P AMPHLET - BredaPhoto Festival...P AMPHLET. These types of fundamental changes can cause uncertainty, fear even. But they ... slowly making way for the vegan burger. On a bigger political

Slowly the contours of a new order are appearing. Women now control the most powerful economic institutions in the world and play superheroes in Hollywood films. In the Netherlands, Saint Nicholas’ helper ‘Black Pete’ is not black anymore, and streets are no longer named only after . Novelists resolutely reject gender stereotyping, and pop singers call themselves ‘gender fluid’.

Economy Society CulturePoliticsTowards a new beginning or inevitable decay?

More equality or an identity crisis?

Melting pot and new engagement.

New engagement or disintegration?

2019 – 2020

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P A M P H L E T

These types of fundamental changes can cause uncertainty, fear even. But they also offer opportunities: for more equality, the freedom to be who you want to be, and a more sustainable way of using the resources on our planet.

In the words of Aladdin, there are ‘new horizons to pursue’. So whether you’re an optimist or a pessimist, we can all be a part of the outcome of these changes. And be honest: is it not exciting to witness the emergence of a new order?

The way we work, travel, vote, communicate and consume is rapidly changing. Even our identities are in flux: what does it mean to be male or female, white or black, Western or non-Western in this day and age?

A whole new worldA new fantastic point of viewNo one to tell us noOr where to goOr say we’re only dreaming

Disney’s Aladdin, 1992

We’re paying more attention to what we eat and drink, not only for health reasons, but also to spare our natural environment. The Big Mac is slowly making way for the vegan burger. On a bigger political scale, tectonic shifts seem to be taking place. America no longer wants to play referee for the world, meanwhile China is flexing its economic muscle, exercising so called political ‘soft power’ in the process. Squeezed in the middle, Europe is soul-searching while the Brits are breaking ties with the continent and populists are seizing power in governments. Change is a constant in history, but lately changes seem to be moving faster and appear more radical in nature. You could say that the socio-economic, political and cultural foundations laid down after the Second World War are crumbling.

BredaPhotowww.bredaphoto.nl

Introduction

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Pamphlet2019 – 2020

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Starting point BredaPhoto 2019 – 2020


Starting point

This pamphlet is a starting point for the BredaPhoto Festival 2020 theme. It is divided into four parts: politics, economics, society and culture. What do we at BredaPhoto think of when we talk about a ‘new order’? But BredaPhoto doesn’t know everything. Therefore, we’ll be talking to all kinds of people in the coming months. We’ll invite philosophers and economists, artists and politicians to respond to this pamphlet; people who can give us new insights and can sharpen, complement or change our way of thinking. What are stimulating topics for photographers within this theme? How can we get a broad public to think about a changing society? And are we overlooking developments in other parts of the world that shed new light on this theme?

Read this publication as the starter to an in-depth discussion about the new theme of BredaPhoto Festival 2020. The final text and the title of the festival will be announced in September 2019.

... suddenly there was a sweet, ticklish feeling through her spine, for all along that unstoppable decay did not mean the sobering end to her, but that for which this world, which was ripe for destruction, would soon make place, so no dead end but a new beginning, the raw material for a new order ...

From: Lászlo Krasznahorkai, The Melancholy of Resistance

Four do

mains:

eco

no

my,

po

litics, socie

ty a

nd

cultu

re.


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Economy,Towards a beginning or inevitable decay?

D O M A I N 0 1


Economy

Growth is (not) goodOur entire economy is focused on growth, on producing more, earning more, and spending more. This system has served us well as prosperity has increased spectacularly. But it seems the system is now starting to show some serious cracks. Growth is often detrimental to the environment and the gap between rich and poor is growing ever wider. Maybe it’s time to question growth as our only goal.

Solutions for coping with climate change point to this direction. Take the Netherlands for example, this small

country used to be the largest gas exporter in Western Europe, but has recently decided to close off the gas pipes and resort to renewable energy sources. At the same time measures like taxing airline tickets, carbon emissions and the usage of roads during peak hours are no longer taboo in our country. Around Europe there is talk of creating circular economies, radically recycling waste instead of discarding it. One of the toughest questions in all of these transitions is: who pays for the overhaul? The government? Businesses? Or are the costs externalised to citizens?

…don’t be fixing up the economy, 18-year-olds. You don’t know anything about the economy. It’s a massive complex machine beyond anyone’s understanding and you mess with it at your peril. So can you even clean up your own room? No. Well you think about that. You should think about that, because if you can’t even clean up your own room, who the hell are you to give advice to the world?

