CLAIMING SPACE

Claiming Space is a quirky, powerful and rhythmic portrait of four diverse women's collectives and their group spirits. Made by Questions Collective and director Eefje Suijkerbuijk with an all-female crew.
This multimedia installation was presented early 2021 during our solo exhibition at Melkweg EXPO in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

The artist collective takes on the slogan ‘Claiming Space’ and encourages women to take up space in a world that tells them not to.
We are stronger together – Questions Collective knows this to be true. The interdisciplinary artist collective merges their diverse backgrounds to create discipline-defying artistic expression. With everyday life as their stage, they fabricate a new reality and question the status quo – striving for social change. As an entirely female-identifying collective, the feminist cause is at the core of their identity and they encourage others to join them in their progressive ventures forward.

More and more people are participating in the urgent conversations on feminism, but many underrepresented voices remain yet to be heard. Questions Collective bridges the feminist gap between the cities and the province, portraying the communal spirit of female collectives outside Amsterdam. From a group of bellydancers from Groningen and a Surinamese choir from Tilburg to a network of business women from Flevoland and a girls’ football team from Rheden. Questions Collective’s video work explores the basic principles of feminism and equality by visually capturing the concept of a collective. Empowered by each other, the women are determined to take up more space, up to the point that there’s no getting around them – a powerful, collective fist made by women from all across the Netherlands.

Claiming Space has been made possible by the generous support of the Mondriaan Fund and the Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst.

Photos by Annelies Verhelst