.5 freethought INVITES
LAURENCE RASSEL ON RADICAL HOSPITALITY

How, within an exhibition context, could we open the doors for encounters?

In the years of curator Laurence Rassel’s public program at the Fundació Antoni Tàpies in Barcelona, conversation was at the centre of exhibitions such as ‘re.act.feminism’, ‘Retrospective’ by Xavier Le Roy, ‘FAQ: Zone of frequently asked questions’, ‘Allan Kaprow. Other Ways’, amongst others. Derrida proposes the concept of ‘unconditional hospitality’, which demands an abandonment of judgement and control with regard to who will receive that hospitality. The ‘absolute’ hospitality described by Derrida was impossible for Rassel and her team at Fundació Antoni Tàpies: while practising different modes of welcoming, they had to establish rules for how to use the ‘house’. But those rules can be readable, understandable, negotiated as children changing the rules of the game as they play: “Now, what if? And if? Now You, Now I.”

ABOUT LAURENCE RASSEL

Laurence Rassel is a cultural worker who can act as curator, teacher, organizer based in Brussels. From 2008 to 2015 she was the Director of Fundació Antoni Tàpies, Barcelona, an institution created in 1984 by the artist Antoni Tàpies to promote the study and knowledge of modern and contemporary art. From 1997 to 2008, Rassel was member of Constant, a non-profit association and interdisciplinary arts-lab based and active in Brussels dealing with free software, copyright alternatives and (cyber)feminism.