Katja Weitering – "A new popular art form: Popular culture and the notion of the amateur in Cobra"
de Appel, Jongensschool, Eerste Jacob van Campenstraat 59
Appel, Hulten, Osterlin, Constant, Corneille, Svanberg "Some of these days", 1949. Litho, ed. 6/9. Courtesy Cobra Museum, Amstelveen.
3pm Guided Tour
4pm Lecture
Cobra was the first postwar movement of avant-garde artists for whom naive expressions, such as those of children and popular art, were an essential source of inspiration. Cultural symbols were viewed as a link between the prehistoric past and modern times. More recent forms, such as comic strips and tattoos, were also seen as important expressions of popular art, like jazz music. Cobra evoked a comprehensive new art of the people, which was to be created by letting go of restrictive views and allowing the creativity present in all people to flow freely. By involving people actively in the creation of art – even an amateur can create valuable art – this new popular art would become the property of everyone. In this lecture, Cobra’s ideas about the relationship with traditional and popular culture forms the starting point for reflections on the professionalism of artists, the notion of the genius versus the amateur and the relationship between popular culture and contemporary art. The exhibition “Sowing and weeding. Popular culture in contemporary art”, which was presented in the Cobra museum in recent months, serves as a reference point. Language: Dutch.
Katja Weitering (born 1975) studied cultural and scientific studies and history of art at the University of Maastricht and the University of Amsterdam, followed by an MA in arts criticism at City University in London. She worked consecutively for the Bonnefanten Museum and ING art management. Since 2004, Katja Weitering has been affiliated to the Cobra Museum for Modern Art, initially as a curator and since 2010 as artistic director. During her management, an active policy has been formulated for programming contemporary art in the Cobra Museum. The up-to- date significance of the material and intangible heritage of the experimental Cobra movement has been examined and presented to a broad general public in the exhibition progamme and the museum’s activities.
