In the Amsterdam open air swimming pool The Brediusbad, an open air swimming pool near Unseen Festival, Amsterdam, the conceptual photographers Christto & Andrew will present an exhibition that looks at current developments in the sports industry specific to Qatar.
The exhibition, curated by Unseen’s Head of Artistic Affairs, Emilia van Lynden, will address why hosting mega sports events have become such an important aspect and will take a closer look at the the underlying motives of hosting such events.
The Brediusbad is an outdoor swimming pool located in a green area next to the WestCord Art Hotel in Amsterdam’s Spaarndammerbuurt neighbourhood. The pool has a deep end and a shallow end for swimmers of all levels.
There is also a wading pool with a fountain for toddlers and young children. The pool is daily open from the beginning of May through the beginning of September.
The exhibition, the festival says in a statement, “will address how power is asserted through a specific aesthetic.”
The photographers talked about their relationship with their adopted home of Qatar in an interview with Unseen magazine: “As we are not originally from the Gulf or Qatar, we are constantly curious about what is happening here. Andrew has been living here for 12 years, Christto significantly less, and it remains strange and fascinating for both of us to see the changes that are happening in Qatar – changes we want to reference in our work.
“Working as outsiders has helped us to create an untraditional way of viewing the Middle East. This new way of making photography together has allowed us to develop a shared visual language that we place somewhere between the real, the digital and the fictional worlds we have found in Qatar. ”
More information is available here.
