P74 Gallery
Mar 05, 2021 – Mar 24, 2021
P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. Institute Artist Book Collection is one of the central international collections of the Artist Books in the country and therefore also a suitable subject of study. It was created from the first donations and exchanges in 2003, and today comprises more than 600 units of Artist Books, fanzines, journals, and Artist’s magazines. The current time seems especially appropriate for rethinking who we are and how we live. The exhibition Parallel Literature was created in the face of current social developments which are marked by general dissatisfaction with political elites, repressive measures, censorship, and fake news. Selected publications from the collection have been created in different contexts, environments and periods, but all of them address – directly or indirectly – topics of political power and political authority.
Censorship Daily (2012) brings a selection of pages from the NRC Handelsblad daily. Jan Dirk van der Burg collected images from the newspaper (2007-2012) that had been delivered to his friend Thomas Erdbrink while living in Tehran. This Dutch newspaper was checked by a group of Iranian officials each time before delivery. They carefully covered the obscene parts of the photographs, the exposed body parts, with a ruler, scissors and stickers. The images intentionally remain black and white, while the censorship label is vivid blue.
In his book Contemporary Brazilian politics (2011), Erik van der Weijde shows excerpts from newspaper texts he collected over the years. Comments on political corruption predominate. The annual cost of corruption in Brazil is estimated at about five trillion US dollars. On a black background, in a simple sans-serif font, we can follow the text without a beginning and end, as a set of statements, without any names. The message is thus even stronger and shows a revolt against the regime, emphasized by alarming facts and figures.