In the context of the exhibition Prophet Machine by Mikolaj Sobczak, ROZENSTRAAT is organizing a reading group that will take place on one Tuesday evening and two Saturday afternoons.
Together, we will explore a diverse selection of excerpts from academic articles, prose, poetry, and fiction by authors whose work resonates with the themes and perspectives present in Sobczak’s exhibition. We will engage with texts by, among others, Oswald de Andrade, Aaron Betsky, William Blake, Constance Debré, and Frans Kellendonk, as well as excerpts from Country Lesbians: The Story of the WomanShare Collective, The Formation of a Persecuting Society by Robert Ian Moore, and Witchcraft and the Gay Counterculture by Arthur Evans.
Each session centers on collective exchange and reflection, fostering deeper engagement with Sobczak’s work. The focus lies on different groupings within the counterculture, with particular attention to queerness.
Much like Sobczak’s work resists singular interpretations and creates space for the overlooked histories of marginalized communities, the authors featured in the reading group address themes and histories that fall outside the official canon or highlight contemporary developments that diverge from dominant discourse. In this way, the reading group offers space to question prevailing narratives.
Each session lasts approximately two hours and includes both close reading of the texts and group discussion. The reading material—consisting of both English and Dutch texts—will be distributed one week prior to each session.
During this session, we will study excerpts from Oswald de Andrade’s Anthropophagic Manifesto and read selected poems by William Blake.
The reading group is led by Bas Hendrikx and Sjoerd Kloosterhuis and takes place at ROZENSTRAAT.
Participants are welcome to attend one or multiple sessions. The other two sessions will take place on 18 December and 24 January.