[spectre] NIMk: Opening exhibition Speaking Out Loud

[Marieke Istha]

NIMk presents:

Opening exhibition Speaking Out Loud
Friday 14 November 17.00 hour

During the opening of the group exhibition Speaking Out Loud there will 
be three performances by Omer Krieger (IL), Bas Böttcher (DE) and the 
Dutch hiphop artist Blaxtar. The exhibition is on show until january 24, 
2009.

OMER KRIEGER, LIVE COVERAGE
'Live Coverage' is a public system covering speech and publishing text 
in a physical social space. The system is activated by people in a 
process of live reporting, based on an infrastructure of microphones, a 
listening station and a text display. The keywords heard in the sites of 
coverage are published by the human reporter on a screen, in constant 
and questionably immediate updates. Live Coverage is proposed as a 
permanent media installation for public spaces, a form of journalism.
At the opening of 'Speaking Out Loud', Omer Krieger will cover 
conversations of the visitors. Programming by Gil Rimon.

BAS BÖTTCHER
The rap poetry of Bas Böttcher and his band Zentrifugal is closely 
connected to American Slam Poetry. The genre uses distinct pictures 
"drawn" with words. The first poetry slams took place in the late 1980s 
in American bars, cafés and clubs. One of them was the Nuyorican Poets 
Cafe in New York, where young American poets organised literary 
competitions they called "Slams".
At the beginning of the 1990s the first slam competitions were organised 
in Germany, which soon developed a slam scene of its own. Poetry slams 
are far removed from literary readings. They represent a literary 
experiment with a high entertainment factor for the listeners, as they 
also function as the jury.
When Böttcher performs outside German speaking-countries, he often uses 
projections which display the translation of his texts accompanied by 
stylish video loops.
Böttcher will perform a selection of his texts at the opening of 
'Speaking Out Loud'.
http://www.basboettcher.de

BLAXTAR
The Dutch hip-hop artist Blaxtar is very conscious of the power of 
language, the strength of the word. It is simply logical then that the 
texts are printed in a booklet with his album. Even more: the titles of 
all the numbers together, one after another, make a poem. Blaxtar does 
more than just show us that he comes off the streets. In his texts he 
showcases his interest in philosophy, science and religion.
Recently, in October, 2008, he organized the event 'Spoken'. For this 
occasion Blaxtar phoned up some friends to ask if they were interested 
in an evening that only revolved around the content of their texts. The 
evening session gave a large group of different professional hip-hop 
artists the opportunity to gain exposure.
During the opening of 'Speaking Out Loud' Blaxtar will present a 
selection of his texts.
http://www.blaxtar.com

Speaking Out Loud
15 November 2008 – 24 January 2009
Opening 14 November 5:00 p.m.
Artists participating: Tim Etchells (UK) and Vlatka Horvat (CRO), Mukul 
Patel (UK) and Manu Luksch (AT), Charles Sandison (UK), Christoph Keller 
(DE), Jaromil (IT) and Jodi (NL), Linda Hilfling (DEN), KH Jeron (DE), 
Tudor Bratu (RO), Michael Höpfel (DE), Trikoton (DE), Evan Roth (US). 
More information: http://www.nimk.nl

Opening hours exhibition: Tuesday - Saturday and first Sunday of the 
month + December 7 and January 4 from 1: 00 - 6:00 pm The NIMk is closed 
for public from December 21 until January 1th.

Kindly supported by the Goethe Institute Amsterdam, BeamSystems and 
Jacot Audiovisueel

Netherlands Media Art Institute
Keizersgracht 264
1016 EV Amsterdam
The Netherlands
http://www.nimk.nl