Public program 'Positions: Situated' (2)

with Eliane Esther Bots, Tineke van Veen & Barbara Prezelj and Behnam Taebi

Thursday 31 March 2022, 19:30-21:30
Stroom, Hogewal 1-9, The Hague
Entrance: free
RSVP via Eventbrite (limited number of 25 seats)

Positions: Situated are two events in conjuncture with the exhibition Positions: Time-Based, that present context, references, or archive material related to the work of the artists in the exhibition. At these events, each artist has the opportunity to provide a situated context for the work they are showing, taking the form of performances, lectures by invited speakers, and screenings.

On Thursday 31 March we host 'Positions' relating to Eliane Esther Bots' film In Flow of Words and Tineke van Veen & Barbara Prezelj's film Unsettling Dust. Both works highlight the impact of larger social systems on individual human bodies: where van Veen & Prezelj's film focuses on the invisibility of radioactive contamination, Bots' film lays bare the tension between the neutrality and experience of interpreters in the juridical system.

Behnam Taebi - Fukushima and Radioactive Contamination (lecture)
In response to Tineke van Veen and Barbara Prezelj's film Unsettling Dust, Professor Behnam Taebi will give a lecture that shares his perspective on radioactive waste, the way in which radioactive contamination is visually communicated in Fukushima, and the notion of ‘informed consent' when it comes to the dangers of radioactive contamination. Behnam Taebi is associate professor in ethics of technology at Delft University of Technology, who researches energy ethics, nuclear ethics, responsible innovation and engineering ethics. He is a co-editor of a volume on The Ethics of Nuclear Energy, published with Cambridge University Press in 2015.

Eliane Esther Bots - The Channel (presentation / performance)
Eliane Esther Bots presents a new version of her performance The Channel, in collaboration with Alma and Nenad, interpreters for the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia. In the courtrooms and offices of the Tribunal, the interpreters worked in cabins that stood almost literally on the side lines, in the wings of the theatre of justice. In their roles as interpreters, Alma and Nenad had to stay neutral. Simultaneously present and absent, intimately engaged and remote, they translated testimony about shocking and traumatic events, without ever allowing their own feelings to be seen.
In this performance, the essential work of interpreting for the court is placed centre stage. In the space of the installation at Stroom, interpreters Alma and Nenad talk about their work for the Tribunal. Video documentation is used to augment their stories. The performance revolves around the role of the voice in testimony, and the experience of interpreters, essential cogs in the judicial machine.


Positions: Time-Based
The exhibition Positions: Time-Based presents video work by five artists who are situated in an international context: Eliane Esther Bots, Hannah Dawn Henderson, Karel van Laere, Tineke van Veen & Barbara Prezelj, and Annemarie Wadlow. Responding to issues on a national as well as international level, the artists invite the audience to explore their position with regards to current affairs.

This exhibition is made possible by the kind support of The City of The Hague.

Installation shot at Stroom: Eliane Esther Bots, 'In Flow of Words'
photo: Naomi Moonlion, courtesy Stroom Den haag
Eliane Esther Bots, 'In Flow of Words'
photo: courtesy the artist
Behnam Taebi