Triënnale fan Beetstersweach

It hûs is net ien

28. septimber – 03. novimber 2024

In which house and with which woman does-did-will love happen? And when is it time for love, anyway? Time for work? How can the stakes in love and work be sorted out?
– Luce Irigaray, ‘This Sex Which is Not One’ (1977)

Kunsthuis SYB invites you to the 4th edition of the Triënnale fan Beetstersweach, from Saturday 28 September to Sunday 3 November 2024. The exhibition takes place in the village of Beetsterzwaag, in the bilingual province of Friesland.

This year’s Triennial is titled It hûs is net ien. This title loosely translates into English as This house which is not one. The exhibition brings together works by the artists who have been in residence at SYB over the past three years and aims to plant the seeds for the 2025-2028 program around questions of habitation. Since it was founded in 2000, Kunsthuis SYB has been a place for research, support and experimentation, a space where artists live and art is made. Conversations are often held around the kitchen table, stimulating connections with the local residents, and in relation to the Frisian landscape and its stories.

In the 1970s, second wave feminism introduced the now famous saying, ‘the personal is political’, to reexamine the prevalent norms and gender positions in society. This edition of the Triennial embraces this principle and proposes it in relation to exhibition making, asking questions such as: What is a house? Who lives in a house? And how does such a personal space relate to the world outside?

The exhibition takes place in two artist houses in Beetsterzwaag, as well as in the Tropische Kas, a garden and greenhouse which was once part of one of the houses in the village. Kunsthuis SYB, Sybren Hellinga’s former home, functioned as a gallery and a ‘schenkerij’ where drinks were served. In line with this, the exhibition takes place throughout the house. A newly commissioned bar is located on the ground floor. Publik Universal Frxnd (fka Richard John Jones) creates an installation inspired by both 18th-century clandestine bars called ‘lolhuizen’ and a 20th-century artist’s bar named Bei Cosy. Here, Pia Louwerens and Katinka van Gorkum present their work inspired by the Anna Blaman House, a place to preserve feminist and lesbian heritage in Friesland.

Connections between artists of different generations play an important role throughout the exhibition. For instance, Philipp Gufler pays homage to artist Cosy Pièro’s legacy in a performance and Rory Pilgrim portrays their friend, artist Louwrien Wijers. Attention to intergenerational healing is also present in the works of artists Ola Hassanain and Steven Jouwersma. ‘How to carry a house with you?’ they seem to ask.

Across the street the exhibition continues in a room in the home and working space of artist Eja Siepman van den Berg. Assembled here are works that delve into the surroundings of Kunsthuis SYB. Where Sol Archer dives into the relationship between ecology and colonial imagery, Olivia D’Cruz portrays a changing relationship between people, the landscape and bodies of water. It hûs is net ien mirrors, a world full of tensions, but also a world of wonder, curiosity and kinship between people. A world which inevitably enters the house. A house which is not one.

Curated by Arnisa Zeqo, director Kunsthuis SYB, with associate curator Titus Nouwens.