We are proud to present Transferring Cultures into Bodies, a group show curated by Adriana González Hulshof, former director of Amsterdam Art, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Amsterdam Art.
Adriana González Hulshof was born in Mexico and grew up in Peru, later in the Netherlands. Her own memories and experiences were formed by a mix of colors, sounds and a wealth of images. That background made her curious about how we deal with the influences of diverse cultures. How do you perceive the world when you grow up with an ever-changing perspective of traditions and customs and their intrinsic value systems? How do you observe the world when your own observation is rooted in the visual language of those various cultures?
The invitation to curate an exhibition at tegenboschvanvreden for Amsterdam Art Weekend’s tenth edition was, for Adriana González Hulshof, a wonderful opportunity to draw on those personal issues in contemplating the work of artists whose practice relates to visual art and fashion. Fashion and visual art can tell stories about rituals, about cultures, about time, about the lives of people. This became the point of departure for the exhibition Transferring Cultures into Bodies.
The artists included in Transferring Cultures into Bodies have in common the aspect that they use their work, consciously or unconsciously, to investigate their cultural heritage, break with traditions and stereotypes, combine them or in fact place them in a new context. Their artistic practice spans a range of fields, among them visual art, fashion, craft and mass production. Culture and subculture go hand in hand. The work of these artists shows how various elements can be interwoven. For Faig Ahmed, Karim Adduchi, Lisa Konno, Paul Kooiker, Ana Navas, Aimée Zito Lema & Elisa van Joolen the artistic approach is dynamic and fluid. It aims to tell (socially relevant) stories and to present these in a visual manner.