They Invented a New Machine...They Invented a New Machine...

An evening about the technologies and imaginaries of automation, with the teams selected through the Open Call for the Extended Program of the Dutch Pavilion at the Biennale Architettura 2018, jointly organized by Het Nieuwe Instituut and Creative Industries Fund NL. With Jane Chew, Northscapes Collective (Hamed Khosravi, Taneha K. Bacchin and Filippo laFleur), Syb Groeneveld, Marina Otero Verzier, Paolo Patelli, Matthew Stewart, Giuditta Vendrame and Liam Young. Moderated by sociologist Willem Schinkel.

They invented a new machine
Peg and awl
They invented a new machine
Prettiest thing I ever seen
Pegs a hundred pair to my one
Peg and awl
Pegs a hundred pair to my one
Peggin' shoes it ain't no fun

Peg and Awl is a song written in the late 1800s describing a shoemaker who is run out of business by a machine. The song lyrics, when considered more than a century later, demonstrate the uncanny similarity between the problematics of early industrialized labour and our current socio-political circumstances in relation to automation technologies.

In Songs for Hard Working People, one of the five proposals selected through the Open Call for the Extended Program of the Dutch Pavilion at the Biennale Architettura 2018, Noam Toran proposes a historical bridging by producing contemporary adaptations of early twentieth-century work and labour songs. Responding to the theme of the Dutch pavilion, each of the five projects selected through the Call provides a unique focus on one or more of the embodied, ethical, and spatial dimensions of labour, and will be presented as part of the public programme, in Venice and at other locations. On 26 April, the teams will introduce their projects at Het Nieuwe Instituut and engage in a conversation. The evening will be introduced by Marina Otero Verzier (Director of Research at Het Nieuwe Instituut and Curator of the Dutch Pavilion 2018) and Syb Groeneveld (Director Creative Industries Fund NL).

Read more about_ WORK, BODY, LEISURE, _the Dutch contribution to the 16th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia.

Het Nieuwe Instituut and Creative Industries Fund NL jointly organized an Open Call to support designers and advance knowledge in the field of architecture before, during and after the Biennale Architettura 2018, as part of the extended programme of WORK, BODY, LEISURE. The selection committee recognized and awarded five projects: The Institute of Patent Infringement by Matthew Stewart and Jane Chew, The Port and the Fall of Icarus by the Northscapes Collective (Hamed Khosravi, Taneha K. Bacchin and Filippo laFleur), Songs for Hard Working People by a multidisciplinary team lead by Noam Toran, Shore Leaves by Giuditta Vendrame, Paolo Patelli and Giulio Squillacciotti and Renderlands: Installation by Liam Young.

Read more about the Open Call and the selected proposals in the_ _Jury Report.

Before the Thursday Night why not grab a bite to eat with the speakers and staff of Het Nieuwe Instituut? From 18:00 Het Nieuwe Café will serve soup with bread or a quiche with salad. Dinner vouchers are available for ¬7.50 up to a day before the particular Thursday Night event via the Tickets link or at the bar this evening.