Institutions around the world, particularly those concerned with representation, such as museums, find themselves in unfamiliar territory. Under pressure to confront their history – often steeped in colonial, gender-related and other harmful traditions – and to attempt to change course, they are searching for new models and strategies. This anthology draws on the practice of Buro Stedelijk, a physical space and institution within the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, a museum of modern and contemporary art. An institution that is called upon to be different from its host, while at the same time being nested in its belly.
Between December 2022 and November 2025, Buro Stedelijk worked with over 200 collaborators to explore the possibilities and impossibilities of working within an established art museum while trying to do things ‘differently’. Can institutions be reimaged from within? By looking at how Buro Stedelijk developed an ambitious programme with an intention to do so with care, sensitivity, and criticality, while dealing with the legacy, exposure and power of its host, the book presents a compelling case study of research by doing. Looking at the importance of shedding a self-reflective light on our own implication and the detail of daily labour, this book investigates if working with and within institutions can offer us pockets of potential, albeit temporary, from where we can be the change we wish to see in the world.
Contributions by: Joël Andrianomearisoa, Tina M. Campt, Ola Hassanain, Sabrine Ingabire, Quinsy Gario, Wayne Modest, Yvette Mutumba, Setareh Noorani, Azu Nwagbogu, Kevin Osepa, Rita Ouédraogo, Bram Owusu, Emily Pethick, Robbie Schweiger, Christina Sharpe, Niels Staats, Simone Zeefuik and others.
208 pages, 32 x 23.5 cm, softcover, Onomatopee (Eindhoven).