Lecture
Wednesday 24 May 2023
Alina Lupu
Occupations, strikes, blockages, speaking up, speaking about, speaking against, sitting down, calling in, refusing to move
Complaint is revolutionary action. The acts listed in the talk’s title are some of the ways in which we can signal the fact that business as usual cannot continue: they are instances of taking the time and working towards showing a new world is possible. What if, instead of merely focusing on acts of complaining as problems to be resolved, we take the bold leap of viewing them first as acts of care? In this talk, as a collective with the audience, we will talk through strategies employed in recent school occupations in The Netherlands, tied up with wider societal struggles, as well as how to continue keeping the flame of complaint burning long after leaving the institution.
About Alina
Alina Lupu was born and raised in Romania and works as a writer and post-conceptual artist in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. She is a general board member of Platform BK, an organization that researches the role of art in society and advocates for a better art policy. She is also a student on the Master program Photography and Society (KABK), and a former research fellow with the Lectorate Art and Spatial Praxis at the Rietveld Academie, where she examined artists’ role within processes of gentrification.
https://theofficeofalinalupu.com
https://www.instagram.com/theofficeofalinalupu
