and limestone, of the local activists fighting for the land, as well as remains of shrines built for Cybele, the archaic goddess of Anatolia from 900 BCE. Cybele was believed to maintain the balance between wildlife and human settlements. The work portrays the story of activists who are trying to fight back through legal means against companies which are empowered by the state to mine in the region despite legal outcomes. The work seeks to show the resistance and testimony of the local people struggling to survive under the impact of the mining sites, meanwhile questioning who will provide the protection from the apparent ecocide of these places in the absence of Gods such as Cybele.
Additionally, Brutus Take-over is a public programme of events taking place as part of the exhibition. During the opening, artist Joshua Thies shared an ongoing sound work project Audible Works. For this rendition he invited Johana Molina, Janneke van der Putten, Anni Nöps to take over a green space in the back of Brutus to create an immersive live sound work which included cumbia vynils, voice experiments and a visceral ambient live set. This was also streamed online via his radio platform RAAR and is available to access throughout the exhibition.
Wild Summer of Art is on view until August 25
Further information of the Take-over’s can be found here: https://brutus.nl/en/programme/on+view/brutus+takeover/
Artists:
In memory of the recently passed artist Lizan Freijsen, a space has been laid out for the duration of Wild Summer of Art at the Ruïne as an homage to her art and her ties to Rotterdam’s art scene. Alongside Lizan Freijsen, the artists are: Anna Aagaard Jensen, Anne Wenzel, Audrey Large, Bambi van Balen, Benjamin Li, Cindy Bakker, Colette Aliman, Daleen Bloemers, Daniel Giles, Diana Al-Halabi, Erik van Lieshout, Evelyn Taocheng Wang, Fatemeh Fattahi, Freerk Wilbers, Gabi Dao, Geo Wyex, Gill Baldwin, Golnar Abbasi & Arvand Pourabbasi, Hans Wilschut, Isa de Jong, Jeanine Verloop, Jelmer Noordeman, Joshua Thies, Julia Gat, Jur Costanza, Katarina Zdjelar, Lidwien van de Ven, Lili Huston-Herterich, Margré Steensma, Marta Hryniuk and Nick Thomas, MAryam Touzani, Merve Kılıçer, Metincan Guzel, Michelle Piergoelam, Michiel Huijben, Okan Urun, performer for Metincan Guzel, Pip Passchier, Reinier Landwehr, Ryan Cherewaty, Sam Koopman, Samboleap Tol, Sandim Mendes, Sheray of Light, Stefan Gross, Yang Yu, Yin Yin Wong.
Vlada Predelina
(1991) is an artist based in Rotterdam
