From 27 February to 25 May 2025, Framer Framed presents Past Disquiet – a documentary and archival exhibition based on over a decade-long research by curators Kristine Khouri and Rasha Salti. The exhibition uncovers a scarcely documented, shared history of politically engaged artists and initiatives worldwide, revealing a counter-history of art practice and political mobilisation.

The seed of the research for the exhibition Past Disquiet is four forgotten ‘museums in solidarity’ or ‘museums in exile’: the International Art Exhibition for Palestine (Lebanon, 1978), Museum of Latin American Art in Solidarity with Nicaragua, The International Museum of the Resistance Salvador Allende, and Art Contre/Against Apartheid. These initiatives were intended as acts of solidarity, supporting the liberation struggles of the Palestinian people, the Sandinista revolution in Nicaragua, rejecting the Pinochet dictatorship in Chile, and opposing the apartheid regime in South Africa. Despite their significant scale and impact, the presented collections have largely been forgotten.

Kristine Khouri and Rasha Salti traced these histories following threads from Beirut, Paris, Rome, Rabat, Baghdad, Tokyo, Venice, Santiago, Managua and Cape Town, back and forth, uncovering thousands of intersecting stories of visionaries who organised exhibitions, intervened in public spaces, and created a particular form of museum to incarnate their causes. The exhibition Past Disquiet brings these resurfaced stories to light through documents, photographs, pamphlets, press clippings, posters, interviews and videos that tell of a shared history of politically engaged artists and initiatives. Following editions in Barcelona, Berlin, Santiago, Beirut, Cape Town and Paris, this new iteration, realised by Framer Framed in Amsterdam, also brings forth local stories of artistic solidarity.

Framer Framed

Save the Date: Past Disquiet

Framer Framed is proud to present Past Disquiet from 27 February to 25 May 2025. Drawing on over a decade of research by curators Kristine Khouri and Rasha Salti, this documentary and archival exhibition uncovers a largely forgotten history of politically engaged artists and initiatives and their role in anti-imperialist solidarity movements from the 1960s to the 1980s.

This iteration of Past Disquiet also casts a special focus on the history of artistic solidarity within the Netherlands, and particularly in Amsterdam where many solidarity organisations were based. It explores how international movements from the 1960s, ‘70s and ‘80s, such as the anti-apartheid, anti-Vietnam War, and Chilean resistance efforts, were met with local activism. The exhibition celebrates the creativity and enduring influence of these movements. 

Past Disquiet traces its research to four forgotten ‘museums in solidarity’: the International Art Exhibition for Palestine (Lebanon, 1978), the Museum of Latin American Art in Solidarity with Nicaragua, the International Museum of the Resistance Salvador Allende, and Art Contre/Against Apartheid. These initiatives were intended as acts of solidarity, supporting the liberation struggles of the Palestinian people, the Sandinista revolution in Nicaragua, rejecting the Pinochet dictatorship in Chile, and opposing the apartheid regime in South Africa. Despite their significant scale and impact, the presented collections have largely faded from historical memory – until now.

Curators Khouri and Salti’s research journey followed threads from Beirut, Paris, Rome, Rabat, Baghdad, Tokyo, Venice, Santiago, Managua and Cape Town, back and forth. Their investigation uncovered thousands of intersecting stories of visionaries who organised exhibitions, intervened in public spaces, and created a particular form of museum as an embodiment of their causes. Through compelling archival materials – documents, photographs, pamphlets, press clippings, posters, interviews and videos – the exhibition brings this shared counter-history of art practice and political mobilisation to light. 

Alongside the exhibition, Framer Framed will host a public programme featuring talks, workshops and screenings, as well as guided tours. Past Disquiet is a vivid rediscovery of collective artistic resistance, shedding new light on the intersection of cultural practice and political action that continues to inspire solidarity today.

Exhibition: Past Disquiet

On Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 May, Framer Framed concludes the exhibition Past Disquiet with a full weekend programme. The finissage features a mini bazaar by Tabaria Cafe, a hands-on workshop for children, and conversations with artists and researchers Sanjukta Sunderason, Elizabeth Harney and Aida Moreno, as well as exhibition curators Rasha Salti and Kristine Khouri, reflecting on themes of transnational art, social action and solidarity.

Programme Saturday, 24 May 2025
12:00 – 20:00

14:00 – 15:30 Warmi Küyen Textile Collective in conversation with Aida Moreno
Framer Framed invites the Warmi Küyen Textile Collective for a conversation with Aida Moreno, who will share her rich experience in organising Arpilleras workshops. Beginning in 1974 and continuing to this day at the “Casa de la Mujer de Huamachuco” (the Women’s House of Huamachuco), these workshops have been a vital part of the community. Beautiful Arpilleras pieces will be on special display and available for sale over the weekend, with proceeds supporting the women artisans and defenders of freedom of expression.

