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The Mondriaan Fund granted Harm Weistra in February 2019 the four-year Stipendium for Established Artists (Werkbijdrage Bewezen Talent 2019 - 2022). In 2015 the fund granted him the Stipendium for Emerging Artists (Werkbijdrage Jong Talent). The Mondrian Fund is the publicly financed fund for visual arts of the Netherlands.

Les Fleurs du mal, Ballroom Project, May 16 – 19, 2024 Antwerp (Belgium)
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As part of the Ballroom Project, a platform that brings together galleries and artists from around the world, curator Pieter Vermeulen composed an exhibition based on submissions from the participating galleries. Rotterdam-based gallery JOEY RAMONE submitted the animation Echo of Falling Man, one of the works of the installation Requiem for a Falling Man (2017 - 2019), by artists Harm Weistra and Eddi Bal.
Situated in the neoclassical grandeur of a former courthouse, the exhibition invites to reflect on the intersections of ethics and aesthetics.
Against a backdrop of increasing polarity, disaster and turmoil, viewers are encouraged to reflect on the nature of evil, the notion of denial and the enduring relevance of art and beauty.
 
The 2024 edition of Ballroom Project took place during the Antwerp Art Weekend, at the BorGerHub, Borgerhout's former courthous.

Intrinsic Moral Evil: Award Statistics per April 2024
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Since its premiere in March 2014, during Cinedance at EYE Filmmuseum in Amsterdam, the short film Intrinsic Moral Evil has been screened at 250+ festivals and venues worldwide.
Screenings ​details on the page Exhibitions.
 
Intrinsic Moral Evil received 55 awards: 45 times as best short film in various categories, 10 awards with an honorable or special mention. 
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In the stats below an overview per:
  1. Year awarded
  2. Festival type
  3. Country where awarded 
  4. Award category

A detailed overview of the awards can be found on the Films & Video page.​
​Awards per Year
2022         3
2021         1
​2020         5
​2019         3
2018        14
2017         5
2016        13
2015         9
2014         2  ​
Awards per Festival
Indie/City      28
​​Dance           11
LGBT            11
Art              5
Awards per Country
USA             21
Venezuela        6
Netherlands      4
Germany          3
​India            3
UK               2
Mexico           2
France           2
Italy            2
​​​Canada           1
Romania          1
Finland          1
​Russia           1
​Argentina        1
Bolivia          1
​Sweden           1
​Austria          1
Panama           1
Spain            1
Awards per Category
LGBT              10
Dance              9
Audience           7
Editing            5
Cinematography     5
Experimental       4
Choreography       3
Short              3
Merit              2
Score/Sound        2
Debut Director     1
​Screenplay         1
Grand Jury         1
​Other              2

Dualities - NFT Fundraising Project. January 4 – February 4, 2022
  

From January 4th until February 4th 2022, Artpool is hosting a campaign that will sell in total 252 NFT editions. The campaign is meant to raise funds for the anniversary publication of the Rotterdam based gallery JOEY RAMONE.

Anyone interested in buying one of these NFT editions can help the gallery to realise an artist’s book in honour of its 10th anniversary.

Harm Weistra is one of the artists who have contributed works to the project.
 
"In their work, the featured artists of ‘Dualities’ refer to social, political, and economic present conditions. Harm Weistra takes from the internet pictures of bombed areas in Syria and juxtaposes them to create an aesthetic and heavy atmosphere. The appealing photographs question the unconscious and stolid way we deal with images of wars and disasters nowadays". (Source: Julia Flamingo at Artpool Blog).

Besides works from the series Carceri dei Danni Collaterali, Harm Weistra also contributed works from the series Curbed Chaos. The Beauty Beneath.

Visit Artpool online to support this project.
​Archival inkjet on Mediajet Museum Natural Silk 300gsm paper, aluminum mounted, acryl covered, printed by the artist.

UNSEEN - International Photo Fair - Amsterdam (NL). September 16 - 19, 2021

At UNSEEN 2021, gallery JOEY RAMONE presented a selection of Harm Weistra’s photography-related art from the past 10 years. On view were - among others - works from the series Curbed Chaos. The Beauty Beneath and Carceri dei Danni Collaterali. UNSEEN is an annual photo fair, situated in the Gashouder, part of the former Westergasfabriek, the gasworks of Amsterdam.

