Danai Giannoglou - Emergency Fellowship at De Appel

Curator Danai Giannoglou is a recipient of the Onassis AiR Emergency Fellowship 2019-20 which will enable her to attend one of the most prestigious professional development programmes in Amsterdam. Danai is the first Greek curator in over 25 years to be selected for the De Appel Curatorial Programme.

De Αppel’s Curatorial Programme (CP) is a life-changing opportunity for motivated individuals who seek experience in making art public, beyond what academic degrees can offer. This intensive 10- month period of residency in Amsterdam involves full immersion in the local scene with De Αppel as an institutional base. Following a rich curriculum intended to provide direct insight into the work of artists, the building of institutions, and forms of social life, each year’s six participants collectively determine De Αppel’s public offering in Spring.

De Αppel has a distinct history of bringing alternative practice into broader circulation. At its inception in 1974-75, it was a pioneer of new forms of presentation (such environments, situation art and performance) that have gradually come to define contemporary practice. While these were not immediately embraced, a deep historical consciousness has always permeated the institution. Our founder Wies Smals (1939-1983) had the foresight to keep a meticulous Archive even before De Appel was registered as a foundation. Successes, setbacks, detours and failures – keys to learning – have all left their traces.

The Curatorial Programme, Archive and Public Offering (events, exhibitions, education initiatives among forms of public exchange) all mutually reinforce each other at De Appel. The CP final outcome in Spring is an institutional ritual and the measure of our heartbeat. The high stakes of this endeavour, with the full integration of participants into the workings of our publicly oriented institution, make De Appel’s CP unique among curatorial learning opportunities.

Three months in Amsterdam, three months in De Appel Curatorial Programme and it already feels like ages in the best sense. September was the month of getting to know one another, ground ourselves in the city and become familiar with the institution. October was the month of travelling the world in search of new contexts, external stimuli, inspiration and unknown bonds. Chicago, Detroit, Maastricht, Istanbul, Lisbon, Leuven in thirty days taught us new ways of looking at institutions, co-existence, light-packing and fighting FOMO. November was the month of the deep dive into our collective curatorial project which is opening in May, as well as our individual research. Countless hours of thinking together, understanding each other’s point of view, making peace with the fact that there is rarely only one way, discovering scenes and practices we never knew existed, while trying to stay sincere and relevant.