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Remember when you were a little kid and everyone bullied this one random classmate? You didn’t really have a grudge towards the bugger; nonetheless you would still pester the poor guy. Now all these years later I can still feel sorry for the lad. It made me think why we tend to follow the herd instead of daring to be the black sheep. Obviously, we do these things to be part of a group so we avoid becoming the loner. But just how far would we go to be part of this ‘group’ and, just how fanatic are we?
Apparently group fanaticism belongs to a human’s primal instinct. We are known to follow the behavior of a group to an extent of which we lose our independence, vision of truth and can even fall to means of violence. A few male friends of mine demonstrate similar signs of misconduct whilst watching football….
But in all seriousness, group fanaticism comes in all shapes and sizes. From the familiar playground predicaments until the infamous Nazi fanatics. It is a phenomena which should not be taken lightly. Luckily there will be a manifestation to inform us on fanaticism in a creative manner, brought to you by Stichting Democratie en Media, De Mondriaan stichting and the Amsterdamse Fonds voor de Kunst.
This Friday you are granted the opportunity to learn more about this fascinating subject and find out how fanatic you are yourself. The manifestation on fanaticism will be held at three different locations in Amsterdam: The Castrum Peregrini, De Verdieping Trouw and the Goethe institute.
Castrum Peregrini
On the 6th of May curator Nina Folkersma will open the exhibition “You are all individuals.” She will enlighten the audience on the tense relationship between the mass and individual by offering different perspectives on existing and location specifique work of Yael Bartana (Israel/Netherlands 1970), Daya Cahen ( Nederland 1969), Köken Ergun (Turkije,1976), Enrique Marty (Spain 1969) and Daniel Svarre (Denmark,1976) The exhibition can be visited until the 12th of June. During the exhibition a program that consist of films, readings, discussions and tours are provided in collaboration with On-File.
De Verdieping Trouw
At De Verdieping you can measure how susceptible you are for group fanaticism, by trying out the Fanatisme Meter. After you have put yourself to the test, you should listen to a debate on this matter. Philip Blom will be the keynote speaker supported by panel members Diana Pinto, Theu Boermans Ram Manikkalingam and Chris Keulemans. After all that chit chat it’s time to give your mouth muscles a rest and let your ears enjoy the Schönbergs concert “ Verklärte Nacht”, which will be performed by the Mozarteum from Salzburg and the Amsterdam Sweelinck Orkest.
Goethe Institute
On Saturday the 7th of May workshops on group fanaticism will be held and you will be able to enjoy the presentation of Fanatismo. This is a ‘one time only’ magazine that will be released the same night. The glossy magazine is a combination of social and literary articles with images essays and columns made by international experts on the subject.
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