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New Radicalism: A four-day festival around radical new talents in digital art and culture from the Middle East, North Africa and its diasporas. From the 6th until the 9th of February 2020 – during Art Rotterdam - a four-day festival takes place in Rotterdam (The Netherlands) introducing radical new talents in the field of digital art and culture. Here you experience a versatility of alternative voices from the Middle East, North Africa and from artists who have settled from these areas in Europe, the Netherlands and in particular Rotterdam (the diasporas). With New Radicalism we hope to breach the often one-sided image of the “Middle East”. The festival is both intimate and interdisciplinary in its design, with a wide-ranging exhibition, panels, workshops and a lively music program in the evening. New Radicalism is an initiated of (A)WAKE and led by Shirin Mirachor and Narges Mohammadi in collaboration with various, emerging as well as established curators from the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region.

By offering a stage to new makers and thinkers from the Middle East and North Africa, New Radicalism hopes to paint a more nuanced and updated image of the “Arabic” culture and with that hopes to represent new role models. At the speed with which the world is now developing, we face lurking threats of effortlessly falling into cultural fictions and generalizations that aim to make the world better understandable and manageable. The abstract, simplistic and one-size-fits-all narratives about the Middle East, appear only to maintain the image of the so-called “Clash of Civilizations” between the ‘West’ and the ‘East’. We often seem to use words such as Arabic culture, Middle East and Islam in one sentence, but what is in actuality the connection between these grand terms? And when we speak of “our” Western values, what exactly do we mean? And what place does the new generation, the so-called Third Culture Kids, have in our society while growing up in a culture other than that of their parents? In short, New Radicalism aims to contribute to the distribution of new narratives of cultural identities of the Middle East and North Africa and thereby hopes to positively foster cultural identity formation and empowerment of these Third Culture Kids.

In collaboration with no fewer than four emerging curators from the MENA (diaspora) area, Amal Khalaf, Sofiane Si Merabet (The Confused Arab), Nouha Ben Yebdri and Khalid Abdel-Hadi (MyKali Magazine), we explore new talents in the field of digital art and culture. The curators display a variety of artworks and by that accentuate the versatility and diversity of a new generation of (diaspora) artists from the MENA region. Many MENA artists appear to have worked under the radar, all the more so since they are often overlooked by major museums and cultural institutions. But today, in our globalized and digitized world, the internet offers an opportunity to break through existing educational and socioeconomic barriers. The time has come to once more welcome this talent from the digital realm to the physical world and to give them an audience that they deserve.

In addition to the exhibition, there is an extensive context program, consisting of lectures, panels and workshops. There will be a lecture on Arab Futurism, a conversation on nationalism in the digital age and a panel on (online) journalism in the digital age with, among others, Jameela Elfaki from AZEEMA Magazine. This context program is set up in collaboration with Ibrahim Nehme, founder of the independent platform The Outpost. Through this ambitious, multidisciplinary and eclectic platform, he explores divergent alternative voices and perspectives from and on the MENA region. The education workshop program is developed by Boris Battat in collaboration with Cult North (Sammie Sedano and Ziya Gorrer). In the evening, New Radicalism turns into a club, opening its stage to various MENA diaspora artists. It is no one other than Ahmed Belkasmi, one of the founders of Atlas Electronic Festival, with whom we have composed the music program.

New Radicalism is initiated by (A)WAKE, Creative Industries Fund NL, Fonds ZOZ, CBK Rotterdam, Prince Claus Fund, City of Rotterdam, Rotterdams Vrouwenfonds, Art Rotterdam, Het Nieuwe Instituut, Framer Framed, Grafisch Lyceum Rotterdam, WORM and MONO.

series of events

Framer Framed invites: New Radicalism (2020)
IAM Festival, Barcelona, 2020
Opera Forward Festival: OSCAM: cancelled due to covid-19, Amsterdam 2020
VondelCS ART:FRD: cancelled due to covid-19, Amsterdam 2020
HKU Tool for the Times: cancelled due to covid-19, Utrecht 2020
Atlas Electronics Festival, Marrakesh, 2019