Psychologist Jordan Peterson


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The conscious consumerMany people see an active role for themselves, creating change as consumers: from buying ‘slave-free’ Tony’s Chocolonely chocolate to choosing organic cotton. People are starting to realise that our actions have an impact on the planet and on our fellow human beings. In Sweden, ‘flygskam’ (being ashamed to fly) almost became word of the year in 2018. In popular books and a Netflix series the Japanese ‘guru of tidiness’ Marie Kondo appeals to a dormant aversion to materialism: she only lets us keep the stuff that truly makes us happy.

For years the number of people who eat little or no meat has been growing in the Netherlands. The popularity of vegetarian products is rising, also outside the Netherlands: in China the number of vegan restaurants is growing, observed by the daily South China Morning Post. New vegan snack bars are popping up everywhere. The Dutch Vegetarian Butcher wants to become “the biggest butcher in the world to make the bio-industry superfluous”. In December 2018 the company was taken over by multinational Unilever.

In short, it seems that the conscious consumer is becoming a global trend. A lifestyle to distinguish yourself with. The American author Elizabeth Currid-Halkett wrote a book about a new urban elite that does not want a penthouse or expensive car, but to drink oat milk, do yoga and listen to podcasts instead.

On the other hand, we mustn’t forget there are a lot of people who cannot make these conscious choices. Organic food is still more expensive than McDonald’s and implementing sustainable measures costs money. ‘Climate poverty’ became a frequently used term in 2018. But there is reason for optimism as well. If we nip this threatening ‘climate inequality’ in the bud, it could well be the prelude to a new world. A world in which we deal more sensibly with the limited resources surrounding us and distribute costs and revenues more fairly.

Read, watch or listen to more

The Donut Economy (Kate Raworth, 2017)

An alternative to growth thinking. Imagine the economy as a donut: the outer edge represents the climate, the centre is the space for production needed to support people worldwide. If we stay within these two limits, we do not have to go hungry and the earth remains a habitable place.

The Minimalist

A popular podcast in which Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus help people to live more consciously, with less stuff and less distraction. They’ve built up an audience of about 20 million people.

B O O K P O D C A S T

Tidying Up with Marie Kondo (Netflix, 2018)

In a series of home makeovers, tidiness expert Marie Kondo helps people sort out their stuff. Only things that ‘spark joy’ remain. As a result of Kondo’s book and series, thrift stores are becoming overcrowded.



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Politics Pamphlet2019 – 2020

Po

litics,N

ew engag

ement

or disinteg

ration?

People everywhere felt that it was wrong. Everywhere in the country people felt that they had really lost. Everywhere in the country people felt that they had really won.From: Autumn, a Brexit-novel by Ali Smith

Is the West in decline?Is the end of Western liberal democracy in sight? Or are we in a transitional period towards a political system in which equality and freedom will be better guaranteed?

The West is experiencing an identity crisis, if we choose to believe the countless analyses, opinion articles and books that have appeared on this subject in recent years. After the Second World War, we thought that everyone wanted to live in a liberal democratic state underpinned by universal human rights. But in a short period of time, nationalist and authoritarian leaders have emerged in South and North America, Asia, and also

in the heart of Europe. They regard the rule of law as an obstacle to popular will. They pick fights with the judiciary, muzzle the free press and question the legitimacy of political opposition.

In several European countries, the broad people’s parties who had the monopoly on power in the decades after the Second World War, are confronted by new parties that prefer hard-lining over political compromise. They are often single-issue parties focusing on national security, migration, racism or identity. They feed a growing distrust in once respected institutions like science, the media and the judiciary.

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To the streets!Something is stirring at ground level as well. France was in upheaval in late 2018 and early 2019 because of the protesting ‘yellow vests’. In the Netherlands, the number of demonstrations in the capital increased by a factor of five in fifteen years. New groups of people are taking to the streets, young students in different countries are demonstrating for better climate policy. The protests can be destabilising, but it also shows a new civic engagement.

If we zoom out again, we can discern geopolitical shifts. America, formerly the guardian of the liberal West, has changed under the leadership of President Trump. Under the motto “America First” the US abandons old allies, becoming more politically isolated. Meanwhile, the president is attacking the international institutions that helped build up the country. Nuclear arms treaties are being revised. The European Union, safeguarding peace and prosperity for decades, is no longer undisputed. With Brexit, it sees one of its members leave for the first time. With the decline of the West, Russia and China are jumping into the power vacuum. China is working hard to become a global superpower, Russia is getting territorially more agressive.

