Dutch, More or Less: Contemporary Architecture, Design and Digital Culture
As part of the ongoing exhibition Dutch, More or Less, the Nieuwe Instituut is inviting established and emerging designers to showcase the future of ‘more or less Dutch’ design. In the fifth and last instalment of the series, multimedia and performance artist Maja Simišić addresses the absurdity and bureaucracy behind the concept of ‘Dutchness’ in A Beautiful Cockroach.
Dutch, More or Less reveals how the world-famous phenomenon of Dutch design has continually acquired new meanings over the past decades. Our understanding of design, and of what ‘Dutch’ entails, is subject to change. Simišić shows us how, before a designer with a migrant background can formally identify themselves as ‘Dutch’, they must undergo an almost Kafkaesque process. Becoming Dutch is linked to an absurd interplay of migration systems, bureaucracy and identity politics.
In her work, Maja Simišić transforms such bureaucratic nightmares into theatre through role-playing and performance. She playfully navigates class struggle, gender inequality, the image of Eastern Europeans and the values and beliefs acquired while growing up in the Balkans. In previous works, she has played the roles of an immigration officer in clown make-up, a bride investigating whether a Dutch husband is easier to obtain than a Dutch artist’s visa, and a quizmaster at the end-of-the-week office drinks testing knowledge of EU regulations.
In her film installation A Beautiful Cockroach, Simišić draws inspiration from the cockroach: the ultimate survivor yet, at the same time, an object of disgust. Exploring this tension, she portrays the cockroach as a surrogate migrant. Contrasting with the way that migrants are portrayed in right-wing populist rhetoric, she presents a story told by her mother in which these ‘pests’ serve as a metaphor for perseverance, adaptability and indestructibility.
Performance
A Beautiful Cockroach will be on view from 13 February until 31 May as part of the exhibition Dutch, More or Less. Maya Simišić will open the installation on 12 February with a performance.