“If we are too difficult to predict we become, in the best possible scenario, dangerous. In the worst possible scenario, of little or no use to the market. Unity, accountability, predictability – these are the most prized traits in a governable subject. Can we ever refuse them?”
Towards an Incoherent Refusal of Efficiency by Lídia Pereira
Born in Bacau, Romania, in 1985. Since 2012, living and working in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Public moments
2024
— "A collision with the past", audio essay played as part of "Activations for the new location", De Appel, Amsterdam, Netherlands (March)
2023
— "Promises", an edition of Salon Hang, group show, Kunstverein, Amsterdam, Netherlands (December)
— "Pluralities of Scale", group show at Marienburgkapel, Huis van Nijmegen Geschiedenis, Nijmegen, Netherlands (November)
— "Turn Signals—Design is not a Dashboard” at FABER, Timisoara, Romania (September)
— "Everything that melts is about to Blend", a group show at De Helena organized within the Photography and Society Department of the KABK, The Hague, Netherlands (June)
— "Find The Heaviest Rock In Europe. Smell It. Touch It. Kiss It. And Now, Displace It.", an exhibition at Windows and Walls, KABK, The Hague, Netherlands (April)
— ”Art Workers Library”, print and library within “Out of Office. This isn’t working for us", IMPAKT, Utrecht, Netherlands (February - April)
— "Europe. The Odyssey.", solo show, VHDG, Leeuwarden, Netherlands (February - March)
— Launch of a new publication entitled “Fresh Flex Work Force” at San Serriffe, Amsterdam (January)
2022
— Contribution to "Yolun Dișinda" exhibition organized within the Photography and Society Department of the KABK, Darağaç, Izmir, Turkey (December)
— Contributions to “Momentography of a failure”, exhibition and publication, atelierautomatique, Bochum, Germany (April)
— ”Art Workers Library”, print and lecture, Scena 9 and Goethe Institut Bucharest, Romania (February)
— Contributions to “Momentography of a failure”, exhibition and publication, Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, Berlin, Germany (January)
2021
— "A collision with the past", audio essay published through radio JaJaJaNeeNeeNee, Amsterdam, Netherlands (December)
— "Producing one another", final presentation at Hotel Maria Kapel, Hoorn, Netherlands (November-December)
— Contributions to “Momentography of a failure”, exhibition and publication, Das Schaubüdchen, Bochum, Germany (November)
— "Our House, Our Story, Our Home", photo exhibition, Paris, Viitorului, Bucharest, Romania (October)
— "Producing one another" during "But I have my Gossips, everyone, one foot further I will not go" at Frappant e.V., Hamburg, Germany (July)
— "Social housing/Property speculation", keychain tied to the entrance key of Kunstverein's Salon Hang display in the Hortus Brug, Amsterdam, Netherlands (June)
— "You put your arms around me and I'm home", series of postcards made for ~spatial hair~, in collaboration with Dieuwertje Hehewerth, shipped to New Zealand from The Netherlands and then to France, and exhibited at l'Alcove in Paris, France (June)
— "Wij zien u graag terug bij uw volgende bezoek", at When Site Lost the Plot, Amsterdam, Netherlands (June)
— "Onbezoldigd/Onbevreesd" and "Stadsmuseum", during "Collective Loopholes" at Museum IJsselstein (MIJ), IJsselstein, Netherlands (May-October)
— "The Witness", a written contribution framing the exhibition "Soft Delay" which took place at Goleb, Amsterdam West, Netherlands (January)
2020
— "Minimum Wage Dress Code", re-performed by Thomas Geiger, part of "4th Festival of Minimal Actions", Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna, Austria (July-August)
— "This meeting should have been an email.", part of "Don’t Dream It’s Over" at Asbestos Art Gallery, Helsinki, (July)
— "Our New Normal", part of the series "In Quarantine" at TAAK, online texts and podcast (April through August)
— “Who says there’s no money in the arts?” Aka “Timeline”, during Prospects and Concepts 2020, Rotterdam, Netherlands (February)
— “Megamall”, at "I’m glad you’ve already noticed", Bruno Gallerian, Stockholm, Sweden (January)
2019
— “Division of Labour”, presented during Kunstlijn, Haarlem, Netherlands (November)
— “Quality, Speed, Consistency”, Sybren Hellinga Prize, nominee, Kunsthuis SYB, Beesterzwaag, Netherlands (October)
— "Work in Progress", during Reshaping Work, De Nieuwe Liefde, Amsterdam, Netherlands (October)
