The future of international site-specific biennales: from the Northern Black Forest and beyond

Ornamenta is a regional cultural programme in Germany’s Northern Black Forest and was re-launched from July to September 2024 as a platform for contemporary cultural development manifested through exhibitions, public installations, performances, galas, symposiums, and community events. Visitors were invited to discover the often-overlooked region and to collectively reimagine the region through an exhibition route in this forestry area.

On 6 December, we look back at Ornamenta and celebrate the launch of Tubelight's new magazine issue, which includes an extensive article on Ornamenta. For this afternoon, we have invited Ornamenta curator Jules van den Langenberg and visual artist Yvonne Dröge Wendel to share their experiences and to give us more insights into site-specific biennales. During a panel discussion, we zoom out of the cultural programme in the Northern Black Forest and reflect on international cultural collaborations and programming taking place in provincial areas. We discuss the impact of international programming on local populations and how local (cultural) infrastructures enrich international art biennales. Moreover, we talk about how aftercare could look like when setting up collaborations with local partners in provincial areas in other countries. How do you maintain sustainable partnerships and ensure a long-term impact?

Date: Wednesday 29 January
Time: 18:00 - 20:00
Location: Goethe-Institut Amsterdam
Language: English

17:30 - 18:00    Walk-in
18:00 - 18:15    Introduction by Veerle Driessen (editor Tubelight) & Launch of the latest magazine issue
18:15 - 19:15    Panel discussion with Jules van den Langenberg (curator Ornamenta 2024) and Yvonne Dröge Wendel (visual artist), moderated by Astrid Mörk (Advisor Germany DutchCulture)
19:15 - 20:00    Networking Drinks

Jules van den Langenberg (NL) develops scripted works. In the roles of curator, film- and performance director and writer he makes exhibitions, scenographies, installations and texts. Throughout his life, in friendships, education and travels, van den Langenberg focuses on the dramaturgical and immersive qualities found in the existence of cultural workers, going to school, class mobility and cultural infrastructures. Van den Langenberg made exhibitions and programmes at Van Abbemuseum, Het Nieuwe Instituut, Textielmuseum, London Design Biennale and Dim Sun Lausanne. His texts include De Witte Raaf, Sandberg Instituut, artist Wouter Paijmans and he lectured at Hochschule für Gestaltung Karlsruhe, Gerrit Rietveld Academie and Design Academy Eindhoven. Within the curational team of Ornamenta he focuses on the artistic development of the programme with museums, artists, heritage institutions, art collectors, cinema and public spaces.

Yvonne Dröge Wendel (DE/NL) has consistently received critical acclaim, winning awards such as the Prix de Rome (1994) and the Dr. A.H. Heineken Prize for Art (2016), where she was praised for her originality, vitality, and philosophical exploration of the human-object relationship. She trained at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie and was an artist-in-residence at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam and Delfina Studios in London. Since 2009, she has been the head of the Fine Arts department at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie (part-time). Her work is regularly published, and she continues to make significant contributions to art in public spaces. Dröge Wendel's iconic work Black Ball - a 3.5-meter felted ball pushed through city streets by the public - has appeared worldwide, fostering spontaneous interactions and joy. In 2024, it travelled through towns in the Northern Black Forest region.

Tubelight is an independent online and offline platform for art criticism, which offers space for artists, writers and thinkers to share views on art. Blossoming writing talent publishes alongside well-known art critics, curators and artists. The magazine is published four times a year and is available free of charge at over 200 galleries, art institutions and bookshops in the Netherlands.

Tubelight sheds light on lesser-known art projects, emerging artists and overlooked cultural spaces. They visited the Ornamenta last summer and published an article on the ability of the triennial to root in the Northern Black Forest in a meaningful way in their newest magazine issue.

Read more in ‘Ab in den Süden’, our three-part series where DutchCulture uncovers the opportunities and challenges of working in Southern Germany, using Ornamenta 2024 as an example. Dive into the series for insights and inspiration for creatives and cultural professionals.