​​Supported by the Mondriaan Fund.
Left image: Pieta. Damaged Goods
Right image: l'Origine

ARCOmadrid, Spain. July 7 – 11, 2021
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​At ARCOmadrid 2021 gallery JOEY RAMONE presented Harm Weistra’s series Curbed Chaos and Carceri die Dani Collaterali (Prisons of Collateral Damage).

The series Curbed Chaos displays an unusual representation of everyday snapshots. By twisting their properties, the work conjures up a new reality.
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Carceri dei Danni Collaterali is referring to Giovanni Battista Piranesi's famous prison etchings Carceri d'Invenzione (1745/1761). These etchings followed a tradition called capriccio, fantasy aggregations of structures that did not exist in real life. By merging multiple images of bombed and destroyed buildings in Syria, the artist created a contemporary follow-up of the capriccio tradition. ​
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​Supported by the Mondriaan Fund.

​Left wall: Carceri dei Danni Collaterali I-II-III  /  Right wall: Berlin Cathedral - View from Mühlendamm Bridge (right) & Park Hotel (left)

The Day After Tomorrow, gallery JOEY RAMONE. Rotterdam (NL). July - September 2020​

The Rotterdam based gallery JOEY RAMONE reopens its space with The Day After Tomorrow, a group exhibition with work of the artists represented by the gallery: Roi Alter, Yasser Ballemans,Tudor Bratu, Cihad Caner, Momu & No Es, Thijs Ebbe Fokkens, Ilke Gers, Iratxe Jaio & Klaas van Gorkum, Fotini Gouseti and Harm Weistra.
The exhibition runs from July 1st till August 21st, 2020.
 
Harm Weistra participates with 2 works from the 2020 edition of Curbed Chaos. The Beauty Beneath. This series shows an unusual representation of everyday snapshots. By twisting their properties, the work conjures up a new reality. Although at first glance the images may seem somewhat familiar, on a closer look they are difficult to identify, depicting a reality that sidetracks our perception and mystifies the true nature of the initial image.
 
Curbed Chaos turns failure into an opportunity. A software glitch inspired the artist to develop a procedure that’s freeing him from the limitations of traditional photo editing and manipulation, leading to a personal approach that rips off the identity of the original snapshot. Resulting in an image that balances between reality and abstraction, inviting the viewers to charge it with a new meaning.
 
Archival inkjet on Canson Infinity Edition Etching Rag 310gsm paper, dibond mounted, printed by the artist. Dimensions variable.
Berlin Cathedral - View from Mühlendamm Bridge (right)
Berlin Cathedral - View from Park Hotel (left)

New Tretyakov Museum, Moscow. 8th International Biennale of Contemporary Art
Main Project: Orienteering and Positioning
October 31, 2019 – January 22, 2020
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The Main Project of the 8th Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art consists of more than 50 works by 34 artists from 11 countries: Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, China, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Russia, Saudi Arabia, the USA.

Harm Weistra & Eddi Bal represent the Netherlands, participating with the installation Requiem for a Falling Man (2017 - 2019).
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The  8th Moscow International Biennale of Contemporary Art is hosted in the New Tretyakov Museum (Novaya Tretyakov - Krymsky Val, 10 Moscow). For the first time, one of the world's leading museums - Albertina (Vienna, Austria) – is partnering with the Moscow Biennale, by giving masterpieces on loan of 11 artists from the 20th century.
 
More information and an overview of the participating artists at the site of the biennale.
 
​​Supported by the Mondriaan Fund.

Fort bij Asperen (NL), Een Schitterende Afzondering. May 26 – September 22, 2019

Een Schitterende Afzondering (A Splendid Isolation) is a group exhibition that occupies the Fort bij Asperen (NL) throughout the summer of 2019. On display are video works by Yael Bartana, Simone de Kinderen, Erik Odijk and Jacco Oliver; spatial work by Andre Pielage, and an animation by Anton Lecock.
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​Harm Weistra & Eddi Bal participate with the installation Requiem for a Falling Man, consisting of photo collage, animations, sound and light effects.