— “26 rooms” presented during Salon Hang, Kunstverein, Amsterdam, Netherlands (September)
— “Let´s play ball”, at Szeniale, Gelsenkirchen, Germany (July)
— “Quality, Speed, Consistency”, intervention during “It Happens Anyway”, W139, Amsterdam, Netherlands (July)
— “Ride with us, Philip”, at “Do or delegate”, Onomatopee, Eindhoven, Netherlands (May)
— “Ride with us, Philip”, at “Who Does What?”, Drugo More, Rijeka, Croatia (February)
2018
— “Projected.Capital”, Roehrs & Boetsch, Zurich, Switzerland (December)
— “I´m so tired I could sleep”, at Rheum Room, Basel, Switzerland (December)
— “Fieldwork” with ‘There is a wall to be crossed, and I am the wall’, in Betondorp, Amsterdam (November)
— “The Recleaning of the Rietveld Pavilion”, “Rietveld 50 show”, Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam (November)
— “Oh, and there’s also a small fee for the job” at FLAM, Amsterdam (September)
— “Lost Property”, Mexico City, Mexico (June)
— “Minimum Wage Dress Code” performed during Public Art Amsterdam (June)
— participation in the Municipal Advisory board elections, district West, Bos en Lommer, Amsterdam (March)
2017
— “The Recleaning of the Rietveld Pavilion”, book launch, This Art Fair, Amsterdam (December)
— “How did it come so far”, group show, Helicopterstraat 8, Amsterdam (November)
— “The Message Board”, duo show, alongside Vitya Glushchenko, De Vitrine, Amsterdam (November)
— “Reshaping Work”, performance during conference, Amsterdam (October)
— “Minimum Wage Dress Code”, launch of Simulacrum „Het success”, performance, Cinetol, Amsterdam (June)
— “WALLPAPER”, Showroom MAMA and Art Baby Gallery, group show, Rotterdam (June)
— “The Living Museum”, Stedelijk Museum, group show, Amsterdam (May)
— Kunstvlaai’s “PLAYTIME”, performance at the invitation of Gallery Plan B, Stadschouwburg, Amsterdam (May)
— “260,368”, intervention within the city of Gelsenkirchen, Germany (February)
— “The Machine”, collaborative project, alongside Jorn Nettingsmeier, organized at Peer Paper Platform, Amsterdam and supported by the Amsterdam Fonds vor de Kunst (December 2016 – January 2017)
2016
— “One Public Bedroom”, solo presentation organized at Kalkmarkt 8, Amsterdam (November)
— “Blow”, a group show organized at Home of Art, Amsterdam (September)
— “Visit Conditions”, Gerrit Rietveld Academie Graduation Show, Amsterdam (July)
— “Looking for an audience”, solo presentation, 1st-floor Bentram Crouwel building, Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam, (February)
2015
— “I am here”, solo presentation, Glass Pavilion, Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam (October)
— “Talk, don’t listen”, group show at the Halfmannshof, Gelsenkirchen (October)
— “alter-Tour”, a tour through an exhibition, Beeldroute Witte de With, Amsterdam (October)
— “Smoke”, an intervention during the group show iProvo, Amsterdam Museum (May)
— “Spilling one space into another”, collaboration during the group show Uncut and Studium Generale, De Brakke Grond, Amsterdam (March)
2014
— “BochumerStrasse Spricht”, group show in Gelsenkirchen, Germany (May)
— “Rejected/Accepted”, platform setup in collaboration, during Uncut, De Brakke Grond, Amsterdam (March)
Supported by
2022-2024
— DUO, Lifelong learning credit
2021
— Stichting Stokroos, project grant
— Amsterdam Fonds voor de Kunst, Ontwinkkeling Budget
— Mondriaan Fund, Corona Overbrugging Kunstenaar
2020
— Amsterdam Fonds voor de Kunst, Corona Snelloket, “Our New (Amsterdam) Normal”
— Mondriaan Fund, fixed project grant, “Non-work”
2019
— Fonds Kwadraat
2018 - 2019
— Mondriaan Fonds, Young Talent Stipend
2016
— Amsterdam Fonds voor de Kunst, Project Grant
— Schuurman, Schimmel en van Outeren Stichting, Graduation Stipend
In support of
2024
— Kunstverein Amsterdam, membership
— Platform BK, via donation
— Kunstenbond, membership
2023
— Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP), via donation
— Kunstenbond, membership
— Kunstverein Amsterdam, membership
— Platform BK, via donation
— Bij1, membership
2022
— Kunstverein Amsterdam, membership
— Platform BK, via donation
— Helen's Free food market, via donation
— Bij1, membership
2021
— Kunstverein Amsterdam, membership
— Platform BK, via donation
— Amsterdam Voedselbank, via donation
— The White Pube, via Patreon donation
— Brad Troemel, via Patreon donation
2020
— varia, Rotterdam, via donation
— salwa, Amsterdam, via donation
— Kunstverein Amsterdam, membership
