ATLAS OF THE CONFLICT in Rollercoaster, ‘The image of the 21st Century’, MOTI, Breda

The ‘live magazine’ Rollercoaster offers an interpretation of the 21st century in images, and will be open to the public from 29 April – 2 September. Guest curator Joost Zwagerman is placing icons of visual art alongside icons from the news. He has asked 100 prominent figures from the Netherlands to share their iconic image of the past century.

Well-known names such as Katja Römer Schuurman, Dries van Agt, Rudi Fuchs and Sander van de Pavert (Lucky TV) have made a selection of images, including photography, video, and visual art. These can be either personal choices or reports of recent international events such as the crisis or revolutions. The contributors explain their choices and where necessary Joost Zwagerman provides additional information or a counter image. As a guest curator he will also be highlighting their links to the history of the image and literary history in his own unique way. By doing so he will be offering an interpretation of the stream of images with which we are confronted daily. The exhibition will not only be a retrospective of the turbulent first decade of this century; it is also an attempt to interpret the explosive culture of the image in which we live.

The diverse collection of images in Rollercoaster takes the visitor on an adventure through the early beginnings of the 21st century. The last century has seen the culture of the image booming, and now it is ubiquitous. The combined images in Rollercoaster explain how the culture of the image that has developed over this century is a mix of casual amateur images and the layered images constructed by artists. Creating images has become increasingly democratic; it is no longer the exclusive domain of the professional artists.

Again, you will find more than 100 images at MOTI. And just to give you an impression of the selection that has been made for you, we now introduce Jan Mulder, Frits Gierstberg and Koert van Mensvoort.