Opening:

Friday, March 8 2013

18.00 pm
at Vrije Academie/Gemak
Paviljoensgracht 20 - 24
2512 BP The Hague
The Netherlands
Performance:
Charlie (Chan's records) and Raoul (SD records)
spinning their own vinyl releases.
Exhibition Duration:
March 8 - 23 (prolonged to 28)
Open Wednesday - Friday 10 - 17 H.
Saturday 13 - 17 H.

25 Years Stichting Maldoror (Exhibition II)

Twenty five years ago, on November 21 1987, I founded with some friends the Maldoror
Foundation, an artists group that publishes books, exhibitions, and organizes events in the
spirit of Punk and Do-I t-Yourself philosophy.
The songs of Maldoror is a book written by French author Isidore Ducasse, who was born
and raised in Uruguay in the nineteenth century. As a teenager he was sent to Paris to study.
The book reflects, in surrealist style, a clash of cultures. Over the years I became increasingly
aware of the fact that I discovered a conflict in my inner self.
My paternal family is born in Java, as children of colonialism. My father and his family felt
during the Indonesian Independence forced to relocate to the Netherlands. In Indonesia they
were with their Dutch passport not welcome. But in the Netherlands they were not exactly
welcome as well. Although they had a Dutch passport, they still looked like foreigners. It was
the beginning of a new life, reluctantly. Nowadays there is a subculture of Indo-Dutch, who
fondly recall Paradise lost. Maldorors art is essentially about this conflict, this split.
In November 2012 my friend Jan Duivenvoorden and me travelled to Java for a month and
ended up in Museum Dan Tanah Liat in Yogyakarta, to present Exhibition I, with twenty
five artworks we brought along from The Netherlands. These works were exchanged there
with twenty five Indonesian works, which are now shown at Gemak / Vrije Academie. I was
hoping that during my visit to Indonesia I would find a missing link to make my life a
whole. And I did. I made many new friends at MDTL, and staying there for a couple of
weeks just wasnt long enough. So since my return to The Netherlands I have primarily been
focusing on returning for a longer period of time, inventing new projects and starting new
collaborations. How and when I still dont know. Im working hard to make this happen as
soon as I possibly can.
Anthony Blokdijk, The Hague, March 23 2013.
foundation-maldoror.blogspot.com

25 Tahun Stichting Maldoror (Pameran II)

Dua puluh lima tahun yang lalu, pada tanggal 21 November tahun 1987, saya bersama
beberapa teman mendirikan Maldoror Foundation, sebuah kelompok seniman yang
menerbitkan buku, pameran, dan menyelenggarakan acara dengan semangat Punk dan
filosofi Do It Yourself.
The songs of Maldoror adalah buku yang ditulis oleh penulis Perancis Isidore Ducasse,
yang lahir dan dibesarkan di Uruguay pada abad kesembilan belas. Sebagai seorang remaja ia
dikirim ke Paris untuk belajar. Buku ini mencerminkan benturan budaya dalam gaya surealis,.
Selama bertahun-tahun saya menjadi semakin sadar akan fakta bahwa saya menemukan
konflik di dalam diri saya.
Keluarga Ayah saya lahir di Jawa, sebagai anak-anak kolonialisme. Ayah saya dan
keluarganya merasa selama Kemerdekaan Indonesia dipaksa untuk pindah ke Belanda. Di

Indonesia mereka (dengan paspor Belanda) tidak diterima. Tapi di Belanda mereka tidak
benar-benar diterima juga. Meskipun mereka memiliki paspor Belanda, mereka masih tampak
seperti orang asing. Dengan berat hati, ini adalah awal dari sebuah kehidupan baru. Saat ini
ada subkultur Indo-Belanda, yang memiliki harapan mengingat kembali Surga yang hilang.
Maldorors art ini pada dasarnya adalah tentang konflik ini, perpecahan ini.
Pada November 2012 saya dan teman saya Jan Duivenvoorden berwisata ke Jawa selama satu
bulan, dan perjalanan berakhir di Museum Dan Tanah Liat di Yogyakarta untuk menyajikan
Pameran I, dengan dua puluh lima karya yang kami bawa dari Belanda. Karya-karya ini
kemudian ditukar dengan dua puluh lima karya seniman Indonesia, yang sekarang
ditampilkan di Gemak / Vrije Academie. Saya berharap bahwa selama kunjungan saya ke
Indonesia, saya bisa menemukan missing link untuk membuat hidup saya menjadi utuh.
Dan saya melakukannya. Saya menemukan banyak teman baru di MDTL, dan tinggal di sana
selama beberapa minggu saja rasanya tidak cukup lama. Jadi sejak saya kembali ke Belanda,
Saya telah memiliki tujuan utama, berfokus agar bisa kembali (ke Indonesaia) untuk jangka
waktu yang lebih lama, menciptakan proyek-proyek baru dan memulai kolaborasi baru.
Bagaimana dan kapan saya masih tidak tahu. Saya bekerja keras untuk mewujudkan hal ini
secepat yang saya bisa.
Anthony Blokdijk, Den Haag, 23 Maret 2013.

