In this episode of the Framer Framed podcast, we go behind the scenes of the Amsterdam iteration of the exhibition Past Disquiet with its curators, Rasha Salti and Kristine Khouri. Together, they reflect on their decade-long research into politically engaged artists and the transnational solidarity movements of the 1960s to 1980s — from Chile to Palestine, from Nicaragua to South Africa — and their resonances in the Netherlands.

Rasha and Kristine speak about their curatorial methodology, the archival process, and the spatial design of the exhibition at Framer Framed. They discuss “museums in exile,” the role of murals, and the challenges of exhibiting stories that are often absent from official narratives. What emerges is a portrait of solidarity as both protest and collective world-making — anethos that carries powerful lessons for contemporary activism.

Kristine Khouri is a researcher with a background in Arabcultural history and art history. Her work focuses on the history of art circulation, exhibition, and archival practice in the Middle East and North Africa. She is a board member of the Arab Image Foundation in Beirut and has recently focused on the politics and ethics of digital archives.

Rasha Salti is a researcher, writer, and curator of art and film. She has curated internationally at MoMA, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, and the Museo de la Solidaridad Salvador Allende, among others. She is currently the commissioning editor for La Lucarne at ArteFrance, a program dedicated to auteur documentaries.

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This podcast episode captures Framer Framed's event on November 5, 2024, featuring Lucia Kagramanyan's research project, Her Voice: Behind Armenian Lullabies. Her Voice was simultaneously presented as a broadcast on NTS Radio and a listening session. Organised by League of Tenders for Vleeshal’s Repetition is a Form of Changing as part of their International Nomadic Program 2024-2025, it includes archival songs, new lullabies, melodic chants, and personal accounts.

Lullabies have been a form of therapy, a means of survival, and a way to preserve cultural heritage in the face of displacement and oppression. Through intimate stories and haunting melodies, we uncover the emotional and cultural significance of lullabies in Armenian history. From the soothing rhythms of cradles to the migration of melodies across regions, these songs are more than just bedtime tunes—they are vessels of memory, resilience, and identity. Join us as we explore how Featuring voices from mothers, grandmothers, and artists, this podcast reveals the universal power of lullabies to connect us to our past, our roots, and each other.

League of Tenders is a curatorial duo established in 2018 by Elena Ishchenko and Maria Sarycheva. Over time, the League of Tenders has focused on disability representation, overcoming the alienation of everyday labour, practices of care, and support and friendship in the age of disasters.

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In this compelling episode, host Professor Chiara De Cesari engages in a thought-provoking conversation with members of RIWAQ—Centre for Architectural Conservation in Ramallah, Palestine. This organisation is committed to preserving Palestinian cultural heritage. As RIWAQ undertakes the monumental task of documenting and restoring architectural sites across the West Bank and Gaza, they confront the challenges of maintaining cultural memory amidst destruction. The discussion highlights the pressing need for community-centred cultural initiatives that operate independently of governmental influences, illustrating how civic organisations can build a robust cultural infrastructure in the face of adversity. 

Throughout the episode, the two members of RIWAQ share their personal experiences and perspectives on the cultural landscape in Palestine. They discuss the devastating impact on both physical and digital archives, as well as the innovative strategies employed to safeguard vital cultural narratives for future generations. By fostering partnerships with civil society groups, RIWAQ exemplifies the power of grassroots efforts in cultural preservation. This episode offers a poignant reflection on resilience and the enduring hope for a future where cultural heritage is not merely preserved but flourishes, inspiring listeners to consider the role they can play in supporting these crucial efforts.

You can support RIWAQ’s vital work by becoming a member and by donating here.

 https://www.riwaq.org/memberships

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This episode is a crossover podcast featuring the launch event of Errant Journal's seventh issue, titled 'Embodying Resistance'. It includes a live interview with guest editor Ghiwa Sayegh, recorded at Framer Framed in Amsterdam on 3 November 2024. 

This issue of Errant Journal aims to interrogate the role of the body in strategies of resistance from below. Taking Palestine as a starting point, the ongoing genocide committed by Israel and other colonial powers and the people’s continued struggle for liberation inform the issue’s thinking and praxis. From this political standpoint, it explores the ways in which bodies – that are sexualised, criminalised, racialised, crip – have been able to divert and subvert in order to fight back. To resist from the body is what crip theory tells us is a matter of need. It is a body that no longer fears deviation, specifically because of how cheap our lives are considered and how dangerous our futures are treated. It is about finding community and kinship when we are told we are alone.

Ghiwa Sayegh is an anarcha-queer writer, independent publisher, and archivist from Beirut. They are the founding editor of Kohl, a Journal for Body and Gender Research and a co-founder of Intersectional Knowledge Publishers.

This episode originally aired on Errant's channel on November 17, 2024. Issue #7 can be purchased here.

www.errantjournal.org  

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In this special episode, we bring you the recording of the book launch event for (Re)claiming, the second title in the Archival Textures publication series, which took place on 10 September 2024 at Framer Framed. (Re)claiming explores how various queer and feminist communities in the Netherlands have reclaimed symbols, words, and stories as tools for empowerment in a hostile society.

Archival materials featured in (Re)claiming include a collection of buttons, a text by Karin Daan, the designer of the Homomonument in Amsterdam and short statements and flyers by queer groups such as SUHO, Sjalhomo, Roze Front, Roze Driehoek, Roze Gebaar, Van Doofpot tot Mankepoot, Interpot/ILIS, Lesbisch Archief Amsterdam, Strange Fruit Vrouwen and Groep Zwarte Vrouwen Nijmegen.

