The artistic director and cocurators of the outdoor sculpture exhibition Sonsbeek 20-24 – in Arnhem, the Netherlands – have quit en masse; in a letter to the board, they described labour conditions as ‘precarious and ultimately unbearable.’
The artistic team consisting of Amal Alhaag, Zippora Elders, Krista Jantowski, Aude Mgba, Antonia Alampi and artistic director Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung – their departure comes amid the exhibition’s twelfth edition, titled ‘Force times distance: on labor and its sonic ecologies’.
‘We see no option but to retract our proposals and end our commitment to the project, because we can no longer continue in good conscience,’ they wrote. The artistic team also alleged that they had experienced sexism and institutional racism; and pointed to a culture of neglect behind a ‘facade’ of diversity and inclusion.
