Islands of Change confronts the polycrisis – planetary collapse, genocide, war, tech-fascism, and growing authoritarianism – that increasingly leaves us at a loss in the face of the challenges it presents. Co-curated by Julian Rieken with Residenties in Utrecht and Gaudeamus, this long-term initiative asks: How do we reclaim our ‘response-ability’? How do we mobilize our (hyper)local ‘islands’ of artistic action to counteract rigid hierarchies, and in so doing, forge vibrant currents of solidarity?
In its first year, the project unfolds as a sonic exhibition during the festival across various locations in and around de Lange Nieuwstraat, featuring four installations and performative pieces, lectures, panels and workshops. Among these, two works by Sophia Mitiku and Mudassir Sheikh emerged from a ten-day residency selected through an open call. Artists, researchers, and local initiatives will gather to collectively amplify (hyper)local agency as a fractal of systemic change – tuning insular communities into resonant and relational networks of polyphonic possibilities.
This exhibition is part of the Ulysses Platform, co-funded by the European Union.
PROGRAMME
Friday 12 September
16.00 – 22.00 Oceanic Refractions (installation) – Instituto Cervantes Utrecht
Sunday 14 September
10.00 – 17.00 Oceanic Refractions (installation) – Instituto Cervantes Utrecht
10.00 – 17.00 Sophia Mitiku (installation) – UMU – Universiteitsmuseum Utrecht Kas 1 – with performances at 11.30, 13.30 and 16.00
10.00 – 17.00 Mudassir Sheikh (installation) – UMU – Universiteitsmuseum Utrecht Kas 2
10.00 – 17.00 Adama Delphine Fawundu (installation) – UMU – Universiteitsmuseum Utrecht Oranjerie
14.00 – 15.30 Silent Keynote – UMU – Universiteitsmuseum Utrecht, Bovenzaal