Social Capital Meet-Up

During the closing weekend of Pay Attention Please! on 29 and 30 September, we will be organizing a Social Capital Meet-Up.

TAAK is the initiator of Social Capital, a multi-year programme in response to the explosive growth in construction throughout Amsterdam and the repercussions this growth is having on social cohesion in the city. We have taken the district of Oud-Noord as our case study. At TAAK, located in the Tolhuistuin complex, we hear, see and feel the consequences of new urban activity every day. This makes us wonder about other consequences for the city that are less perceptible. How are all the changes affecting the social fabric of our neighbourhoods? How can we preserve the cultural diversity and quirkiness that have always been so characteristic for Amsterdam, and – especially in the district of Noord – the social cohesion in the former garden villages? Social Capital is endeavouring to create new connections between art, local networks and cultures that will give rise to alternatives for the homogenization of the city, all with no specific agenda or predefined objectives in mind.

During the Meet-Up, thinkers, makers and doers will share their observations, solutions and strategies, and they will engage in dialogue on how cultural interventions can engender a sense of participation and ownership among residents. The key question is: how can art challenge the process of gentrification without being drawn into the process as a tool?

Speakers and guests at the Social Capital Meet-Up:

-- Stewart Home is a writer and artist based in London. He is one of the initiators of Spectres of Modernism: Art against Overdevelopment, an art project in the centre of London that serves as a protest against the construction of a complex of luxury flats.

-- Lara Almarcegui, originally from Spain and now living in Rotterdam. She devotes her art to investigating the social, economic and political impact of urban and landscape transformations.

-- Marinella Senatore lives and works in Italy. She employs performances and rituals to create new social connections in the public domain. During the Meet-Up she will speak about her project ‘Palermo Procession’ that she created for Manifesta 12 in Palermo.

-- Adeola Enigbokan is an artist and researcher based in Amsterdam. She works in the fields of environmental psychology, anthropology and history, conducting interdisciplinary research in neighbourhoods in New York, Tel Aviv, Moscow, Mexico City and other urban centres. During the Meet-Up she will speak on her research in the Molenwijk district in Amsterdam-Noord.

-- Massih Hutak is a writer and rapper who lives and works in Amsterdam-Noord. He will be reading a column on the changes he sees taking place all around him every day.

-- Monnik, a speculative agency for future and fiction, will present the findings of the first World Building Lab. Working with stakeholders, Monnik proposes scenarios for the future that can also be applied to the Sixhaven district in Amsterdam-Noord.

And artistic interventions:

-- Narrative Parking - Manon van Hoeckel critiques the new parking policy and the increasing pressure it is placing on Amsterdam-Noord. From 26 to 30 September, she will be offering free parking spaces at Meidoornplein in exchange for stories about everyday problems and suggestions for solutions that will benefit the neighbourhood.

-- Just Practice! - The activist artists bart & klaar have developed an app and performances for Social Capital that are designed to evoke experiences of new collectivism in public space.

Down here bio's speakers and summaries presentations: Bio's sprekers en samenvattingen presentaties

Working language: mainly English

Registration: info@taak.me

Admission: free (a simple lunch will be provided).