Foreword by a Dutch Artist

When a few years ago I stumbled upon the Maldoror gallery, I was happy to discover a place
like this existed in The Hague. So I felt honored to join up with the exhibition 25 years
Stichting Maldoror in Yogyakarta and given the opportunity to inspire artists on the other
side of the world. Several times I asked myself what kind of work me and the other artists
would get in return, and felt happily surprised when I saw it during the test exhibition at the
Maldoror gallery early this year. Not just the work Id be getting, but the entire presentation.
Yair Callender had blended the works (sculptures, photographs, drawings, paintings, video
and music) into an installation of woodwork, which ran straight through the hall, into the
kitchen and living room. Making me really curious about the presentation at Vrije
Academie/Gemak in March, and what interesting projects the future will bring between
Dutch and Indonesian artists, Museum Dan Tanah Liat and Stichting Maldoror.
Sarina Missot

Pengantar oleh Seniman Belanda

Ketika beberapa tahun yang lalu saya tersandung pada galeri Maldoror, saya sangat senang
menemukan tempat seperti ini ada di Den Haag. Jadi saya merasa terhormat bisa bergabung
dengan pameran 25 Years Stichting Maldoror (Exhibition I) di Yogyakarta dan diberi
kesempatan untuk menginspirasi seniman di sisi lain dunia. Beberapa kali saya bertanya pada
diri sendiri, karya seperti apa yang akan saya dan seniman lain dapatkan dari pertukaran ini,
merasa terkejut dan bahagia ketika saya melihatnya selama pameran percobaan di galeri
Maldoror awal tahun ini. Bukan hanya karya yang saya dapatkan, tapi keseluruhan presentasi.

Yair Callender telah mengkomposisikan karya (patung, foto, gambar, lukisan, video dan
musik) menjadi sebuah instalasi kayu, yang berjalan melalui lorong, ke dapur dan ruang
tamu. Membuat saya benar-benar penasaran dengan presentasi di Vrije Academie / Gemak
pada bulan Maret, dan proyek menarik apa yang selanjutnya akan dibawa antara seniman
Belanda dan seniman Indonesia, Museum Dan Tanah Liat dan Stichting Maldoror.
Sarina Missot

Foreword by Marie Jeanne de Rooij, director of GEMAK | Vrije Academie The Hague
GEMAK is since autumn 2007 the exhibition space in and from the Vrije Academie (Free
Academy) in The Hague. The mission and vision of GEMAK is to present contemporary and
controversial themes in art, politics and society; inquisitive, curious, evaluative and
challenging.
The exhibition- and debate space GEMAK wants the audience to experience art as a starting
point for discussions, lectures and interviews on a constantly changing, mobile, as well as
an art- and image borders groundbreaking, globalizing society far away and close to home.
GEMAK is literally and figuratively part of society and presents thought-provoking art,
which will not leave you indifferent.
GEMAK offers, rooted in its Free Academy tradition of thinking-making-showing, a
politically and socially engaged exhibition- and debate program and additional deepening
through the Studium Generale program. The Hague forms a natural context for GEMAK
because it is here, in this important political center in the city of (international) law and
peace, that an art- and cultural stage that constantly challenges and shines a light on the
relationship between art, culture, politics and society, is perfectly in place.
GEMAK organizes lectures and debates with and by people from different disciplines (art,
literature, science, press, politics, media) that comment on social developments, who explain
ideas about the changing position of art and artists, follow the zeitgeist closely and share the
discussion with the public.
GEMAK actively promotes experimental and new collaborations with artists, curators and
organizations. The collaboration with these partners is, apart from being enriching and
practical, above all an inspiring working method bringing the GEMAK ambitions to a higher
level and to keep its artistic and public mission attractive and innovating. A fine example is
definitely the collaboration with curator Anthony Blokdijk and Royal Academy for the Visual
Arts student/artist Yair Callender for the project 25 Years Stichting Maldoror, to be
witnessed from March 8 t / m 28 in the GEMAK building.
More about GEMAK: www.gemak.org

