Whatever happened to the archetypal cowboy we know so well from spaghetti westerns? The ultimate (anti)hero seems to have never totally walked off into the sunset. Outside American image culture, the cowboy remains the face of a phenomenon that evolves to suit the era it finds itself in, but always romantically represents the position of the self-imposed outlaw. This programme centres on the cowboy sometimes slogging away with the blues and existential quandaries, sometimes ironically adopted by filmmakers and artists. Who is the modern cowboy? Why does he still fascinate us and why should we take him seriously? With artists Magnus Monfeldt and Aaike Stuart, and Boris van Hooft (Authentic Boys) as well as Dr Gerwin van der Pol, Media & Culture lecturer at the University of Amsterdam; includes screenings of short works on video.

You’ll Never Walk Alone – Magnus Monfeldt (The Netherlands 2011,  06:00 min)

Heche en Mexico – Bjørn Melhus (Germany 2009, 4:00 min)

Alone – Gerard Freixes (Spain 2008, 3:05 min)

Bad Luck City – Aaike Stuart (The Netherlands 2012, 11:30 min)

Kära mor och far (Dear Mother and Father) – Magnus Monfeldt (The Netherlands 2010, 20:00min)

(This program is followed directly by the screening program ‘How the West was One (part 2) Westerns from the East’).