Abducting Europa
An exhibition about the power of myths and stories in politically troubled Europe
— 11 October 2020
We are happy to announce that, because of changes in our program, we are able to extend the Abducting Europa Exhibition until 11 October
Due to the new recommendations to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we allow a maximum of 10 visitors into the exhibition. We kindly ask you for your understanding in case you have to wait to enter.
Beneath the slick surfaces of social media platforms, political debates rage in the endless comment sections where agony rules. From within these carnivalesque echo-chambers it appears as though the political consensus of the twentieth century is collapsing. Emerging from the wreckage are expressions of political collectivity that many considered relegated to the dustbin of history.
Affording ever more radical expressions of tribal identity, social media platforms are now feeding the raw material of youth culture directly into the nationalist populist insurgency that is currently sweeping across the planet. Like advertising executives and pop singers the authoritarian figures that influence these movements recognize the vital power in the cliché that “the children are our future”—as did the Fascisti a century earlier.
Appealing to the same esoteric lore that also haunts contemporary fantasy entertainment, many of these movements traffic in mythical tales of national rebirth and “rooted” national identity. Evoking the fear of an existential enemy at the gates of Fortress Europe—or more often an enemy within—this new political style is particularly successful on the terrain of online culture war.
The artists collected in this exhibition establish a coordinate system of autonomous realities in which intersectional forms of collective identity provide an alternative to essentialism, suggesting the power of storytelling as a means for positive and inclusive change rather than a return to a fictional past.
The exhibition is curated by Marc Tuters, Inez de Coo and Arjon Dunnewind. With Clusterduck, Simon Denny, Andy King, Szabolcs KissPál, Annika Larsson, Sulaïman Majali, Dorine van Meel, Liliana Piskorska and Jonas Staal.
Marc Tuters’ involvement has been partially supported by ODYCCEUS, a Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 732942.
The exhibition Abducting Europa is part of “The Grand Narrative”
IMPAKT organizes a series of special guided tours by two of the curators of the exhibition Abducting Europa on Saturday 12, 19 and 26 September.
12 September, 15:00h: Marc Tuters
Marc Tuters teaches Media & Culture at the University of Amsterdam. His research concerns radical political subcultures online. In his tour he will focus on the theories and myths that inspired the exhibition.
19 September, 15:00h: Arjon Dunnewind
Arjon Dunnewind is the artistic director and founder of IMPAKT Centre for Media Culture. For this tours Arjon invites politician Jelmer Schreuder, member of the municipal council for D66 Utrecht, to talk about the themes of the exhibition.
26 September, 15:00h: Arjon Dunnewind
Arjon Dunnewind is the artistic director and founder of IMPAKT Centre for Media Culture. For this tours Arjon invites politician André van Schie, VVD party chairman and member of the council of Province of Utrecht, to talk about the themes of the exhibition.
3 October, 15:00h: Arjon Dunnewind
Arjon Dunnewind is the artistic director and founder of IMPAKT Centre for Media Culture.
10 October, 15:ooh: TBA