— Platform BK, via donation
— Black Queer Trans Resistance, via donation
— The Black Archives, via donation
— Nederland Wordt Beter, via donation
— Amsterdam Voedselbank, via donation
— The White Pube, via Patreon donation
— Brad Troemel, via Patreon donation
2019
— Contrapoints, via Patreon
— The White Pube, via Patreon
— Kunstenbond, membership
— Kunstverein Amsterdam, membership
2018
— Kunstverein Amsterdam, membership
— Platform BK, membership
— Red Cross, membership
2017
— FNV, transport and logistics branch, membership
Rejected by
2021
— Sandberg Institute, Amsterdam, Netherlands
— Rijks Academie, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2020
— NIAS, Artist in residence, fellowship, Amsterdam, Netherlands
— AIR Bergen, Norway
— Salzburg Summer Academy, Austria
— Rupert Residency, Lithuania
— ArtsLink International Fellowships, US
— Residency 11:11, London, UK
2019
— Urban Resort, Broedplaats Remise, Amsterdam, Netherlands
— Municipal Art Acquisitions 2020, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
— Jan Michalski Foundation 2019 writing residences, Montricher, Switzerland
— Mondriaan Fonds, advisory position, Amsterdam, Netherlands
— Tranzit, Artist in Residence Programm, Vienna, Austria
— Stichting Stokroos, project funding, Utrecht, Netherlands
— i-Portunus, EU mobility fund
— Printing Plant Art Book Fair, Amsterdam, Netherlands
— The One Minutes, Artificial Scarcity, Amsterdam, Netherlands
— puntWG, Open call 2010, Amsterdam, Netherlands
— Strelka mag, Open call
— NIAS, Artist in residence, fellowship, Amsterdam, Netherlands
— Moderna galerija, Summer School 2019: The Big Shift, Ljubljana, Slovenia
— Résidence Triangle, Marseille, France
— Freie Tanz- und Theaterszene, residency, Stuttgart, Germany
— Residency 11:11, London, UK
— AFK, project grant, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2018
— University of the Underground, later renamed Master of Design Experiences, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2017
— Rijks Academie, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Talks
2023
— talk about the XR occupation of A12, after the screening of "Troubling Environment" at StudioK, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (October)
— "A Call to Open Calls" at Storm, The Hague, Netherlands (August)
— guest on "Complaint Against Precarity Radio" at WdKA, Rotterdam, Netherlands (June)
— "Occupations, strikes, blockages, speaking up, speaking about, speaking against, sitting down, calling in, refusing to move" at Design Academy, Eindhoven, Netherlands (May)
— Performative reading at After Work Conversations, #Post Work Imaginaries, University of the Arts Bremen, Germany (May)
— Manifestation #1 Listening Sessions, Buro Stedelijk, Amsterdam (April)
— "Whose revolution is this anyway?” during a session of Hear! Hear! At Sandberg Institute, Amsterdam, Netherlands (April)
— Contribution to Rietveld Mulch, talking about hybrid practices, Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam, Netherlands (March)
2021
— Fine Arts Department, Piet Zwart Institute (December)
— First 5 Years, WdKA Business station (October)
— Post-Precarity Autumn Camp, Platform BK and Institute of Network Cultures in Hoorn at Hotel Maria Kapel (September)
— Moderator for TAKE-OFF #3 at Fotodok (July)
— Alternative Workers Assembly (AWA), organized online by WdKA teachers, students, and staff (June)
2020
— Launch of December 2020 number of Simulacrum - "Levenswerk", Perdu (December)
— “10x10 September: Hybridity”, VEEM House for Performance (September)
— Solidarity Session, W139, Amsterdam, Netherlands (May)
— Facetime, Den Haag, Netherlands (January)
— Hearth 3 "Research as sustainable practice - Focusing on means of production and ways of the positioning of the research", De Appel, Amsterdam, Netherlands (January)
2019
— “Today, around three decades of freedom later”, Spotlight: Romania, The Hague, Netherlands (November)
— “The Sponge, The Clay, The Brick, and The Bridge”, Unseen, Amsterdam, Netherlands (September)
— “Bring Your Own Time, Bring Your Own Bricks”, Onomatopee, Eindhoven, Netherlands (June)
— book launch at “Low Text”, Berlin, Germany (June)
2018
— “Diskurs 2018 - No Service”, Giessen, Germany (October)
— “This is (Not) a Love Song” at Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam (October)
— “Artists’ Living & Working Conditions” at Gerrit Rietveld Academie (October)
