Grand Opening 2025

28.02.2025, 19:00 — 24:00 10 euro get tickets West Den Haag in the former American Embassy, Lange Voorhout 102, The Hague
19:00: Doors open
19:20 Opening speech
19:45 Exhibition open
21:30 Performance Rashid Novaire & Sanne Landvreugd
20:30 Ongoing Music Program

20:00 — 24:00: Exhibition open
1. LIFE ON EARTH: Art & Ecofeminism / International group exhibition
2. ÉDOUARD GLISSANT: Hans-Ulrich Obrist’s archive
3. ANIL RAMDAS: In wat voor land leef ik eigenlijk / Karin Amatmoekrim
4. RASHID NOVAIRE: Alphabetum X: 3,7‰ — Deel 2
5. RENÉ DAUMAL: Alphabetum IX: Mount Analogue Observatory
6. CULTUURHAVEN: Edges Of Proximity: KABK students & Asser Institute

20:30 — 24:00: Music Program curated by Alex Andropoulos
1. ACCIDENT DU TRAVAIL: Immersive, ephemeral soundscapes
2. NINA HARKER: Music from the fringes, crafted with raw authenticity
3. BÂTTON XXL: Hypnotic noise from Brussels’ underground scene





1. LIFE ON EARTH: Art & Ecofeminism
Group exhibition featuring works by Alliance of the Southern Triangle (A.S.T.), Alicia Barney Caldas, Meech Boakye, Carolina Caycedo, Francesca Gabbiani, Institute of Queer Ecology (IQECO), Kite, Leslie Labowitz Starus, Maria Maea, Otobong Nkanga, yétúndé olagbaju, Alicia Piller, Aviva Rahmani, Tabita Rezaire, Yo-E Ryou, Emilija Škarnulytė, and A.L. Steiner.
The exhibition is inspired by four decades of ecofeminist thought and practice in art, offering new perspectives on gender and ecology.
Ecofeminism is a theoretical and activist movement that draws critical connections between gender, oppression, and the exploitation of natural resources. Emerging in the late 1970s through environmental protests, anti-nuclear initiatives, and feminist activism, ecofeminism addresses the oppression of both nature and women. It also confronts racism, homophobia, and capitalist patriarchy. Artists embrace these ideas, creating innovative and often site-specific works that expose and interrogate these systemic issues.

2. ÉDOUARD GLISSANT: Hans-Ulrich Obrist’s archive
The philosophy of Édouard Glissant advocates for a global dialogue centered on diversity and exchange. He envisions a ‘One-World’ where cultural exchange does not lead to the loss of identity but rather to its enrichment. The internationally renowned curator Hans Ulrich Obrist presents an archival exhibition dedicated to the Martinican philosopher and poet Édouard Glissant (1928–2011). Glissant is one of the most influential thinkers of the 20th century, whose concepts such as ‘Relation’, creolization, and ‘Mondialité’ offer a powerful lens through which to understand the complex dynamics of globalization, cultural diversity, and identity in the 21st century.

3. ANIL RAMDAS: In wat voor land leef ik eigenlijk / Karin Amatmoekrim
Een biographical exhibition dedicated to Anil Ramdas (1958–2012). The project explores the life and work of this writer, journalist, and intellectual. As a prominent voice in debates on identity, diversity, and post-colonialism in the Netherlands, Ramdas’s legacy remains as relevant and urgent as ever. Karin Amatmoekrim is guest curator of this exhibition.

4. RASHID NOVAIRE: Alphabetum X: 3,7‰ — Deel 2
In this series, we invite special guests to select their favourite 26 books from the library collection of art historian Evert van Uitert (1936–2021). These books are personally annotated by the guests and exhibited on the mezzanine of the Alphabetum at West Den Haag. For the second edition, the selection was made by writer Rashid Novaire. Novaire will introduce the project with a performance-lecture, accompanied by a live performance by saxophonist Sanne Landvreugd.

5. RENÉ DAUMAL: Alphabetum IX: Mount Analogue Observatory
In René Daumal’s novel ‘Mount Analogue’, a group of mountaineers sets off in search of an invisible, but geographically locatable mountain that is as real as it is metaphysical: it is the absolute link between heaven and earth, gods and men, an analogy for the ascent towards higher levels of consciousness. Since its posthumous publication in 1952, this novel has never ceased to exert a gravitational force on musicians, artists, writers, architects, explorers, literary scholars and spiritual seekers. This is the ninth exhibition in Alphabetum at West.

6. CULTUURHAVEN: Edges Of Proximity
The exhibition by three 4th year KABK photography students, Daria Radu, Anastasia Troshkova and Salome Erni, tackles, questions and translates systems of justice, legal frameworks and institutions of juridical power. Project i.c.w. T.M.C. Asser Instituut and the Royal Academy of Art The Hague (KABK).





Accident du Travail
The duo of Julie Normal and Olivier Demeaux create the very musical sonic landscape which is Accident du Travail, a dream like walk through ever shifting environments. The basis of their sound is Normal's Ondes Martenot, a unique electronic instrument almost a century old loved by Messiaen and Varèse, and Demeaux' acoustic travel harmonium, which when combined create an odd juxtaposition of sonic textures, working perfectly in harmony within an undefinable time zone. The weaving sonic structures are abstracted further through eclectic live processing of the instruments through electronic equipment, resulting in the dreamlike quality of their ephemeral soundscapes.

Nina Harker
Nina Harker is the musical collaboration of Apolline Schöser and Nocola Henry started in 2015. Their music blends song writing with musical experimentation, multilingual texts and spectral cinematography, to create what sounds like fork and pop music from the fringes of society made on instruments handed down from generation to generation or found in the trash. Operating without a fixed location, the duo has been nomadic since its inception, drawing inspiration from the various environments and encounters they have had over the years. Their creations are deeply personal, shaped by their surroundings, encounters and state of mind, while they very consciously treat recorded music and live performances as distinctly separate mediums.

Bâton XXL
Romain Simon, a trained sound technician and percussionist, found space to explore both fields of expertise through his solo project Bâton XXL, a reputation stemming from Amiens, France, which has now flooded the underground scene of Brussels. He plays snare drum, floor tom, and banjo, the last of which he doesn't touch during his set, creating a harsh but hypnotic sea of percussive noise, accompanied by his fragile honest voice. Although sonically intimidating, once surrendered to, his music is incredibly entrancing.