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Please note that this event starts at 8pm. Would you like to see the work of Pope.L beforehand? Then make sure to arrive 30 minutes earlier. Please note: this conversation will be in Dutch.

Words are a window on our truth, giving us the opportunity to talk about things that are difficult, or to simply acknowledge that they exist. Through language we draw boundaries, groups are divided, and we may or may not feel represented. In short: language can make and break us; words have power. In a rapidly changing world, how can we ensure that our language changes with us? How do we make language more inclusive, so that more groups feel heard and seen?

Following these and more questions, the conversation will be connected to the exhibition Togetherness, on view at de Appel through Feb. 28. In it, artist Pope.L thematizes forms of oppression and exclusion that persist in Dutch society: from nationalism, xenophobia and racism to colonialism, imperialism and sexism. This Dutch cultural archive, made up of power structures, stereotypes and relations of inequality, expresses itself in many ways in our everyday language - and perhaps that is also where the starting point can be found for both resistance and a new beginning.

Mounir Samuel, political scientist, journalist, publicist and cultural entrepreneur has been researching social revolutions and social change for years. For him, language is an effective mirror of the spirit of the times and a means of change. He recently published the book Je mag ook niets meer zeggen: een nieuwe taal voor een nieuwe tijd, in which, through fifteen values, he provides the blueprint for a safe, inclusive and accessible language, for and by everyone. Samuel dissects through language the great issues of our time, bringing to light the day-to-day ramifications of issues such as gender inequality, institutional racism, sexism and colonial history.

In the introduction to Je mag ook niets meer zeggen, he writes, "In recent years it has become increasingly clear to me how great an impact language has on thinking, acting, working, moving and even loving. Language builds walls, frames people and puts them in boxes and cupboards. With language, those same walls can also be broken down again, new frameworks created, and persons enabled to be allowed to be fully human."

Together with the participants present, Mounir Samuel wants to explore what it is that affects us now and often prevents us from speaking (and listening). He will address what we really need to talk about, and show how to do so in a safe, inclusive and accessible way. His book will also be for sale and can be signed on the spot. Curator Orlando Maaike Gouwenberg will join him in conversation to link the questions surrounding our language to the exhibition Togetherness. Please note: this conversation is in Dutch.

Mounir Samuel (NL) is a political scientist, award-winning journalist, performance artist, cultural entrepreneur and author of thirteen books. In his recently published book Je mag ook niets meer zeggen: een nieuwe taal voor een nieuwe tijd (Publisher Nieuw Amsterdam), he exposes the socio-political mechanisms of systematic exclusion by de- and reconstructing the Dutch language. For more information: www.mounirsamuel.nl.

Orlando Maaike Gouwenberg (NL) is artistic director at Jester in Genk, Belgium. She has an interest in working with artists on exceptional projects and often invades between theater, film and visual art. She was co-curator of the Dutch pavilion in 2022, where the work of melanie bonajo was presented. Gouwenberg worked for Performa in New York, was co-director of Deltaworkers in New Orleans, worked on ambitious projects at Kunstinstituut Melly under the directorship of Defne Ayas and attended the Curatorial Program at de Appel in 2006/2007. She was also part of the short and midlength film committee at International Film Festival Rotterdam for many years. Gouwenberg is also a member of de Appel's Supervisory Board.