Due to the absence of a renewed, clear message of support from the institution at large, we—members of staff at Sandberg Instituut and Gerrit Rietveld Academie—wish to publicly offer solidarity to the Palestinian people. While we understand that institutional stances must filter through certain processes, we feel that it is urgent to vocally condemn Israel’s assault on Gaza, so that our students, alumni, and colleagues understand that we do not support apartheid, ethnic cleansing, or genocide. We offer solidarity to all oppressed and indigenous people who strive for freedom and we recognise that decoloniality extends beyond academic consideration.
In 2021, Sandberg Instituut and Gerrit Rietveld Academie made a statement about Palestine which said: “We want to speak out against violence and oppression, and condemn all actions that violate human rights. We stand in solidarity with our Palestinian students and the people of Palestine in their fight for freedom, self-determination, equality, and justice against forced dispossession, settler-colonialism, and apartheid.” It can be read in full here: https://sandberg.nl/statement-rietveld-sandberg-and-gerrit-rietveld-academie. We ask that this sentiment of support is not so easily forgotten, and that the school takes meaningful, material measures to—as it promised in 2021—use “the avenue of art and art education to create an open space for learning and dialogue, mobilising voices within the academy on this matter, in order to truly embody being a place for decolonial discourse and practice.”
We resist the concept that what is happening right now in Gaza is a “complex” issue, and are disappointed that the leaders of an institution so small cannot come together to again offer a clear stance of support for a civilian population terrorised by a western-backed, highly capable occupying army in an ongoing and increasingly indiscriminate way. As of writing this, 6,000 bombs have been dropped on Gaza in the last 10 days—a population of 2.3 million people, of which 50% are under the age of 18. More than one third of the 2,808 recorded Palestinian deaths in the past 10 days have been children.
In a recent letter to staff and students, Maaike Lauwaert, Chairperson of the Executive Board of Gerrit Rietveld Acadmie, speaks of wanting the school to be a place of dialogue: “Our academy stands for consent, dialogue, the strengthening of democracy through conversation and good debate and we implore everyone to stay in dialogue.” We strive to accommodate this type of atmosphere in the school, but what we are witnessing in Palestine is not up for debate. It is a situation wherein one side of a conflict has a much louder voice than the other and is gifted longer and more sympathetic airtime in western media. As such we see that it is important to not stand aside and say nothing. What is being done to the people of Palestine and Gaza by Israel is deplorable. To be clear, we similarly condemn anti-Semitism and anyone who utilises the occupation of Palestine as a means to bolster it. No one should ever see harm, especially as an outcome of their ethnicity, religion, gender, or sexuality.
We call on colleagues and students within the school to consider donating to Medical Aid for Palestine (MAP) here: https://www.map.org.uk/donate/donation-details/484.
Or to UNRWA (The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East) here: https://donate.unrwa.org/gaza/~my-donation.
In hopes of a free Palestine and an end to bloodshed and oppression,
The undersigned:
Artun Alaska Arasli, Co-organiser at Public Sandberg, SI
Elif Satanaya Özbay, Coordinator at Artificial Times, SI
Erica Moukarzel, Coordinator at Critical Studies, SI
Marija Cetinic, Tutor at Critical Studies, SI