Pengantar oleh Marie Jeanne de Rooij, Direktur GEMAK | Vrije Academie Den Haag

GEMAK sejak musim gugur 2007 adalah ruang pameran di dalam dan dari Vrije Academie
(Akademi Gratis) di Den Haag. Misi dan visi GEMAK adalah untuk menyajikan tema-tema
kontemporer dan kontroversial dalam seni, politik dan masyarakat; rasa ingin tahu,
penasaran, evaluatif dan menantang.
Pameran dan ruang debat GEMAK menginginkan penonton mengalami seni sebagai titik
awal untuk diskusi, perkuliahan dan wawancara pada sesuatu yang terus berubah, bergerak,
sebagaimana seni dan batasan citra inovatif masyarakat global yang jauh dan dekat dengan
rumah.
GEMAK secara harfiah dan bagian kiasan dari masyarakat dan menyajikan seni yang
mengundang pemikiran, yang tidak akan meninggalkan anda begitu saja
Penawaran GEMAK, berakar dalam tradisi Academy Gratis itu sendiri untuk berpikirmembuat-menampilkan, secara politik dan sosial menggerakkan pameran dan program debat
dan penambahan pendalaman melalui program Studium Generale. Den Haag membentuk
konteks alami untuk GEMAK, karena di sini, merupakan pusat politik penting di kota hukum
dan perdamaian (internasional), yang tahapan seni dan budayanya terus-menerus menantang
dan bersinar terang dalam hubungan antara seni, budaya, politik dan sosial, benar-benar
tempat yang sempurna.
GEMAK menyelenggarakan perkuliahan dan perdebatan dengan dan oleh orang-orang dari
berbagai disiplin ilmu (seni, sastra, ilmu pengetahuan, pers, politik, media) yang
mengomentari perkembangan sosial, yang menjelaskan ide-ide tentang perubahan posisi dari
seni dan seniman, mengikuti spirit waktu secara lebih dekat dan berbagi diskusi dengan
masyarakat.
GEMAK aktif mempromosikan eksperimental dan kolaborasi baru dengan seniman, kurator
dan organisasi. Kolaborasi dengan partner ini adalah, selain memperkaya dan praktis, di atas
semua metode kerja yang inspiratif membawa ambisi GEMAK ke tingkat yang lebih tinggi
dan untuk menjaga misi publik dan artistik yang menarik dan berinovasi. Sebuah contoh yang
bagus adalah sudah pasti kolaborasi dengan kurator Anthony Blokdijk dan Royal Academy
untuk mahasiswa Visual Arts / seniman Yair Callender untuk proyek 25 Tahun Stichting
Maldoror , untuk disaksikan mulai tanggal 8 sampai 28 Maret di gedung GEMAK.
Informasi lebih lanjut tentang GEMAK: www.gemak.org

Mufi Mubaroch - "Looking for Martini"

dinsdag 31 december 2013

The Not So Final Testament Of Stichting Maldoror (1987 - 2013)

This blog was initiated to replace the website maldoror.com, in order to memorize my
activities with the Maldoror Foundation from 1987 on, even earlier projects included.
Because after all, looking back and slowly about to turn fifty years old, all I have been doing
since the age of fifteen can best be described as a 'Gesammtkunstwerk'.

"Non-profit art foundation since 1987 in The Hague, The Netherlands (EU).
From 1987 to 1997 Maldoror, founded by Anthony Blokdijk along with Erik Lindner and
Ruud Vermeer, published books and magazines in Dutch by and with Baudelaire, Bey and
Burroughs, as well as writings of our own; audiotapes with music by friends or our own. We
organized events on subject matters as 'Art in the Eighties', the Viennese Actionists and
French Philosophers, and contributed to TV shows and festivals about Bataille, Beckett and
Burroughs (again). Furthermore we managed several gallery spaces showing works by many
artists."

There are - as far as we know - no photographs of the first board. On the image above
Lindner (left) and myself (middle) are present. On the right is Stacz Wilhelm - collaborator
until 1997. That year the foundation all of a sudden split up, and circumstances caused me to
organize art-projects with children and teenagers in The Hague's Painters' district. Around the
same time the website maldoror.com was launched (which was in 2012 replaced by this
blog).
In 1997 Lindner and Vermeer were replaced by Boudewijn Pronk (left) and Raoul de Vries
(right). We often resided at Casuariestraat 16.

The 21st Century brought Maldoror outside of Europe. In 2006 and 2007 I resided in
Suriname (formerly known as Dutch Guyana), returning for a month in 2010 with Jan
Duivenvoorden. In 2009 board members Pronk and de Vries were replaced by Jan (right)
and Marie-claire van der Heijden (center).

Geplaatst door Anthony Blokdijk op 03:06

maandag 30 december 2013

Pre Menstrual Maldoror (1979 - 1987)
In the mid eighties of the 20th century I was still a young rebel
searching for collaborators. I remember two of them mentioning 'The
Songs of Maldoror' to me personally; Anne-Mie Van Kerckhoven
(Club Moral) in Antwerp and David Tibet (Current 93) in London, I
just can't remember who was first, and it doesn't really matter, does it?
I started reading Lautramont's novel in the summer of 1987, and
suggested 'Maldoror' as the name for an independent publishing
company I was about to set up with Lindner and Vermeer.