The closing programme of Every Act of Struggle is co-curated by School of Intrusions and the participating artists. The sessions are intended to be an extension of the group's research, opening it up to a wider audience. The sessions are open research exchanges with artists and researchers who are connected to the project or whose texts and projects have emerged during the research.

Full programme
11am: Doors open

12pm: Talk and discussion by Pieter Paul Pothoven around the research Notes – fragmented, incomplete – after Jan Wolkers (Boykot Outspan Aktie, 1978)

The Dutch artist and writer Jan Wolkers (1925-2007) designed a poster in 1978 for the anti-apartheid organisation Boykot Outspan Aktie, which was founded by Esau du Plessis in 1970. The organisation campaigned for a boycott of Outspan fruit, especially oranges. The campaign was successful: within ten years, it was no longer possible to buy ‘blood oranges’ in Dutch supermarkets. For the work Notes fragmented, incomplete – after Jan Wolkers (Boykot Outspan Aktie, 1978), Pothoven investigates the history of the poster, his own initial response when he saw the poster at the Rijksmuseum in 2017, and the way in which the poster resonates with the present. In this talk Pieter Paul will present his research and questions around the poster.

1pm: Break

2pm: Narratives of Neutrality in the Netherlands, Study session with Vincent Kuitenbrouwer
Neutrality is an important factor in the national self-image of the Netherlands. Social elites and prominent institutions invoke the concept as a core-value they adhere to, especially in discussions about sensitive topics. However, examining historical and/or contemporary case studies more closely shows that the concept of neutrality is a narrative-construct that can be used to obscure interests at play or even to marginalize certain voices in the public debate. There are many empirical examples that show this, but the concept of neutrality in a Dutch context is undertheorized and therefore we lack an overarching framework to get a better understanding of this dynamic. During our meeting we will share and discuss examples about Dutch narratives of neutrality from the past and present in order to come to a more coherent approach that can inform and inspire scholarly and artistic work.

4.30pm: Talk by Not Surprised Collective (Alina Lupu)
Alina Lupu contributes to this program as a member of the Not Surprised Collective, a group of cultural workers, artists, and activists who confront the complicity of cultural institutions in systems of violence and oppression, about the silence of the Dutch art world on the topic of the ongoing genocide in Palestine.

In 2024, the collective publicly requested the loan of Ahmet Öğüt’s Bakunin’s Barricade from the Amsterdam Stedelijk Museum, intending to use the artwork to shield student protesters from police violence, as they were protesting for their institutions to break ties with Israel. The request was made in the context of escalating atrocities in Gaza and growing calls for solidarity with Palestine. The Stedelijk refused the request, offering replicas instead of the original artworks, an act the collective viewed as emblematic of institutional priorities that protect property over people. This moment has become central to the collective’s critique of so-called institutional neutrality. Far from being apolitical, such neutrality often operates as a mechanism for avoiding accountability, enabling institutions to maintain relationships with oppressive regimes or to disengage from urgent political contexts. In this framework, neutrality becomes complicity.

In this contribution, Lupu reflects on the role of cultural institutions amid international crisis and the power, and limits, of symbolic gestures. The Not Surprised Collective rejects performative solidarity and calls instead for meaningful cultural resistance. For them, the question is not whether art should be political, but whether it acknowledges the political structures it already inhabits. In addressing the theme of neutrality and cultural boycott, this intervention underscores the need for cultural institutions to move beyond symbolic gestures and toward concrete acts of solidarity and dissent.

6.30pm: Dinner break

5.30pm: Talk by Amal Alhaag
Amal Alhaag will be touching upon what happened to the anti-apartheid movement in the Dutch context and what are its remnants today among other related topics.

Every Act of Struggle: Closing Programme