Chapter 4OUR: Abundance refuses the current structures of reality. Abundance opposes the idea of identity stasis. Abundance refutes the notion that you can be knowable and that you must show yourself visibly, that you have to come out proud and sound coherent. Abundance assumes that everything already exists; no existing form is obligated to defend or prove itself. Thinking from abundance is a philosophical attempt that recognizes current identity frames, but also encourages to refuse and surpass them. Abundance is the wealth of presence.

The artworks and public program that create Chapter 4OUR: Abundance defy the mentality of scarcity that dominates society, normalizing hierarchical differentiation, comparison and competition. Our motto - “We must bring about the end of the world as we know it.” – follows philosopher Denise Ferreira da Silva’s emphasis on knowledge. We strongly believe in exclusion in order to include, selection and classification, categorization to claim inclusivity. Instead of centralizing one way of being, one way of knowing, one way of storytelling, Da Silva challenges us to think the impossible; to approach the world and each other radically different.

What if everything has a right to exist without any proof of purpose, goal, distinct characteristic, hierarchy, priority, or profit? That is abundance. And what else it might be? That’s the infinite imagination ‘Abundance’ demands.

Chapter 4OUR: Abundance was developed by a team of curators from Het HEM in dialogue with Simon(e) van Saarloos.

Some of the artworks in Chapter 4OUR engage with exploitation, violence, abuse and sexuality – from this experience, a radically different world is demanded and imagined. You may encounter explicit or destabilizing images and subjects. Please address the mediators if you have specific questions and concerns – also when it comes to accessibility of the artworks and the building.