Shout into the crowd: Artists Work in Horeca

In English

Shout into the crowd: Artists Work in Horeca is an exhibition showcasing artists working in the horeca (catering) department of Het Nationale Theater. Curated by WaitingSnake Studios – run by Emily Stevenhagen and Clara Sharell – this exhibition brings together the artists Sonya Umanskaya, Ira Grünberger, Bjarte Wildeman, Tinka Kovačič, Peter Pflügler, Enrico Carpi and Madelief Severin, presenting their projects in the foyer of Theater aan het Spui.

For five weeks, accompanied by a performance program on the 10th of September, these artists will present their projects; ranging from photography, installation, film, illustration and performance, within the building where they work.

Shout into the crowd: Artist’s Work in Horeca attempts to shine light on the combined work lives of emerging artists, where artists often work in Horeca of cultural institutions to support themselves and their practices.

Exhibition times & context programme

The exhibition can be visited from 7 September to 13 October during opening hours of Theater aan het Spui. The theatre is open from 14:00 to 17:30 on weekdays. On days where shows are playing we are open from 14:00 until the end of the evening after the show(s) finished.

Shout into the crowd opens on the 6th of September from 17:45 - 22:00 with a program of presentations, talks and a film screening.

One day later, on 7 September, the exhibition will be open during The Hague's Spotlight Festival – with an additional Art Market featuring works from up and coming local artists.

On 10 September there will be a performance programme – starting with a guided walk on location, followed by a performance at Zaal 3.

Programme

Artists and works

Enrico Carpi

Enrico Carpi (1997) is an Italian photographer based between The Netherlands and Italy. His main interest lies in the use of the photographic medium to create documents that represent his subjective vision of the scenery he comes across without a predetermined reason, responding to factors such as light, time, space and people. The encounters and conversations are the starting point to inspire my intuitive research, and gives him insights regarding how to move and understand a place. Enrico’s photography focuses on ordinary individuals, highlighting the traces they leave behind and addressing larger contemporary themes with a calm and subjective tone.

Website   @enricocarpi

Her Forest, Tearless as Stone

Photography, 2024

Between hills, forest and flowers is where my grandmother grew up. Her mother passed away when she was sixteen. At the age of twenty-one her father was murdered. How, where and why remains a mystery. Shortly after, she and her younger brother left - leaving behind not only her home, but also her youth. I grew up mythicising her stories from those places, where long hard days of physical labour could not harden their souls. Instead, what always remained was a gratitude for life.

More than sixty years after her father was murdered, I revisited the area where she grew up, sometimes alone, sometimes together with her. I give voice to the landscape that shaped my grandmother as a person. In doing so, a deep affection for those places grew in me. Only the flowers, trees, sticks and stones still preserve within them the truth. They are the same flowers, trees, sticks and stones that allowed me to understand her resilience and strength, which I have admired all my life.

Ira Grünberger

Ira Grünberger is an interdisciplinary artist with a strong background in photography. They work across the mediums of photography and installation to explore the interconnectedness and temporality of human and non–human, and how their memory transcends and materializes in space.

Photography, sculpture and writing are explored as tools to let memory surface and materialize, leading to a collaborative exploration of materials used in construction such as metal, glass, or clay. The research comes together in spatial re– and deconstructions where elemental and image-based processes are combined. In doing so, they aim to bend solid frameworks into something more palpable.

Website   @ira_gruen

commonplace

Individually Crafted Steel Frames, Fine Art Prints - 2024

Passing by, tiny events catch my eye, revealing a vibrancy in details that are difficult for us humans to comprehend. Often we say: the world is bigger than us. But most of the time, I feel too big to make memories in other places than in my own body.

So I turn to a world build of light, in which the small and the big things glance at each other. Through imagery, I look for those connections in the commonplace: tiny flowers wither on the hot surface of a car, while the same stinging rays of midday sun pierce a broken window. Composed as diptychs, the images are encompassed by steel frames, never fully closed. They provide space for stories to be told – a tale that is a tale of many.

Tinka Kovačič

My name is Tinka Kovačič. I am a Slovenian graphic designer currently based in the Hague, Netherlands. I was born and raised in Maribor (Slovenia), where I developed a passion for the arts at a young age. Starting my artistic development with a 12-year background in classical ballet, I later on shifted my focus to visual arts and pursued formal training in graphic design at The Royal Academy of Art in the Hague.

My work varies from publications, typographic works, illustration and even pottery. I am also a 2D animator, interested in storytelling, editing, and the moving image. My work is both concept and challenge-based. Drawing inspiration from other fields of interest such as poetry, prose, psychology and philosophy helps me to add depth to my work. Often I take on projects in order to learn new skills, like working with a specific material or a tool. Additionally, my fascination with nature and human nature never fail to astound me and present me with new topics to discuss and capture in visual form.

@tinka_kovacic

Zadnja Ura

Animation film, 6:25 minutes - 2023

Zadnja Ura (The Last Hour) is an animated short film that transcends the linearity of time to explore
symbolic immortality, the materiality of death, and grief. I created this piece to honor my beloved grandmother through a blend of emotions, symbolism, sound, and illustration. To achieve a soft and personal ambiance, I developed a unique animation style, enriched with mixed media elements like photographs and stories from my family’s archives. The narrative combines linear and non-linear sequences accompanied by the music arranged by my dear friend Owel Earl. I hope viewers reflect on their own experiences of loss and the lasting impact of departed souls, fostering healing and shared human connection.

photo by Davide Sartori

Peter Pflügler

I am a visual storyteller originally from Austria. I studied Photography at the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague. My work is all about the impossibility of secrets and the transformative power of silence. Hidden dark spots in our history will somehow trickle through and influence our lives. Since their origin lie in the unknown, we struggle putting them into a narrative. This friction is also apparent in my photographic methods, where I merge the banal and the mysterious, the observed and the staged.