Is this cause for concern? Yes, but it also means that international institutions and political parties have to rethink their reason for existence which might spark positive change.

If a significant and growing part of the population is prepared to believe that everything used to be better in the past, we can rightfully speak of an old and tired continent, staring like an elderly person without expecting anything from the future, musing about better times when winters were real winters and summers lasted endlessly. There is no better proof of the claim that Europe has become a prisoner of its own past.

From: the novel Grand Hotel Europa by Ilja Leonard Pfeiffer


The roles are reversed: the West will have to adapt to the rest.

Singaporese philosopher and diplomat Kishore Mahubabani in Knack

Middle England (Jonathan Coe, 2018)

Over a period of eight years, this satirical British author looks at the immense changes in England that brought about Brexit.

From the Ruins of Empire (Pankaj Mishra, 2013)

This Indian author wrote about the intellectuals who shaped post-colonial Asia. He also wrote The Age of Anger, a book about reactionary movements (from IS to Brexit) responding to globalization and Western ideals such as individualism and capitalism.

A Touch of Sin (Jia Zhangke, 2013)

China is rapidly developing into an economic superpower, but at what cost? This film interweaves four storylines about corruption, the growing contradictions between rich and poor, violence and despair.

China World Power Again (Deutsche Welle, 2018)

The German broadcaster Deutsche Welle made a documentary about China as a growing superpower. This half-hour documentary is available on YouTube.

B O O K B O O K

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Politics

Male / female / otherFor decades we have talked about equality for men and women: ranging from voting rights, to equal opportunities in the workplace and more women CEOs. These changes were real struggles, but progressed steadily. The current metoo discussion however, seems to have a sudden and widespread impact. The gender power struggle is fought out in full view and shows how forms of inequality have long been pushed under the carpet.

Where a critical view of gender stereotypes used to be reserved for small groups of feminists, now even conservative Hollywood is making one film after the other with female heroes.


Society

So

ciety,

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BredaPhotowww.bredaphoto.nl16 17

But while gender and power are still very real and influential concepts to a majority of people, some go a step further. They discard the old male / female categories and identify themselves as ‘non-binary’. Several countries have now allowed for this option in passports.

Pop singers say it’s okay to be genderfluid, think of Lady Gaga and Christine & the Queens who show both their female and male sides in alter egos. In a different category, transgender people are becoming more visible in the public sphere. Think of whistleblower Chelsea Manning who leaked military documents to Wikileaks and underwent a sex change while in prison. Transgender people still face a lot of harsh criticism and it remains a sensitive topic. The film Girl, about a young transgender ballerina, by the Flemish director Lukas Dhont provoked a big discussion about portraying transgender people in popular films.

Think of the immensely popular film Wonder Woman (2017), or a film like Widows (2018) in which all the main characters are women and men only play a supporting role. In the Disney movie Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018) the princesses complain – why do they always have to be rescued by a strong man? Power struggleWomen are also on the rise in business. Between 2008 and 2018 the number of women who are CEO of a listed company almost tripled (figures for the USA and Great Britain). And the four most important economic institutions in the world (IMF, World Bank, ECB and FED) are run by women at the time of writing.

But, new opportunities for some, also mean loss for others. Recent concepts like the ‘angry white man’ or ‘mansplaining’ (men who like to explain things to women) hint at a diminishing male authority. Last year the ‘incel’, the involuntarily celibate man, introduced himself in a rather violent way. In the spring of 2018, a man killed ten people with his van in Toronto, shortly after announcing ‘the Incel revolution’ on Facebook.

It is time for a new, third category.

Singer Héloïse Letissier (Christine and the Queens) in Dutch daily NRC Handelsblad speaking about the distinction between men and women.

I make clothing for people, not for genitals. I also do not design with a certain archetype in my head. If a man wants to buy something that I’ve previously made for a woman, I just change the design.

Fashion designer Ninamounah Langestraat in Dutch daily de Volkskrant


If you try to grab my pussy cat, this pussy grab you back

From the lyrics of ‘I Got the Juice’ by Janelle Monáe (feat. Pharrell Williams)

Destroyer (Karyn Kusama, 2018)

We know the male bad cop, but in this spectacular film, Nicole Kidman shows that things can be done differently.

Transparant (Amazon Studios, 2014-2017)

A comedy series about the lives of an LA-based family after the father comes out as transgender.

How To Be a Woman (Caitlin Moran, 2011)

Bestseller aiming to make feminism more accessible. Feminists are not radical male haters, Moran writes (with a sense of humour), they just want real equality.

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Society Pamphlet2019 – 2020




Culture

Culture,Melting pot and new engagement.

