EXHIBITION: BEYOND US AND THEM

The exhibition Beyond Us and Them will be on display in Utrecht at FOTODOK from 1 September to 20 Oktober. The exhibition features work by international artists including: Roos van Geffen (NL), Patricia Kaersenhout (NL), Alexander Chekmenev (UA), Amak Mahmoodian (IR), Robin Hammond (NZ), Terje Abusdal (NO), Moniker (internationaal collectief), Heather Dewey-Hagborg (US), Sanne van den Elzen (NL), Gilleam Trapenberg (CW), Lisanne van Happen (NL) en Dan Hassler-Forest (US), BeAnotherLab (internationaal collectief), Critical Mass (NL) en Alex Majoli (IT)..

Do we include or exclude? In the context of contemporary debates around globalisation, polarisation and migration, Beyond Us and Them examines identity and group formation in a changing world. How, as an individual, do we relate to others? What does our group membership say about our need for security and acceptance? Our individual identity plays a key role in whether or not we belong to a certain group. Sometimes the place we are born, the family we grow up in and the genes we inherit determine the group we belong to. Other times, the people around us dictate our group identity and whether, rightly or wrongly, we are pigeonholed and potentially stereotyped. We can influence our identity to a certain degree, through the friends and hobbies we choose, the job we have and the place we live. In this exhibition, FOTODOK shows that (group) identity is both fixed and fluid. In any event, group formation is always inextricably linked to inclusion and exclusion. This is influenced by broad themes such as globalisation, immigration, racism, gender, sexuality and nationalism. Instead of thinking in terms of ‘I’ and ‘the other’, the reality is much more complex: ‘I’ and ‘the other’ are changeable and therefore never completely distinct.

The need to divide people into groups is human and at its core neither right or wrong. Beyond Us and Them does not deny that different groups exist, nor that these differences can cause conflicts. Rather, it asks how we can stop these conflicts from escalating, by engaging with each other with curiosity and an open mind. Beyond Us and Them brings together photographers and artists who explore the space between ‘us’ and ‘them’ and critically examine inclusion and exclusion.