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With Queer Bodies in Korzo we celebrate diversity through a multitude of voices and sensory experiences. By refusing the constructed binary system enclosing individuals in a defined frame, we embrace difference and fluidity. We are moved by an approach built on love and hope, while remaining critical of the defining patterns in society. How should one relate to the queer body, when it is embraced for its extravagant beauty and yet mentally and physically abused? Queer Bodies in Korzo presents a variety of expressions via a series of performances, video screenings, a panel talk and a night club night program. With events like Queer Bodies in Korzo and Queering the Church alongside other ongoing projects, we hope to contribute to the queer community in The Hague by providing a space for people to raise their voice and express themselves as themselves. Works and performances presented by Matthew Wang, The Lips, Luca Soudant, Pia Vapeur, Astrit Ismaili, Vita Evangelista and JXSSX. Video screenings of Maravilhosa by Thiemi Higashi, Haptic Brown by Shreya de Souza and A Room of Oblivion by Dorothy Cheung. Panel talk with The Nest Project by Marwan Mohamed Elhajjami, Maha Youssef & Hajar El Moutaouakil and moderated by Aynouk Tan.

We facilitate a safe space during the event, one that allows freedom of one's self-expression. This means that there is a zero tolerance for racism, sexism, queerphobia and transphobia. At the same time, we have a zero-tolerance for non-consensual touching, staring, commenting or any behaviors which might make others feel uncomfortable. Queer Bodies prioritizes the experience of the LGBTQIA+ community, women, gender non-conforming bodies and peoples of color.

In order to protect the privacy of our visitors, it is not allowed to take photos (with your mobile phone). We have a professional photographer documenting the works, please know that pictures will be taken with your consent.

Curation Mini Maxwell, supported by Narges Mohammadi
Graphic Design Mikk Jogi
Photography Jozef Wright

site specific intervention
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Queering the Church, a one-night site-specific intervention, presents queer and queer-ally artists who softly reclaim the space of the church by the power of performance, spoken word and music. The Lourdeskerk, the site of this event, is defined by a moment of transition. It now functions as a cultural center, since it is detached from its original condition. With the power of art, a new meaning can be created in this shared public space, one that resists normativity and hegemony and one that is towards inclusivity to all. Queering the Church is a humble exploration of extending the moment of potential, where queerness is considered as an insisting on process and change and as a commemoration of instability. Queerness, seen as a contrast against which normalcy is produced and codified, represents an always disrupting, refusing, and resisting the ever-shifting power of unquestioned and privileged position of (hetero)normativity and dominance in society. What does it mean to appropriate the space of the church, and hereby religion, by queer-artists, queer ally artists and artists engaged in gender, ethnicity and identity politics? This one-night intervention attempts to bring forward the very moment of an interruptive experience, as well as that it highlights the conflict between gaining equality and acceptance, whilst retaining ownership and identity. Queering the Church can be seen as an exploration of producing alternative relations in a shared public space. For a special moment, how can religion on one side and queerness on the other manifest themselves in a symbolic, gentle but radical symbiosis?

Participating artists:
Renée van Trier
CATNAPP
Sydney Rahimtoola
Bumbum Malou
Sarafina Van Ast
Chantell Hassan
Erik Kamaletdinov
Lili Ullrich
Elissa Lacoste
Federica Notari
Ay La Aron

Curation Narges Mohammadi
Graphic Design and Sound Design Alfonso Yordi Martinez
Photography Anna Charalampidi and Federica van Mastrigt

In wonderful collaboration with the Zuiderstrandtheater Scheveningen.
A special warm thanks to Joost Heijthuijsen for all his efforts.

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Black Hole Carnival; A Circus of Emotions. A groupshow curated by Narges Mohammadi touching the boundaries in-between the club and exhibition site. Supported by PIP Den Haag and The Hague Contemporary.

Participating artists:
Liza Houben
Suyoung Yang
Anastasia Kiseleva
Nicolai Schmelling