Carolin Gieszner, Tutor at Dirty Art Department, SI
Francisca Khamis Giacoman, Coordinator Non-EU Community
Rasha Dakkak, Master Coordinator at F for Fact, SI
Saja Amro, Tutor at Architecture, GRA
Jerszy Seymour, Head Dirty Art Department, SI
Nick Axel, Head of Architectural Design Department, GRA
Charlie Clemoes, Tutor at Architectural Design Department, GRA
Aidan Wall, Co-organiser of Public Sandberg, SI
Waèl el Allouche, Teacher at Basic Year and DesignLAB, GRA and Student at Fine Arts, SI
Mariel Williams, Coordinator of Architectural Design, GRA
Anna Aagaard Jensen, Head of designLAB, SI
Tomas Dirrix, Tutor at Architectural Design, GRA
Philip Coyne, Tutor at Fine Art, SI
Miquel, Bookbinding Workshop
Angelo Christiaan, Coordinator at Planetary Poetics, SI
Moosje M Goosen, Tutor at F for Fact, SI
Rouzbeh Akhbari
Bart Haensel, Tutor at F for Fact, SI
Catherine Somzé
Matthew C. Wilson, F for Fact, SI
Siwar Kraitem, Co-coordinator at Design Department, SI
Tobias Karlsson, Tutor at Fine Arts and Design Lab, GRA
Kinan Fleihan,Tutor at Department of Architectural Design, GRA
Barbara Visser, Head of F for Fact, SI
Salim Bayri
Pieter Verbeke, Library
Rosie Haward, Coordinator of Intercurricular Programmes
Mercedes Azpilicueta, Head of TXT, GRA
Elisabeth Klement, Tutor at Graphic Design Department, GRA
Luis Lecea Romera, Tutor at Artificial Times, SI
S*an D. Henry-Smith, Librarian
Sam de Groot, Tutor at Graphic Design, GRA
Harriet Foyster, Editor for the Editorial Board
Lucía Vives , Worker at the Toolotheek
Paul Gangloff, Teacher at Graphic Design and Basic Year, GRA
Márk Redele, Coordinator at Sandberg Research
Cleo Tsw, Coordinator Graphic Design, GRA
Jo-Lene Ong, Tutor at Basicyear, GRA
Jungmyung Lee, Tutor at Graphic Design Department, GRA
Laura Dubourjal, Project Assistant, LASP, GRA
Will Pollard, Tutor at Jewellery-Linking Bodies and the Large Glass Department, GRA
Phil Baber, Tutor at Graphic Design, GRA
Emirhan Akin
Simon Wald-Lasowski, Tutor at Basic Year, GRA
Anja Groten, Head of Design Department, SI
Flavia Dzodan, Research and Tutor, SI
Tina Bastajian, Tutor at Design, SI
Youngeun Sohn, Tutor at Basicyear, GRA
Angeliki Tzortzakaki
Erlynn Pasanea
Pernilla Manjula Philip, Guest Tutor, GRA and SI
Elio J Carranza, Tutor at Fine Arts Department, SI
Andoni Zamora, Student Confidant
Catalina Reyes Navarro, Coordinator Student Support Group and Confidants
Callum Copley, Visiting Lecturer, SI
Inna Kochkina, Basic Year Tutor, GRA
Tirza Kater, Coordinator at Fine Arts, GRA
Agata Bar, Coordinator at Design Department, SI
Gersande Schellinx, Bookbinding Workshop
Jay Tan
Maya Watanabe, Tutor at Dogtime Program, GRA
Anouk Hoogendoorn, Thesis Supervisor Re:master Opera, SI
Clara Amaral, Tutor at Image and Language, GRA
Myrto Christou, Printmaking Workshop Specialist
Mason Leaver-Yap, Thesis Mentor at Fine Arts, SI
Dyveke Rood, Teacher at Basicyear, GRA
Jelle van Houten, Concierge at GRA
Ada Patterson, Core Tutor at Planetary Poetics, SI
Ferri, GRA Printshop
Tomás Ornaghi, CadCam Workshop, GRA
Jeroen Vermandere AVS/Filmstudio
Ott Metusala, BB Department
Christina Hallstrom, Screenprint Workshop Specialist
Rogier Delfos, Tutor at Graphic Design Department, GRA
Agustina Woodgate, Tutor at Design Department, SI
Werker Collective
Brian McKenna, Instructor-Researcher, SI
Mónica de Miguel Rubio, Teacher at Basicyear, GRA
Brent Dahl
Louis Lüthi, Tutor at Graphic Design, GRA
Iskra Vukšić, Tutor/Coordinator at Designlab, GRA
Sonja Kip, Workshop at Fashion, GRA
G
Liza Prins, Coordinator at LASP, SI/GRA Research
Giulia Damiani
Patricia de Vries
Michał Dawid, Member of the Editorial Board Intercurricular Programs of the Gerrit Rietveld Academie/Sandberg Instituut
Clémence Lollia Hilaire
CPR, Studium Generale, GRA