15:00 – 20:00 A mini bazaar by Tabaria Cafe
During the whole weekend, the Palestinian cultural pop-up Tabaria Cafe designs a mini bazaar with food, drinks, various goods and solidarity items on the mezzanine floor of Framer Framed. Tabaria Café is dedicated to helping Palestinians in exile reconnect with their roots, while honouring and preserving Palestinian culture.

16:00 – 17:00 The final guided tour
Join on Saturday for the final guided tour, led by the researchers of Past Disquiet. This iteration of Past Disquiet casts a special focus on the history of artistic solidarity within the Netherlands, particularly in Amsterdam, where many solidarity organisations were based. It explores how international movements from the ’60s, ‘70s and ‘80s, such as the anti-apartheid and Chilean resistance efforts, were met with local activism. The exhibition celebrates the creativity and enduring influence of these movements.

Sign up here: https://framerframed.stager.co/web/tickets/111522476


Programme Sunday, 25 May 2025
11:00 – 18:00

11:00 – 12:00 (in Dutch): In het woud is er veel te doen
13:00 – 14:00 (in English): In the Jungle There Is Much to Do
Part of the Family Sunday during Amsterdam Art Week 2025
Join Framer Framed for an intergenerational, hands-on workshop for children, inspired by En la selva hay mucho por hacer (In the Jungle There Is Much to Do), a moving animation about resilience, love traversing distance, and the vibrant power of creative resistance. Through crayon rubbings, collage, and natural materials, participants will craft cocoons of hope for a collective ‘Jungle Tree’. Whether through crittery collages, jungle-inspired textures, or miniature homes, this workshop invites families to explore themes of belonging, communication, and protection in playful and hopeful ways.

12:00 – 18:00 A mini bazaar by Tabaria Cafe
Palestinian cultural pop-up Tabaria Cafe designs a mini bazar with food, drinks, goods and various solidarity items on the mezzanine. Tabaria Café is dedicated to helping Palestinians in exile to reconnect with their roots and to honour and preserve Palestinian culture.

12:00 – 16:00 A printing session by Farah Fayyad and Plaatsmaken
On the closing day of the exhibition, 25 May, Framer Framed teams up with the graphic designer of Past Disquiet, Farah Fayyad, and Plaatsmaken for a special printing session. There will be four beautiful designs in solidarity for Palestine to choose from. Bring your own T-shirts, tote bags or jackets! The session is free, with donations welcome.

15:00 – 16:30 Panel Discussion On researching and exhibiting solidarity archives
For the closing weekend event of Past Disquiet, Framer Framed invites Sanjukta Sunderason, Elizabeth Harney, Rasha Salti, and Kristine Kouri for a panel discussion titled On researching and exhibiting solidarity archives. The panel will explore the themes of transnational art, solidarity and decolonisation within the context of the exhibition. Each speaker will address the histories of art, decolonisation, and transnational solidarities, and discuss how to exhibit solidarity archives based on their own research and/or curatorial practice. The panel will be moderated by Eszter Szakács.

Sign up here: https://framerframed.stager.co/web/tickets/111522477

Shane Koppers

Finissage: Past Disquiet

Van 26 mei tot en met 3 juni 2018 organiseert het lectoraat Kunsteducatie van de Amsterdamse Hogeschool voor de Kunsten namen met Framer Framed de tentoonstelling en symposium Teacher as conceptual artist. Centrale gast is de Mexicaanse Amerikaan Jorge Lucero, die de radicale visie heeft dat de lespraktijk van kunstdocenten tevens hun kunstpraktijk is.

Jorge Lucero’s interdisciplinaire kunstpraktijk is geworteld in de social arts, waarbij de diversiteit van de schoolpopulatie het uitgangspunt vormt voor geëngageerde kunstproductie. In deze kunstpraktijk functioneert de school als ‘studio’, de dagelijkse schoolpraktijk als ‘materiaal’ en leerlingen als mede-kunstenaars. Het symposium en de tentoonstelling gaan in op benaderingen waarbij school- en kunstpraktijk samen kunnen smelten. Teacher as conceptual artist is onderdeel van de UNESCO International Arts Education Week, 21-27 mei 2018.

De tentoonstelling
De expositie Teacher as conceptual artist (2018) toont de resultaten van de ‘conceptuele kunst-interventies’ die AHK-studenten uitvoerden op verschillende scholen. Alle getoonde werken zijn gemaakt door leerlingen van scholen voor primair en voortgezet onderwijs in Noord-Holland in de maanden maart – mei 2018.