— “Garage Café #7”, Garage, Rotterdam (September)
— Critical Studies end-of-year programme, a part of the panel discussion “Cultural Practices ~ Property Speculation?” a series of presentations with François Girard-Meunier and Timo Demollin, organized by the Sandberg Instituut, Amsterdam (June)
— Radio Lab - “Carte blanche to Ja Ja Ja Nee Nee Nee”, European Lab, Lyon, France (May)
— reading at Low Text, Berlin, Germany (May)
— “We don’t know what we’re doing, but we’re doing it anyway”, with François Girard-Meunier at Åpent forum, Khartoum Contemporary Art Center, Oslo, Norway (April)
— “It Is As If We Were Doing Work”, table talk @varia, Rotterdam (March)
2017
— table talk at Plet-, Amsterdam (December)
— “Work Week”, interviews about work-work, cocktail hour and performance, Rietveld Pavilion, Amsterdam (November)
— Critical Studies end-of-year programme, a part of the panel discussion on „Performing and Mediating Workspaces”, organized by the Sandberg Instituut, Amsterdam (June)
2016
— One evening only talk: “Actually, I don’t live there”, solo presentation, De Leeuw van Vlanderenstraat 39, Amsterdam (May)
2015
— “A conversation”, dialogue with Vitya Glushchenko, Glass pavilion, Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam (November)
Jobs & Volunteering positions
2021
— Volunteer Helen's Free Food Market, Amsterdam, Netherlands
— Volunteer Open Day, Rijks Academie, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2020
— Volunteer Helen's Free Food Market, Amsterdam, Netherlands
— Volunteer De Stadsgroenteboer, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2019
— Cultural mediator, Romanian language, Fairwork, Amsterdam, Netherlands
— Volunteer Open Day, Rijks Academie, Amsterdam, Netherlands
— Food delivery courier, Thuisbezorgd, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2018
— Restaurant and kitchen help, Poke Perfect, Amsterdam, Netherlands
— Food delivery courier, Foodora, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2017
— Food delivery courier, UberEats, Amsterdam, Netherlands
— Cleaner, Helpling, Amsterdam, Netherlands
— Food delivery courier, Deliveroo, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2016
— Gallery assistant, PEER Paper Platform, Amsterdam, Netherlands
— Exhibition photographer, Ten Haaf Projects, Amsterdam, Netherlands
— Production assistant, Rietveld Uncut, Amsterdam, Netherlands
— Volunteer Open Day, Rijks Academie, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2015
— Front Office Receptionist, Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam, Netherlands
— Stage designer, Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam, Netherlands
— Gallery assistant, Zone2Source, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2014
— Communications consultant, Fine Arts Department, Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2013
— Volunteer Museumnacht, FOAM, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2010- 2012
— Botanical Garden Clean-up, Bucharest, Romania
2007 - 2017
— Account manager, in-office and freelance, Devodrome, Bucharest, Romania
2006 - 2007
— Assistant Manager, Come Ride Black Label, Bucharest, Romania
Printed Matter
Published in
2023
— Tijdschrift Kunstlicht, collaborative article with Manuela Zammit, "Institutional critique is not enough, we need to target the infrastructure."
— cover and insert for Revista IDEA arts+society, Bucharest, Romania (May)
2022
— Post-Precarity Zine - A toolbox for beginning artists - reflections on Post-Precarity Autumn Camp
2021
— Witte Rook, "Scarcity, Overflow, Europe, the Americas"
— Tubelight, "Not Now, Later, Otherwise"
— Metropolis M, "A minor existential crisis, precarity and slight traces of amnesia"
— own website, "The Palestinian conflict rippling across Dutch art educational institutions"
— Mister Motley, "Archiving paradigm shifts – ‘cancel culture’, online debate, the ever evolving art field dynamics"
— PlatformBK, " Call-out Culture / Cancel Culture - The trials and tribulations of the BredaPhoto 2020 scandal. ‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times’, but was anything learned in the process?"
2020
— Simulacrum, December 2020, "Chapter 2: Fall in. Fall through. Lee Lozano. Guido van der Werve. Excerpt from: , you asshole."
— Volkskrant, the result of interviews with Anna van Leeuwen, "Protest tegen kunstwerk op BredaPhoto: cancel culture in optima forma, of het zelfreinigend vermogen van de kunstsector?"
