Now: DRESSING CHARACTERS
Over the past years, the Das Leben am Haverkamp collective has designed costumes for several striking experimental films. In this exhibition we bring three of these cinematic pieces together: Lose Voice Toolkit (2024), Bericht van de Duif (2024) and The Plantiarchy (2023). While the films tour the international circuit, most of their physical counterparts have remained carefully stored in the dark — waiting, with an uncertain future. This exhibition reunites the films and their costumes, bringing them home to Das Leben am Haverkamp.
Lose Voice Toolkit (2024), Adele Dipasquale, 18min30
In an undefinable place and time we see a group of children who don’t use words anymore. They might have lost them due to powerful voice-stealing magnets, or dissolved by lose-voice candies. The words seem to be lost, forgotten somewhere. So, they start to transform and develop a new system of communicating made of aerial forms, sharp gazes or shared thoughts. The film is the result of a year-long workshop with the children of Farfallopoli (class 1B of IC Gino Strada, Turin). Together with them, Adele Dipasquale explored the language of childhood, the power of silence, and other forms of non-verbal communication. Lose Voice Toolkit premiered as a short film in 2024 at IFFR. The film has been shown at o.a. London Short Film Festival (UK), VideoEX Festival (CH), Current Plans (Hong Kong) and Bellaria Film Festival (IT). The costumes are created by Dewi Bekker and Anouk van Klaveren, after designs that were made by the young protagonists of this film themselves.
Bericht van de Duif (2024), G.C. Heemskerk and Shani Leseman, 6min35
Pigeons and humans have coexisted for thousands of years. One could even say that humans and pigeons have shaped each other. Pigeons once fertilized our crops and acted as the bearers of both good and bad news. The pigeon is also a recurring figure in the arts; as a vital symbol of peace, love, hope, or the Holy Spirit, it has done the art world a great service. Today, human society has evolved to a point where we no longer depend on pigeons in most places. Domesticated pigeons have turned feral, living out their lives as street animals in the city. Can art give something back to the pigeon? In Bericht van de Duif (Message from the Pigeon), G.C. Heemskerk and Shani Leseman explore what they, as artists, can contribute to the life and well-being of the pigeon. Anouk van Klaveren and Dewi Bekker developed the uniforms that the artists wear during their destringing work: liberating pigeons whose feet have become entangled in litter. The film was commissioned by Zuid. Boijmans van Beuningen.
The Plantiarchy (2023), Bernice Nauta and G.C. Heemskerk, 17min45
The Plantiarchy is a (pseudo-)scientific documentary about the past, present, and future of a fictional, invasive plant species. Acting as the film's protagonist, the plant seduces two colonial botanists. Once introduced to the West, the plant begins to proliferate uncontrollably. With this film, creators Bernice Nauta and G.C. Heemskerk challenge the notion that humans dominate nature as independently functioning beings. They blend activism with a lighthearted touch through imaginative reversals: what if the plant were to overthrow humanity? The costumes were designed by Anouk van Klaveren with help of Renske Tiemersma. The film has been screened at Museum De Lakenhal, Marres, WEST Den Haag, Go Short Film Festival, and Filmtheater De Uitkijk.
All three films are screened continuously back-to-back.
OPENING during HOOGTIJ
25 September, 19:00—23:00 h
OPENING HOURS
Saturdays and Sundays
26 September—18 October, 11:00—17:00 h
MUSEUMNACHT DEN HAAG
Saturday 10 October, 19:00—00:00 h
museumnacht ticket required
ON APPOINTMENT
for visits outside opening hours email to joost@daslebenamhaverkamp.com
LOCATION
Stille Veerkade 19, The Hague
free entrance and partly wheelchair accessible
Please note: this exhibition replaces the cancelled exhibition Story of Harvest.
Supported by Gemeente Den Haag and Creative Industries Fund NL.