@peter.pflugler

Now is not the right time

Photography and publication - 2021

When I was two years old, my father went into the woods with the intention of never coming back. For almost 20 years, my parents chose silence about his suicidal attempt. And still, I found myself drawn to the place where the incident happened and on its anniversary a wave of grief washed over me. When my parents finally decided to tell me, it all started to make sense. Mum, Dad, this is your trauma, that you kept wrapped up in countless colourful blankets and yet unknowingly handed over to me in a loving embrace. I will carry it with care.

Bjarte Wildeman

I’m Bjarte Wildeman, and I graduated from the ArtScience Interfaculty at KABK/KC in 2022. During my studies I developed my performance practice and research and wrote my thesis on the importance of (body) movement to cognitive function. In my practice I combine performance art, biological phenomena, dance, kinetic installations, circus and physical theatre/mime, to understand our bodies, what defines a body and how we use them to figure out the world around us.

I build and use choreographic and kinetic apparatuses to highlight and enable these Movements. Taking inspiration from bodily motion, the physical experience, and biohacking; Through my work I aim at inter- and intra-individual sensation, physical awareness and understanding, and developing ways of understanding and altering kinetic experience. I am currently working with expansion through restriction, the cognitive effect of movement systems; Mutualistic movements, and the kinetic relationship between the body, environment and sensemaking.

Website   @bjarte.wildeman

photo by Alina Fejzo, for Korzo

tens:ding [bending over backwards]

Performance-Installation, 30 minutes - 2022

In an environment of (Queer) Joy, Scrutiny and (Im)Balance, a question arises: “How far do you contort Yourself to accommodate for Another? The piece investigates and offers a magnification of the dynamics, beauty, interdependencies and the struggle of the relationship between individuals.

Connected through a mechanical structure, two performers find each other, sensing the other’s body and movement in a state of distanced intimacy. The performers continuously attempt to find a balance between themselves, surrendering to themselves and the other, leaning on and trusting in each other. They save, move and hold one another, but at what cost for themselves?

Performance Tue 10 Sep at 20:30, Zaal 3

Info & tickets

Sonya Umanskaya

Sonya Umanskaya is a graphic designer and artist, mostly exploring the topics of collective memory, historical artefacts and architecture.

@s_umanskaya

Concrete Echoes

Installation - 2024

Concrete is the second most used material in the world and the most destructive. Serving not only in contemporary buildings but also military architecture, it becomes a reminder of wartime. But what happens to the memory of war when it’s over, when it slowly fades away, and the bunkers start to crumble?

By exploring the Atlantic Wall – a coastal defence system built by Nazi Germany during World War II – and the concrete used in its construction, I aim to examine the impact of military structures on civilian landscapes amid ongoing global conflicts.

As a Russian citizen affected by the Russia-Ukraine war, I connect my experience with The Hague’s political environment, questioning how its wartime heritage influences contemporary politics and local memory.

Madelief Severin

Hi, ik ben Madelief. En ik werk onder de naam Massief Madelief. In 2023 ben ik afgestudeerd aan de Willem De Kooning Academie in Illustratie en nu werk ik als host bij Theater aan het Spui. Mijn naam is natuurlijk ook een bloemetje, en eentje van vele betekenissen. Zo vertaald de Noorse ‘tusenfryd’ zich naar duizendmaal vreugde. En staat het bloemetje symbool voor jeugdigheid, spontaniteit, vruchtbaarheid en eenvoud.

Makkelijk toe te passen mijn illustraties, mijn werk draait namelijk om simpele, toegankelijke, speelse beelden. Ik maak graag rare poppetjes en illustraties die uitnodigen tot lang kijken dankzij grappige details. Mijn doel is om mensen te laten glimlachen en mee te nemen in mijn rare wereld. Daarnaast laat ik me graag inspireren door de energieke wereld van het uitgaansleven en de energie van livemuziek (vooral punk en hiphop). Oh ja, en waar dat ‘massief’ dan vandaan komt? Massief betekend honderd procent van hetzelfde materiaal gemaakt; Massief Madelief - honderd procent ik en alles wat
hierboven staat!

@massiefmadelief

Piercing Plien

Kinderboek - 2023

Begin vorig jaar wilde ik graag in de kraamzorg werken (dat is inmiddels veranderd), maar na veel belletjes met kraamverzorgers kwam ik erachter dat het lastig ging worden met mijn piercings aangezien die in dit werkveld niet heel gewenst zijn. Ik ging nog meer belletjes plegen, met moeders, piercers, nog meer kraamverzorgers, en na het hele proces kwam ik erachter dat imago de grootste achterliggende reden is.

Dit project begon uit een frustratie maar vertaalde zich naar een vrolijk kinderboek voor de leeftijd 5-7 jaar over Piercing Plien, de beste kraamverzorgster ter wereld en dat allemaal te danken aan haar piercing. Daarnaast heb ik ook verkleed piercings voor bij het boek. Beide met dezelfde boodschap: experimenteer met je eigen identiteit, anders zijn is helemaal oké.

About the Artists Work in Horeca series

This is the second edition of the exhibition series Artists Work in Horeca curated by WaitingSnake Studios. Clara Sharell and Emily Stevenhagen, two emerging artists themselves who met working the Horeca team at Amare, were inspired by the many artists they met working at this theatre. They felt compelled to create a platform that brings attention to the creative backgrounds of front-of-house staff who serve the public every day, whilst also bringing attention to the double-sided reality of the working life of many artists.

WaitingSnake Studios: Clara Sharell & Emily Stevenhagen