— IdealenFabriek, "I love you, but... - a love relationship with the academy: a plead for collectivity"
— Studio I, "Profile: Artist. Half the salary of a cleaner, double the aspirations of a CEO"
— Spam-Index, "Co-meme-unity"
— The Hmm, "Get fired! An artist’s view on work, precarious labour, and the far-reaching demand for flexibility from artists."
— Platform BK, "Before We Knew What Hit Us"
— Volkskrant, Tips Art Rotterdam, "Wat te doen op de Art Rotterdam Week?"
2019
— Haerlems Bodem, "Kunstlijn 2019: Money talks & bullshit walks”
— Haarlems Dagblad, "Huwelijk van klassiek en modern"
— TAAK, a report on “free space”
— Interview in “Imagined Exchanges: deconstructed thoughts on art, politics, & more from and about Eastern Europe”
— DAMN Magazine, “Lifestyles of the Postautonomous”
— Tubelight, “To create a multiple world, you need lightness”
— PUB Journal, “Scene 3, Conceptual art”
— Cigale magazine, “Guests, a fragment”
2017
— KAJET Journal, fiction piece entitled “Lola and Iris” (2017 translation of a 2002 piece)
— Precarious Labor Union Zine, article entitled “Frank”
— Simulacrum, „Het succes”, column entitled „1+1+1+1 etc”
— Dark and Stormy, contribution biographies
2016
— Peer Paper, Conversations, 30 page insert in issue number 3, designed by: Anabelle Binnearts and Kala Newman
Self-initiated publishing projects
2022
— Fresh Flex Work Force, edited contributions, edition of 200
2019
— “This is a work of fiction”, edition of 300
2017
— “Recleaning the Rietveld Pavilion”, edition of 200
2016
— “, you asshole”, edition of 200 - designed by: Andreea Peterfi, the book is now distributed through Motto distribution, Walter Konig, Atheneum Bookhandel and P.U.N.C.H. Bucharest.
2015
— “There is no space”, archive book, edition of 3
2014
— “Reservation”, photobook, single edition
— “The World as beautiful paralysis”, essay printed in The extremely important book, edition of 10
— “Drift”, photobook, single edition
Residencies
2022
— VHDG, Leeuwarden, Netherlands
2021
— Hotel Maria Kapel, Hoorn, Netherlands
— NIDA Artists Colony, Lithuania
2019
— Cassis AIR, Cassis, France
2015
— “This. That. Shit.” a 3-day copy-shop residency in De Bijlmer at Workcenter 232, Amsterdam
Teaching invitations, Workshops, Symposiums
2024
— "To Witness, To Protest", workshop during Winterlab, ArtEZ, Zwolle, The Netherlands
2023
— "Matters of Interest" workshop alongside Franċois Girard-Muenier, Sint Lucas, Graphic Design, Antwerp, Belgium
2020
— guest lecture, Honours Programme, Minor Visual Culture, Willem de Koning, Rotterdam, Netherlands (October)
2019
— guest lecture, Master Design of Experiences, Sandberg Institute, Amsterdam, Netherlands
— guest lecture series “Avocado on Toast”, Rietveld Academie, Fine Arts department, Amsterdam, Netherlands
— BAK, Winterschool, Bratislava, Slovakia
2018
— guest teacher, Willem de Kooning, Rotterdam (December)
— guest teacher for “Project Week” at Minerva Academy, Groningen (October)
2016
— “A crowd in the Theater”, performance assistance, Theaterschool Festival, Amsterdam (April)
— “For example, etc.”, curating initiative, Alab, Amsterdam (April)
— “Shifting spaces”, collaboration and performance assistance for Lola Bezemer, W139, Amsterdam
2014
— “Creating a context”, a multi-disciplinary Erasmus initiative, Krakow
— “16 cups, 5 tables”, Workshop, Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam (February)
— “Get Out”, curatorial and spatial framing for the symposium, Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam
Board positions
— core and founding member, KABK Student Union - 2023 - ongoing
— general board member, Platform BK - 2020 - ongoing
— programming committee, Kunsthuis Syb - 2021-2023
Education
— Royal Academy of the Arts, The Hague, Master Photography and Society, 2022 - ongoing
— Gemeente Amsterdam, Dutch language course, A1 - B1, 2014 - 2018
— Amsterdam Writing workshops, “Writing memoir” course, 2017
— Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam (Netherlands), Fine Arts Department - 2013 – 2016
— Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam (Netherlands), Basic year - 2012 – 2013
— National University of Arts, Bucharest (Romania), Photography and Video, computer processing of the image, 2010-2011
— Spiru Haret University, Bucharest (Romania) – Psychology and Sociology, 2004-2008
— Food industry Highschool, Constanta (Romania) – Food industry technician, 1999-2003