Public Research Residency I : Spiritus – Archiving the (Un)imaginable
8 August – 10 September 2022

Looiersgracht 60, in collaboration with Radical Reversibility, is pleased to announce the first iteration of the Public Research Residency for the Summer 2022 season. Looiersgracht 60 and Radical Reversibility are looking forward to welcoming Amsterdam-based artists Doina Kraal and Roger Cremers as the first participants of the Public Research Residency.

Over the course of 4 weeks between August and September, Looiersgracht 60 will open up their gallery to house the production of a collaborative installation between Kraal and Cremers. Their project, titled ‘Spiritus – Archiving the (Un)imaginable’, will take form during their time in residence and continue to travel on after its initial presentation. For the past 10 years, Looiersgracht 60 has developed artist-centric programming and exhibitions; the space draws upon this history in order to offer deeper community connection and facilitate the sharing of resources between emergent and established artists, designers, researchers and thinkers. Having always prioritized the process behind each finished artwork, Looiersgracht 60’s programme has a strong commitment to research-based practice and in-studio conversations. Looiersgracht 60’s Public Research Residency has been created to further develop these conversations by focusing on the accessibility of process-based practices to the public and is scheduled to be held twice a year.

The inaugural iteration of the residency, organized in close collaboration with Radical Reversibility, brings together Doina Kraal and Roger Cremers as the first residents. ‘Spiritus – Archiving the (Un)imaginable’, is a continuation of an existing conversation and body of research shared by Kraal and Cremers. Their substantive and long-term collaboration will be made visible to the public through the course of the residency via installation, performance, and unique conversations. Central to the space and time in residence will be the (re)creation of a large ‘Rarekiek’-inspired installation, situated in the middle of the gallery and sized at a scale allowing for total visitor engagement. Cremers and Kraal share a fascination for time travel, the universe, archives, music, sound and story-telling. Constantly looking for ways to keep the narrative of an object alive, both artists work with compilation and collaboration as a methodology of reviving and engaging with historical context.

While institutions tend to focus on exhibiting finished work, the Public Research Residency would like to propose a higher level of public engagement within all stages of the artistic process. The residency aims to highlight research practice as a matter of public interest by increasing community engagement and acknowledgement of the processes behind an autonomous work. Apart from time spent in production, Kraal and Cremers will collaborate with Radical Reversibility and Looiersgracht 60 to present a varied public programme to complement and expand on their research and artistic production. Each Saturday from August 20th to September 10th the public is invited to attend events with the artists and participate in their journey.

Public Programme

We kindly invite visitors to attend the public programme in accordance with the following schedule. Times and details to be released at a later date:

20 Aug: Film screening (compilation)
27 Aug: Performance and collaborative time travel
03 Sept: Discussion with special guests
10 Sept: Archive Event V: open studio with performance

Address: Looiersgracht 60, 1016 VT Amsterdam.

Admission is free. If you are interested in attending an event please email us at info@looiersgracht60.org.

Roger Cremers

Roger Cremers studied at the Academie voor Beeldende Kunsten in Maastricht and the Rijksakademie voor Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam. Cremers works with historical images, such as archival imagery, magazines, and more recently the representation of images in social media, which emphasize a collective striving towards progress. This process leads his research into a distinct juxtaposition of historical reference and narratives, which interweave both past and present. Cremers’ work has been exhibited at AKINCI, Amsterdam, Batabgianni Gallery, Athens, HEDAH, Maastricht, Institut Neerlandais, Paris, Centre d’Art Contemporain, Bignan, among others.

Doina Kraal

Doina Kraal studied Fine Art at Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam (BA) and at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London (MA). From 2020 to 2022 Kraal was a PhD candidate at PhDArts, a practice-lead doctoral study programme at ACPA (Academy of Creative and Performing Arts), Leiden University. Kraal works through installation and performance, and investigates how intimate and multisensory encounters imprint between object and viewer. In 2018 Onomatopee published Touche-à-Tout, a comprehensive collection of writings, images and documentation around Kraal’s research. Kraal’s work and publications have been presented at Foam, Amsterdam, MAMA, Rotterdam, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Flora, Bogota, Soledad Senlle Art Foundation among others.

Radical Reversibility

Radical Reversibility is a practice and research-based arts platform interested in the interplay between image, viewer and perception. Founded in 2017 by artists Martine Stig, Elodie Hiryczuk & Sjoerd van Oevelen, and curator / editor Frank van der Stok, Radical Reversibility was expanded in 2020 with curator and writer Taco Hidde Bakker and image editor Isabelle van Hemert. Radical Reversibility functions as a network and a laboratory where artists, writers, curators and academics seek to contextualize their own work within new practices and engage in discourses in and beyond the arts by bringing together research projects in public events, exhibitions and publications.

Looiersgracht 60

Looiersgracht 60 is an exhibition center for art, design, and architecture located along its namesake canal in Amsterdam’s gallery district. Previously a cardboard and bottling plant built in 1860, the space has been repurposed to facilitate a dynamic programme focusing on projects that defy traditional categorisation. Over the past 10 years, Looiersgracht 60 has organized numerous exhibitions, lectures, performances and events with emerging and established artists. Looiersgracht 60 is also the home of Printing Plant Art Book Fair, an annual art book fair supporting independent publishing practices from around the world.