Co-editors Noah Littel and Tabea Nixdorff engage in a lively conversation with contributors Anne Krul, Tieneke Sumter, and translator Canan Marasligil (Ja'anan Marashligil). The episode also features readings from the book, including poetry by Gita Hacham, and reflections on the symbolic and activist significance of the triangle. With this selection, (Re)claimingbrings together queer, trans, crip, feminist, Jewish and Black perspectives on (re)claiming as an activist strategy.

Listen in to this insightful conversation on the significance of reclaiming as an essential activist strategy, both in its historical roots and contemporary relevance.

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www.archival-textures.com

In this episode, we delve into the forensic aspects of Boogaloo Bias, where Jennifer Gradecki and Derek Curry explore how the intersection of technology and forensic science shapes society’s perception of identity and security. As part of the Really? Art and Knowledge in Times of Crisis exhibition, their interactive research project critiques the growing use of facial recognition technologies by law enforcement and intelligence agencies. By creating a facial recognition system trained solely on characters from the 1980s breakdancing movie Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo, they expose the biases and inaccuracies in modern forensic technologies.

This project questions the legitimacy of facial recognition as a reliable forensic tool and raises critical discussions about the ethical implications of using such technologies in law enforcement and public surveillance. Through the use of humor and innovative artistry, Gradecki and Curry shine a light on the complex relationship between technological advancements and human oversight in forensics.

⁠Jennifer Gradecki⁠ is an artist and theorist whose practice investigates secretive sociotechnical systems, making them accessible to the public. Derek Curry⁠ is an artist-researcher whose work focuses on the impact of new technologies on society and their role in power structures. 

www.framerframed.nl

Join us for an insightful episode in which we spotlight UKRAiNATV, a groundbreaking project featured in the current Really: Art and Knowledge in Times of Crisis exhibition at Framer Framed.

UKRAiNATV is a multichannel streaming hub, recording studio, and local network born in the crucible of the Ukraine-Russia war. Our guests, the creators of UKRAiNATV, share their experiences developing this platform amidst geopolitical turmoil.

We explore how they use digital tools to connect artists and audiences across borders, navigating the challenges and unexpected inspirations arising from conflict. The platform's emphasis on personal narratives humanises the war experience for global viewers, fostering a sense of connection and understanding. This episode explores how digital art and storytelling serve as potent tools for activism and fostering cross-cultural understanding.

In this episode, we are featuring a recorded lecture from the symposium Synthetic Vision/Images of Power with Anna Engelhardt and Mark Cinkevich. The symposium featured talks by scholars and artists on the various transformations induced by Artificial Intelligence within the interplay of power, knowledge and images. Engelhardt and Cinkevich discuss their work Terror Element, a hybrid documentary that examines the fallibility of truth through the lens of forensic science and investigative methods. The work was commissioned by Framer Framed with the support of the Netherlands Film Fund and Creative Industries Fund NL as part of the collaborative project Immerse/Interact.

Terror Element explores the complexities of forensic science and the concept of truth, examining the blurred lines between reality and fiction in the portrayal of events. Through a combination of CGI and archival footage, the documentary follows Nina, a forensic expert, as she confronts the unsettling truths behind a series of 1999 explosions in Russia. The film challenges the audience to question the reliability of forensic evidence and the narratives constructed around it, making it a thought-provoking exploration of power, truth, and the role of technology in contemporary society.

Terror Element is part of the exhibition Really? Art and Knowledge in Time of Crisis, which is open until 29 September 2024 at Framer Framed.

In this episode of the Framer Framed podcast, we have an in-depth conversation with Golrokh Nafisi and Ahmadali Kadivar, the writers of the graphic novel Walvistraan: A Love Story in A Time of Extinction and Isolation. The novel intricately weaves the history of the Molenwijk area in Amsterdam-Noord, exploring themes of industrialisation, environmental impact, and community resilience through the lives of fictional mole and whale families. Nafisi and Kadivar share their creative process, discuss the rich historical context of their work, and reflect on how their personal experiences and artistic collaboration have shaped this narrative. 

Walvistraan is the result of a project by Golrokh Nafisi in collaboration with Ahmadali Kadivar during their residency in Werkplaats Molenwijk in 2023.

Golrokh Nafisi is a visual artist whose artistic practice involves designing alternative ways of documenting time and location, shaping a new imagination of time and space to give us direction in the present. Nafisi is interested in discovering new forms of collective action involving bodies and human ideologies.

Ahmadali Kadivar is a writer, researcher and the director of Sedākhāne, the most robust archive of folk music in Iran, building resources in understanding the literary, historical and anthropological aspects of folk music culture.

www.framerframed.nl

This episode was recorded during the event Counter Extractivism: Poetics of Remedy and Transmission, part of the Planetary Poetics master programme – an initiative of Dorine van Meel and Framer Framed – at the Sandberg Institute in Amsterdam. Featuring a discussion between guest tutor Jean-Sylvain Tshilumba Mukendi and Carla Kabamba the episode explores the intertwining histories of the world, Amsterdam, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Kabamba shares her personal connection to the DRC, discussing the exploitation and suffering caused by colonialism and her efforts to stop the import of ‘blood minerals’ in Amsterdam. The episode highlights the urgency of addressing the violence and deforestation linked to mineral mining in DRC, emphasising both a critical awareness of global dependencies on these resources and her passionate advocacy for the country’s prosperity. 

Jean-Sylvain Tshilumba Mukendi is a cultural practitioner and artistic coordinator at the art and research centre Atelier Picha in the DRC.

Carla Kabamba is a member of the Amsterdam City Council for Lijst Kabamba.

www.framerframed.nl