Krinein: Kunst Tussen Kritiek en Crisis

2022 | Position paper | Published in De Blauwe Heerlenaaer

In 2022, PAND, an art space in Heerlen (NL), hosted an open call inviting individuals to respond to the following statement: “Artists in South Limburg are generally very critical, and this benefits the South Limburg art world.” All the responses were compiled into a magazine called De Blauwe Heerlenaaer.

My contribution symbolically was written on September 27th, the day of the death of Walter Benjamin, a Jewish thinker who had the explicit ambition to become the greatest critic of Germany. What does Benjamin have to tell us about criticism? In this text, I begin by analyzing selected passages from Benjamin's writings on criticism. Next, I explore the etymology of the word "criticism," followed by a thorough examination of how the initial open call statement was formulated by PAND, and conclude with a reflection on what it truly means to be critical in the arts.

During the magazine's presentation, a debate took place between the authors and PAND. The magazine's circulation was 1,000 copies, which were distributed for free at various locations in South Limburg. In total, PAND received five responses to their open call. The contributors are: Khe Siang Loo, Darcy Neven, Kaya Erdinç, Lars den Hertog, and Ties van Dijk.