Detours
It started about ten years ago; after the major cuts in the sector, art and culture were increasingly presented as something instrumental. In this way, administrators and policy makers hoped to make art useful. A detour with which some extra money could be shifted in the direction of art and art could contribute to neoliberal ideals.
Now, for some time, from the field, there seems to be a shift underway. This can be seen, among other things, in the exhibitions, open calls and residencies, which pass by in BKinformation. A shift towards more engaged and activist art.
Here are seventeen pieces of text for illustration:
1. Art makes them feel more comfortable and less lonely.
2. Thanks to thinkers, activists, artists, a movement has emerged to fight for the decolonization of Western society.
3. The artworks offer rebuttals to the consequences of individualistic society, call for action and change in attitudes.
4. Artists depict current issues such as sustainability & recycling.
5. Which examines the various aspects of discomfort. And also the discomfort of humanity and the society it has built.
6. A world devastated by war, pandemics and climate change must be redesigned: how can we know that we will get it right?
7. A primitive settlement, in which the creation of the individual is employed for the good of the group.
8. In the face of ecological degradation, develop a comprehensive and sensitive awareness of the life-supporting networks of water exchange.
9. The theme for this year is Rebellion.
10. Women artists in dialogue about their position in the art world.
11. Artists, cultural organizations, and policymakers in seven European countries are working to build a more sustainable cultural sector that works against sexual violence, sexism, racism, and abuse of power in the arts.
12. In search of the relationship between man, nature and technology.
13. Who, through their work, contribute in any way to the solution of one or more of the seventeen United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
14. Advocate for structural change and take steps to create a more sustainable, inclusive and equitable art world.
15. A globally oriented, collaborative and interdisciplinary arts and culture platform.
16. An interdisciplinary arena exploring ecology and conscious interaction with nature.
17. Buying (selling) art in solidarity.
Many artists and art institutions (not everyone and, of course, they don't have to) want to contribute to a better world without equivocation, keeping in mind a world without wars, climate disasters and viral threats, as these examples show; each one plucked from this edition of BK Information.
English 
Dutch