Book Launch: The Rural

THE RURAL
Thursday, December 12, 20:00

De Appel presents the book launch of THE RURAL, edited by Myvillages and part of the acclaimed “Documents of Contemporary Art” series published by Whitechapel Gallery and MIT Press.

We invite you to the Dutch Book launch of The Rural in an evening organised with De Appel and the editors of artist group Myvillages; Kathrin Böhm (UK/DE) and Wapke Feenstra (NL). In their introduction text they state: "If you don’t like monocultures, whether, in art or agriculture, you will like this book. The Rural questions and frustrates the current cultural hegemony of the urban and declares the rural a place of and for contemporary cultural production."

Buy THE RURAL here

In an evening, where the rural and the urban are (as always) intertwined you will meet Kathrin and Wapke from Myvillages and we are happy to announce that also three contributors to this analogy will be present: Lala Meredith-Vula, Grace Ndiritu and Monika Szewczyk.

We start at 20.00 and Myvillages will offer drinks and snacks. This is a pay what you can event and books are available at De Appel shop. We plan to close the event at 22.00.

MYVILLAGES

Myvillages was founded by artists Antje Schiffers, Wapke Feenstra (NL) and Kathrin Böhm (UK/DE) (DE) in 2003. Myvillages’ work addresses the relationship between the rural and the urban, looking at different forms of production, pre-conceptions and power relationships, whilst passionately questioning the cultural hegemony of the urban. Myvillages has realised projects at, amongst others, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin; Museum of Contemporary Art, GfZK, Leipzig; the 5th and 6th Moscow Biennale; Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin; Times Museum, Guangzhou and the Whitechapel Gallery, London.

Kathrin Böhm

Kathrin Böhm (Myvillages) is a London based artist whose collaborative work focuses on the collective (re-)production of public space, trade as public realm and the everyday as a starting point for culture. She is also a founding member of the artist initiative Keep it Complex - Make it Clear, art and architecture collective Public Works, and the Centre for Plausible Economies. She set up the Haystacks series in 2013 and arts enterprise Company Drinks in 2014. 

Wapke Feenstra

Wapke Feenstra (Myvillages) investigates and depicts dimensions of the rural, which she sees in terms of landscape, a set of practices, culture and mentality. She develops collaborative projects on location, drawing on local knowledge; thereby bringing a new dynamic into debates on local resources and artistic work methods. Currently, she shows till 12 January 2020 in TENT Rotterdam her latest project Boerenzij (The Rural Side), focussing on rural migration in her own daily living environment: Rotterdam-South.

Lala Meredith-Vula

Lala Meredith-Vula is an artist and professor of art and photography at De Montfort University, Leicester, UK. Born in Sarajevo in 1966 to an Albanian father and English mother, she moved to England at an early age, returning to the Balkans, after graduating from Goldsmiths University in 1988. Her work was first shown that year in Damien Hirst’s landmark exhibition Freeze in London and she went on to exhibit regularly in the UK, US, China, and throughout Europe. She represented Albania in the 48th Venice Biennale of 1999 and in 2017 took part in documenta 14 in Athens and Kassel. Her recent solo exhibitions were: ‘Select Haystacks (1989 – ongoing)’ curated by Monika Szewczyk at the Alberto Peola Contemporary Art Gallery, Italy ( 3 November – 28 February 2019). She currently is artist-in-resident at Fermynwoods Contemporary Art, the UK in a collaboration project with Abigail Lane, with exhibition open (December 2019 - March 2020) and taking part in the group exhibition ‘Rural Topographies’ at Galeria Quadrum, Lisbon Portugal (08/12/2019 – 23/02/20).

Grace Ndiritu

Grace Ndiritu (Kenya/UK) studied at Winchester School of Art and De Ateliers (1998 -2000). Ndiritu took the radical decision in 2012 only to spend time in the city when necessary, and to otherwise live in rural, alternative and often spiritual communities while expanding her research into nomadic lifestyles and training in esoteric studies such as shamanism, which she began over 18 years ago. Her research so far has taken her to both Thai and Tibetan Buddhist monasteries, permaculture communities in New Zealand, forest tree-dwellers in Argentina, neo-tribal festivals such the 'Burning Man' in Nevada, a Hare Krishna ashram and the 'Findhorn' New Age community in Scotland. Her research into community life has so far resulted in the founding of The Ark: Center For Interdisciplinary Experimentation. 

Monika Szewczyk

Monika Szewczyk is director of De Appel in Amsterdam. She was previously curator for documenta 14 in Athens and Kassel (2015-2017); Visual Arts Program Curator at the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts, University of Chicago (2012-2014); Head of Publications at the Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art in Rotterdam (2008–2011); all these following formative years in Vancouver, Canada where she studied International Relations and Art History at the University of British Columbia and held positions at the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery and the Vancouver Art Gallery as well Emily Carr University. Along this path, she has lectured, led seminars, organized exhibitions and published writing as well as undertaken editing collaborations, most recently for the 10th issue of the Athens-based magazine South as a State of Mind (Maintenance), with founding director and editor-in-chief, Marina Fokidis. She is a member of the Artistic Advisory Board for Fogo Island Arts. 

Thanks to Whitechapel Gallery, De Ateliers, Company Drinks, Myvillages and De Appel