2020 was slated to be the year of the Internationalisation of the Proeftuin Internationalisering. Due to COVID-19, one could say this has all taken on a slightly different twist than anticipated. But as a subject, it’s no less topical: quite the opposite. In collaboration with Liza Voetman, AIR platform Brabant will begin researching the concept of internationalisation in relation to AIRs in our post-Corona society. Voetman was fortunate to receive a contribution from the Mondriaan Fund to support this effort. The research will be accessible to all and will be shared in the interim via the AIR platform Brabant website.
‘My point of departure for this study will be using current events to question the future. It is precisely now, when society appears be at a partial standstill and the crossing of borders is virtually impossible, that I’m initiating research into the concept of ‘internationalisation’, which is open to so many interpretations. For this study, my objective is to develop a definition of the concept of internationalisation within AIRs in a post-Corona society.
In the interest of establishing a knowledge base, I will research internationalisation over the coming months, until the start of May 2021, on the level of the individual and the collective. During these times that differ so greatly from what has come before and that will never be the same again, a study seems particularly relevant to me. After all, does the closing of borders immediately translate into the stagnation of internationalisation? What, in fact, is being postponed when the duration of these unsettling times is still unclear? Will the societal concept of internationalisation be irrevocably changed? What does this tell us about the values embedded in the concept itself?’.
Liza Voetman
This research is supported by the Mondriaan Fund.
Image: Sun & Sea (Marina). Opera for thirteen voices. (Photo by Pien School)
Lithuanian Pavilion – Venice Biennale, 2019
Whereas the 58th international Venice Biennale was titled ‘May You Live in Interesting Times’, this research focuses on current events. In the 2019 Lithuanian opera, people sunbathed while singing about climate change. The question ‘What is a good world?’* is global in scope. And this year, this very question is an integral part of the concept of internationalisation. These strange times in particular call on us to examine our relationship with the concept, now and in the near future. *In keeping with Marlin Twaalfhoven’s plea in the NRC newspaper on 27 March.