Symposium: Teacher as conceptual artist

The exhibition Planetary Poetics, presented at Framer Framed from 11 to 14 June, brings together the work of cultural practitioners from the eponymous temporary master’s programme at the Sandberg Instituut. Situated amidst the unfolding ecological catastrophe and multiple ongoing genocides around the world, the programme invited participants to explore practices – artistic and otherwise – that could function as tools for resistance and solidarity.

Opening: Planetary Poetics Graduation Show

Oriana Ikomo

From 20 June to 17 August, MAISON the FAUX presents THE TAIL, a performance installation that draws on Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid to explore themes of transformation, and the sacrifices that are made in pursuit of one’s true identity. The work is developed in close collaboration with artists Diamanda Dramm, Dae Uk Kim, Anto López Espinosa, Oriana Ikomo, Bien De Moor and Luthfi Darwis.

THE TAIL challenges and expands the archetype of the mermaid to confront the complexities of selfhood and the desire for autonomy. It engages with and recontextualises the queer subtext woven through decades of reinterpretations of the mermaid figure over time, highlighting its potential as a symbol of personal transformation and self-empowerment.

Blending music, fashion, performance, scenography, video and visual art, THE TAIL creates an immersive, multi-disciplinary experience. Audiences are invited to become part of the narrative through live activations of its scenography. In collaboration with Framer Framed, a public programme will further create opportunities for communities to engage with, and reinterpret, its ideas.

THE TAIL begins with two live viewings at the Machinefabriek, home of NITE and Club Guy & Roni in Groningen, on 10 & 11 June, before traveling to Framer Framed in Amsterdam from 20 June to 17 August, including thirteen live performances.

MAISON the FAUX is ‘a creative studio posing as a grand couture fashion house’, investigating new forms of fashion through experience, interaction and performativity.

Opening
Register here for the opening on 20 June from 18:00 to 21:00.

Additional performances will take place on 25, 26, 27 and 28 June, and 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10, 11 and 12 July.  
Registration for these performances will be available soon.

Address
Oranje-Vrijstaatkade 71  
1093 KS, Amsterdam

The project is co-commissioned by Framer Framed and NITE, and co-produced by Framer Framed, NITE, and This is Not an Office.

Supported by Ministry of Education, Culture and Science; Amsterdam Fund for the Arts; Municipality of Amsterdam; VriendenLoterij Fonds; het Cultuurfonds and Performing Arts Fund NL.

Photographer: Dion Bal  
Light assistant: Eugene Berkovski  
Talent: Adama  
Make-up artist: Marly van den Bosch  
Hair stylist: Eldrigde Mullenhof

Save the Date: THE TAIL by MAISON the FAUX

On 20 June, Framer Framed and MAISON the FAUX present THE TAIL, a performance installation that draws on Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid to explore themes of transformation, and the sacrifices that are made in pursuit of one’s true identity. The work is developed in close collaboration with artists Diamanda Dramm, Dae Uk Kim, Anto López Espinosa, Oriana Ikomo, Bien De Moor and Luthfi Darwis.

Opening: THE TAIL

Join us for the final presentation of the Youth Leadership & Resilience youth project. A special evening where the project’s participants will take us on a critical journey to collectively reflect on their lives and the systems around us. On Friday 7 July from 18:00 – 21:00, the participants will host a programme with games, music, theatre, drinks and food.

Framer Framed and the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (Institute for Societal Resilience) organised the youth project Youth Leadership & Resilience in collaboration with ASKV, Giving Back Projects, Dreamers NL and Kenniscentrum Ongelijkheid Amsterdam. Within the project, we organised workshops with and for young people (without proper residence permits) as well as a final product focusing on the stories of the participants.

During the Youth Leadership & Resilience project, the participants had the opportunity to participate in workshops and to give workshops themselves. Within all workshops the focus was on creative storytelling, in which spoken word, videography, writing, dance and music played a role. Together, they reflected on the resilience, dreams, ambitions, talents, knowledge, leadership, identities, experiences and stories of these young people.

An integral part of Youth Leadership & Resilience is the concluding final presentation, in which, once again, storytelling is the guiding thread. With their own perspective and with the knowledge gained in the workshops, the young people will take visitors into their stories during an evening at Framer Framed.

Youth Leadership & Resilience is part of the Amsterdam – All Inclusive research programme of the Kenniscentrum Ongelijkheid. In collaboration with research and social partners, the multi-year programme focuses on research into how institutions contribute to inequality in the city. In the Youth Leadership & Resilience project, Framer Framed joined forces as a social partner with research partner the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (Institute for Societal Resilience).

A collaboration between Framer Framed, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (Institute for Societal Resilience), ASKV, Giving Back Projects, Kenniscentrum Ongelijkheid Amsterdam, Dreamers NL.

