Tuesday May 4 2010 / Citizenship
Performance Joseph Semah: Amsterdam from Above - Amsterdam Downwards
On 4 May, Commemoration Day, we witnessed the transformation of commemorating to celebrating Liberation Day in a very special performance by Joseph Semah. One of the oldest observatories in Western Europe is located on top of Felix Meritis, above the roofs of Amsterdam. From the end of the 18th century to the beginning of the 19th, the wealthy bourgeoisie studied the starry skies from there. It is also said that Arthur Schopenhauer enjoyed the magnificent view over the city and its surroundings. At night the gentlemen pointed the telescopes upwards to the sky; during the day they peered downwards to observe the city and its bustle.
Felix Meritis continues this observatory tradition. The audience looked down on our city and society. On top of the observatory of Felix Meritis, the transformation took place from commemorating to celebrating Liberation Day in a very special performance by Joseph Semah, inspired by basic values such as freedom and democracy within our pluriform society. High above the city an intriguing meeting took place between twelve representatives of the arts, religion, politics, civil society, business and science, with a.o. Nelleke Noordervliet and Hedy d 'Ancona.
The Felix Meritis motto, Connecting Cultures, was the central theme.
The Performance was also projected on screens on the front of the Felix Meritis building:
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Joseph Semah
Joseph Semahs oeuvre getuigt van een imposante zoektocht naar de betekenis van het menselijk bestaan: de verhouding tussen de mens en de medemens, tussen het zelf en de ander. Het is een poging een bijdrage te leveren tot onderling begrip en verdraagzaamheid, die Semah in zijn onderzoek combineert met inzichten uit religie, wetenschap en kunst. Dit resulteert in een oeuvre van onlosmakelijk met elkaar verbonden teksten, performances en kunstwerken. Recentelijk exposeerde hij in het Goethe-Institut Rotterdam (After Paul Celan. Tango and Fugue; This, however, brings us GaV Le-GaV (Back to Back) with the artist's promise), het Gerhard Marcks Haus (Ich bin, der ich bin EHYeH ASheR EHYeH, 2009) en Atelier Roter Hahn (Joseph Semah: The Doubling of the House, 2009) in Bremen en was één van de exposanten in de groepstentoonstelling Taswir islamitische bildwelten und moderne in Martin-Gropius-Bau in Berlijn.
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