 we willen praten
In de kunst wordt veel gesproken over wat mensen doen, maar minder over hoe ze dat doen. In Werktitel buigen Alix de Massiac en Zoë Dankert zich over arbeidsvoorwaarden, netwerken, deadlines, afspraken en collega’s. In een marathon van gesprekken delen mensen verhalen en ervaringen in de hoop een collectief gesprek op gang te brengen. Praten is de eerste stap op weg naar het nieuwe werken; waar ruimte is voor solidariteit en wederkerigheid, waar werken werkbaar is én bespreekbaar. 
Hoe ziet het nieuwe werken eruit?

Transcript in English. Translation by Rosa Paardenkooper.

Yaïr: “Eh, ok, should I just start? Yes? 
Actually, when we were deinstalling someone got injured, something fell on her head. That’s just not how things should go.”

You’re listening to Werktitel, the podcast about labour and people in the arts. 

Yaïr: “Who is responsible in that situation? That question generally surfaces when it’s too late, and the truth is: everyone involved in the organisation of a project. By now I know it’s something I need to spend more time thinking about. I mean, we were putting things up with cranes, and I was guiding a crane holding a nine-meter high metal system to its place. It’s stepping up your budget too, to a place where you have the possibility to say: ok, I’m hiring people and I don’t have to rely on friends, colleague-artists, people who are not used to working in a situation like that. Because you need to get to a point where you think how are we going to do this? And not just how, in the sense of this is dragged there and this goes here, but also how are you going to do this safely? And what does that actually entail? I don’t think that question is raised enough in the arts. 

Ok, so I’m Yaïr Callender … 

CHORUS: I AM, MY NAME IS 

We want to talk. We want to talk with people, through people. In living rooms, on a terrace, in the gym, at exhibition openings, maybe even in church. 

We want to talk at the ministry, at the funds, and the bread funds.  
We want to talk. In the studio, the museum, the art academy and in the gallery. 

Because talking is the first step. Not as a sidestep, not as a weakness. Not as a way to make things harmless, to absorb or discard them. It’s about discussing our ways of working. The culture. Our working culture. 

My name is Alix de Massiac.  

My name is Zoë Dankert, and this is Werktitel. The podcast about labour and people in the arts. In this podcast we’ll be speaking to 150 people. We’ll do this between February and October of this year. 2021. It’s a marathon. 

Alix and Zoë: “hahah, us too unfortunately.”
Yaïr: “Are you serious? That’s why you’re so automated, ok, bam, door closed, tsjakka, hahaha.” 

We ask people who they are, what they do and how they do it, where they’re from and where they want to go next. Werktitel gives insight into the workers and their work conditions in the arts.

We speak about the art world, but less about the sector. One sector. That’s what we are. A web of working relationships. With people you meet, speak to; your network. But just as much with all the others. If I want to, if you want to, if we want to have proper labour conditions, that must also be the case for those people you don’t see and haven’t met yet. With Werktitel we weave new webs, from top to bottom, from right to left. 

Lex: “Yes, it’s possible if artists revolt, but that means all of us, with no exception. That’s the root of the problem. If half of the artists revolt, you might get some press. But if only a couple of artists do so, the institution will say: yes ok, Marie we get what you’re saying, and we’re sorry, but we need to show something, so we’ll move along with José, cause they want to do it. Well …” 

Onto new ways of working. 

Ischa: “I arrived and they told me you can choose that desk or this one over here. Really we all have flex-workspaces but these desks are always available. So I chose one of those two.” 

Saskia: “I didn’t want to fall into the black hole, which is how they describe it. They’ll say, be careful, if you’re not active enough you’ll fall into the black hole. That was always a thing.”

Suzanne: “I had heart palpitations, it felt as if my head was burning out, and I really couldn’t do anything anymore.”

Maaike: “I have that too sometimes, I’ll think: oh yes, red flag.” 

Reinier: “And at that point I thought: what am I even doing here? (Laughs) And eh yeah …”

No, the new ways of working. 

Not a cosmetic new way, with flex spaces, distance-working, and a fifteen minute break to pump. New ways of working are based on attention for people and reciprocity. Donnant donnant. I give you something, you give me something in return. 

And that something, that’s a life. Really wanting that for each other. To reach a point where solidarity no longer means suffering together, but lifting each other up. New ways of working are human work. 

Clayde: “I wasn’t alone, I did it with a buddy, that makes you a bit tougher.”

You just listened to the prologue of Werktitel, a ten episode podcast about labour and people in the arts. You heard voices from and stories by Yaïr Callender, Lex ter Braak, Ischa Havens, Saskia Burggraaf, Suzanne Sanders, Maaike Lauwaert, Reinier Klok and Clayde Menso. You will hear them, as well as many others in the next episodes, which will air every three weeks on your podcast platform and on our website: www.werktitel.org. Here you’ll find more information about who we are, a list of everyone we spoke to so far; freelancers, people with 0 hour contracts, people with permanent positions. 

Werktitel was made possible with support of our partners. It’s quite a list. Buckle up, here we go: 

Amsterdam Museum, Boekmanstichting, CBK Rotterdam, CBK Zuidoost, de Appel, Het Nieuwe Instituut, Jan van Eyck Academie, Kunsten ’92, Kunstfort bij Vijfhuizen, Kunstverein, Melly, MU, Nieuwe Vide, P/////AKT, Platform BK, Post, Showroom MAMA, Stedelijk Museum Breda, Vleeshal, West, WORM and W139. Thank you! Werktitel is supported by the Mondriaan Fund. And to speak with Clayde Menso: you’re always tougher with a buddy. 

Werktitel was recorded in broedplaats de Wittenplaats in Amsterdam. You heard sound and mixing by Nathalie Bruys. On our website you’ll see our visual identity designed by Elisabeth Klement, and you may have found your way to this podcast thanks to Sharda Balgobind’s pr and communication.  


Proloog