Yours in Solidarity tells a story of anarchism from the late 1980’s to today, through the letter archive of the late Dutch anarchist Karl Max Kreuger, now kept in the Institute for Social History (IISG) in Amsterdam.
From 1988 until 1999, Kreuger corresponded by post with hundreds of likeminded people worldwide. As one of the letter writers herself, van Harskamp studied the archive for more than a year and tried to imagine the many proponents’ life stories since the last date of writing. She chose especially captivating correspondents, gave them a pseudonym, collected notes on them and produced their personality reports through an online handwriting analysis program. She then cast professional actors for each writer, with the relevant nationality and estimated current age, to work with her, one at the time, on creating a character with a biography and set of views that were detailed enough to conduct an interview. A comprehensive archive of working notes, as well as the subtitled audio recordings of the actors’ sessions form the first half of the project.
From transcribed conversations with the new characters, a script for a fictional work was compiled: a number of anarchists elaborate on the history and future of the movement in a fully scripted gathering. The resulting video installation, named after a much-used anarchist letter sign-off, suggests what might happen if the international correspondents were to meet today.
Clark House Initiative, Bombay
Frankfurter Kunstverein
Hillary Crisp Gallery, London
Manifesta 9, Genk
Shanghai Biennial 2012/13
Rotor/Steirischer Herbst, Graz
Gothenburg Biennial
Concordia University, Montreal
Survival Kit 5, Riga
GMK Gallery, Zagreb
Extra City, Antwerp
MUAC, Mexico City
Sydney Biennial
Moscow Biennial
New Art Space, Amsterdam
D+T Project Gallery, Brussels