Studio Current

Studio Current is an Amsterdam-based foundation. Central to studio current is the combination of visual arts, performance, food, and community. Studio Current is a diverse group of artists, curators, and researchers who are based in Amsterdam and its surrounding areas. We also engage in both national and international collaborations.

Studio Current is rooted in a strong belief in the following values: ecology, community, solidarity, newness, and playfulness. We believe that being part of a community that shares resources and cares for each other is one of the most important things we have. To be connected with people is our first aim, all the other (material) things come second. From this perspective, we consider art as a means of conversation and communication between people and as a tool to uncover social inequalities.

In this spirit one of our main research questions is; How can we use our experiences within the cultural field as a tool to produce new knowledge? The term ‘knowledge’ in itself contains a certain sense of privilege. It does not function in isolation but depends heavily on its accessibility.

The powerful, the affluent, the privileged, and the dominant are always the ones who control both knowledge production and its accessibility. To create knowledge in the commons, the mediums and methods need to change. Studio Current wishes to be a place of rehearsal for this change. Through this rehearsal, we hope to strengthen communities of practitioners to be able to work resiliently within a precarious cultural world. 

As an extension of our own initiatives, comes an invitation. An invitation to all who would like to contribute to our community, and form new ones. We want to be open and accessible to everyone. Anyone who is interested and willing to join the initiative or co-organize an evening/event/research/performance can do that, and Studio Current will facilitate the process. We want to emphasize that we approach the initiative as a collective good, that is open for people to ‘use’ or engage with. On top of that, working with people from different backgrounds - socially, economically, and ethnically - is crucial to us.