Youth Leadership & Resilience

Bombari op safari! Woensdag 13 juli vieren we het einde van het schooljaar met een mooi paradefeest op het grote schoolplein tussen de Bonkelaar en de Krijtmolen. Vanaf 14:00 maken we een feestje op het schoolplein en om 14:30 lopen door de wijk. We sluiten de Parade af bij Werkplaats Molenwijk, waar we doorfeesten met limonade en iets lekkers en je met het penalty schieten knallend de vakantie in kan. Haal je beste voetbalkwaliteiten uit de kast, want er vallen mooie prijzen te winnen. We gaan dansend en zingend de vakantie tegemoet! Feest je mee?

Parade Molenwijk

The HüzünProject is a collaboration between Nihat Karataşlı and Inez Piso. They take Hüzün, a Turkish word for an emotion known for its untranslatability, as the starting point for this project supported by Koc University and Mondriaan Fund. Instead of assuming what a dictionary states, their project questions the limits of language, translation and understanding in an ongoing expedition trying to find the meaning of a single word.

Taking Turkish literature as its starting point, they create an archive that aims to collect video interviews from translators, authors, linguists, psychologists among many other individuals that reflect upon Hüzün. These interviews form the base for an Artificial Intelligence machine that tries to learn the meaning of this ungraspable word. This expedition aims to exceed the limits of the humane and asks if a machine can share the same emotions with humans.

You are invited to think with them about the meaning of hüzün as an emotion with plural meanings, not a singular one, that goes beyond language, beyond that what a five letter word could ever cover.

Partner event: Read My World - HüzünProject

The Anarchist Citizenship: People Made of Stories exhibition, from 27 October 2024 to 26 January 2025 at Framer Framed, examines how storytelling, visual culture, architecture and social life (re)shape citizenship in Somaliland, the Somali region and its diaspora. It is the result of a collaborative research project initiated by Amal Alhaag and Nadine Stijns, along with Mustafa Saeed and various other artists, thinkers, architects, and activists based in Somaliland/Somalia and its diasporas. The exhibition opens on 26 October 2024 at 18:00.

How can we avoid, refuse, or obscure the colonial gaze and create images challenging the status quo? What power dynamics are at play when capturing an image, and what does it take to create images that celebrate the multiplicity of identities and experiences that sustain cultures in times of ongoing crises? These sets of questions animate The Anarchist Citizenship: People Made of Stories exhibition by exploring the possibilities of visual narratives, imagination and self-determination. The Anarchist Citizenship: People Made of Stories is informed by both local and diasporic visual culture and offers an alternative approach to understanding, broadcasting to/with/from as well as engaging with the world. By placing the agency of the people of Somali(land) at the centre of the narrative, it attempts to challenge the Eurocentric, (neo)colonial and imperialist hierarchies of who gets to document, write, and think about whom.

For this iteration of The Anarchist Citizenship, we invite Somali (diasporic) artists navigating the waters of cultural production, histories, war traumas, (diasporic) lifeworlds and possible futures. This exhibition is a holding space for visual, sonic, and poetic stories taking the form of installations, film screenings, poetry programmes, photography, archives, workshops, textiles and dialogic spaces.

Within this context, the spatial design takes on a crucial role – the exhibition design serves as an intermediary between the different artistic positions. It mirrors the provocative visual language, vibrant cosmos, aesthetic sensibilities and storytelling that define contemporary Somaliland – zooming into specifically its capital city, Hargeisa. The presented works reflect the collective efforts of those who participate in its creation, weaving together stories, histories, and language to create visual narratives that celebrate the complexities of citizenship in this region.

Together with collaborators and contributors Kinsi Abdulleh, Rashid Ali, Abdullah Barre, Salman Dirir, Sumia Juxun, Elmi Original, Mustafa Saeed and The Somali Museum UK, Amal Alhaag and Nadine Stijns will present a special The Anarchist Citizenship programme. Consisting of a visual installation, a screening and public gatherings that explore the complexities and joys of Somali social life, memory work and the ways communities create alternative ways of being together as survival strategies.


About

The Anarchist Citizenship is an ongoing research-based project that reflects on contemporary visual and oral culture in Somaliland. It was initiated in 2016 by curator Amal Alhaag and artist Nadine Stijns and developed in collaboration with Somali artists such as Mustafa Saeed, along with other thinkers, architects and activists. Over the years, The Anarchist Citizenship has taken on different forms. It is a space for collaboration with/between local and diasporic artists, filmmakers, architects, and designers to explore how Somali(landers) define citizenship and shape identity through visual culture.

Contributors
Mustafa Saeed, Kinsi Abdulleh, Rashid Ali, Abdullah Barre, Salman Dirir, Sihaam Hussein, Sumia Juxun, Elmi Original, The Somali Museum, UK

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Exhibition: The Anarchist Citizenship – People Made of Stories

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Framer Framed is an Amsterdam-based platform & exhibition space for contemporary art, visual culture