D O M A I N 0 4

Super diversityCulturally things are on the move as well. The distinction between so called minority or majority culture, or between immigrants and natives is becoming obsolete. Cities such as Rotterdam and Amsterdam are now called ‘super-divers’. Where almost two hundred ethnic groups live together, a clear, dominant group can no longer be discerned. A cultural melting pot is the result. You can see and hear this super-diversity in street language and in music, in the wide array of stores in shopping streets, on the shelves of the supermarket and in fusion restaurants.

But change is not always free of conflict. A new super-divers generation is voicing its opinions increasingly louder in discussions about Zwarte Piet (Black Pete is Saint Nicholas’ (Sinterklaas) black helper, and is part of a Dutch festive tradition), recognising the history of

The fact that something is at stake leads to new engagement. In pop music, for example, where politics have crept back into lyrics. Or, as Dutch daily NRC wrote about the music of 2018: “How conscience returned to pop music”.

We also see a new level of involvement in series and games. In the film Bandersnatch, part of the popular Netflix series Black Mirror, you as a viewer make the decisions. The film can thus be twenty minutes or five hours long, depending on the scenario you choose. The immensely popular The Witcher games does something similar: players have to decide on moral dilemmas and influence the world they walk through. Your choices have consequences.

slavery, and the ‘decolonization’ of the museum world, for example. The Africa Museum near Brussels recently reopened. It is now more critical of Belgium’s colonial rule in Congo, but not critical enough according to the United Nations.

Some people feel threatened by these types of critiques. Are you automatically racist if you think Zwarte Piet is part of Sinterklaas, or if you don’t take offense at a statue of the Belgian coloniser, king Leopold II? In addition to sometimes violent protests about these topics, there are also numerous ordinary conversations and quiet discussions being held on these subjects, in community centers, in classrooms and in museums but they rarely make the news. The fact that more people than ever before engage in such culturally sensitive discussions can be seen as a step forward.


Get Out (Jordan Peele, 2017)

A young black man is introduced to his white in-laws. Strange things happen to the black servants in their remote estate. This horror film by debuting director Jordan Peele won the Oscar for best original script in 2017.

Formation (Beyoncé, 2016)

“I like my baby hair with baby hair and afros, I like my Negro nose with Jackson 5 nostrils”, Beyoncé sung. Her halftime show at the Super Bowl with clear references to Black Panthers and Black Lives Matter evoked both positive and negative reactions.

Hipster/Muslim? (Get Me, 2015-2019)

The Rotterdam artists’ collective Get Me made a photo exhibition called Hipster / Muslim in six different cities. They asked hipsters and Muslims to change clothes - can you see the difference?

Between the World and Me (Ta-Nehisi Coates, 2015)

In a long letter to his fifteen-year-old son, the author describes what it is like to be black in today’s America.

BlacKkKlansman (Spike Lee, 2018)

An exciting story about the first African American detective in the small city of Colorado Springs, who infiltrates the racist Ku Klux Klan.

Black Panther (Ryan Coogler, 2018)

This film about the black Marvel hero T’Challa, better known as Black Panther, was extremely popular. No superhero drew more viewers to the cinema. Time wrote: “It’s a movie about what it means to be black in both America and Africa and more broadly in the world.”

This is America (Childish Gambino, 2018)

The song, and especially the video clip by American actor, writer and singer Donald Glover, made a deep impact in 2018. It is a ruthless portrayal of contemporary America. The video contains many cultural references to a long history of gun violence and racism.

M O V I E

M U S I C

P H O T O G R A P H Y

B O O KM O V I E

M O V I E

M U S I C




O R G A N I S A T I O N P R O D U C T I O N P A M P H L E T

C O N T A C T

Curators: Reinout van de Bergh, Jan Schaerlackens en Geert van EyckBusiness manager: Theo AndriessenMarketing and communication:Marianne RobbenBackoffice & hospitality: Bix Smeets

Composition, texts and translations:Guido van Eijck, Saskia NaafsDesign: Studio Naam

[email protected]

Speelhuislaan 155 4815 CD BredaThe Netherlands

EconomySocietyCulture PoliticsTowards a new beginning or inevitable decay?

More equality or an identity crisis?

Melting pot and new engagement.

New engagement or disintegration?

2019 – 2020

P.06P.11P.15 P.09

PAMPHLET

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P AMPHLET - BredaPhoto Festival...P AMPHLET. These types of fundamental changes can cause uncertainty, fear even. But they ... slowly making way for the vegan burger. On a bigger political