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Supported by the Mondriaan Fund.
Phantom of the Valley - first draft (2019)
Echo of Falling Man (2017)

​Art Quake Kyoto
Biennale, Kyoto Museum, Kyoto
August / September 2019 

Art Quake Kyoto (JP) is a bi-annual international art event featuring a juried art show which includes paintings, sculptures, installations, digital art and a special section on cinematic arts.
The event presents an array of works by artists from different parts of the world, whose artworks speak of the creators’ own diverse social and cultural backgrounds, differing beliefs and economic situations.

Harm Weistra & Eddi Bal participate with the animation Echo of Falling Man (2017).

​​The Affordable ​Art Fair
​Metropolitan Pavilion, New York
March 27 – 31, 2019

The Affordable Art Fair is held twice a year at the Metropolitan Pavilion in New York.

The international Art Fair showes a variety of works, such as hand-picked paintings, sculptures and editioned prints.

​Harm Weistra participated in the Spring Exhibition of 2019 with the work Shooting from the series Family of Man (2017). A series in which he juxtaposes his own photography with newspaper images of the war in the Middle East.

Parallels: dance, performance, art
Bradwolff Projects, Amsterdam
April 12 – ​14, 2019 
In a three-day event Bradwolff Projects (Amsterdam) investigates the relationship between dance/performance and art. What is the influence of art on dance and vice versa? Is there an urgency? What are visions for the future?
These questions are examined through four pieces that question different relationships: the relationship between dance/performance and objects; dance in relation to space; art being transformed in space; the relationship of film on dance; and the affinity between 'dance about dance' and dance that can make a statement about the world.
Harm Weistra participated with the video installation Damaged Goods (2011).

ARCOmadrid, Spain. ​Requiem for a Falling Man, February 27 – March 3, 2019

ARCOmadrid is one of the worlds leading fairs for contemporary art. At the 2019 edition, the Rotterdam based gallery JOEY RAMONE presents Harm Weistra & Eddi Bal’s site-specific installation Requiem for a Falling Man (2017). The installation pays tribute to the gay men killed by ISIS by throwing them off buildings. The central focus is Echo of Falling Man (2017), an animation of the execution of an unidentified Syrian man. The animation can be seen as an afterimage; a mirror image of the iconic Richard Drew photo of a ‘falling man’ who jumped out of the World Trade Center during the 9/11 attacks in New York. With this, the work refers to the relationship between the Al-Qaeda attacks in New York and the terror of ISIS in the Middle East.
 
At ARCOmadrid, the installation consists of:
 
Habituation. Rooftop View, archival print, polyptych 125 x 245 cm
Echo of Falling Man, a vertically framed one channel animation, 2'54'' (screened as a loop)
Requiem, a vertically framed ​three channel animation, 2'58'' (screened as a loop)
Gold on black screen-printed funeral palls, 110x210 cm each

​​​Supported by the Mondriaan Fund.

Images: artist’s impression of Requiem for a Falling Man.
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CODA Museum Apeldoorn (NL). ​Beaty of the Battle. September 30, 2018 – February 3, 2019

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Beauty of the Battle is a group exhibition in CODA Museum for Contemporary Art in Apeldoorn. During this exhibition, Harm Weistra's video-installation Damaged Goods and short film Intrinsic Moral Evil will be on permanent display.
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Violence, battle, and hatred in many cases initially provoke aversion. Nevertheless, people may be fascinated by the beauty of a battle when it, for example, is part of a dance performance or when it is depicted in a painting. Beauty of the Battle in the CODA Museum confronts the visitor with this disturbing contrast. The exhibition explores the boundaries of hatred and love, danger and beauty, in an arrangement that links painting, sculpture, performance art, installations and dance.

Participating artists: 
Abramovic/Ulay | AES+F (RU) | Tamme de Boer (NL) | Barbara Broekman (NL) | Eishôsai Chôki (JP) | Childish Gambino (USA) | Katsushika Hokusai (JP) | Damian Kapojos (NL) | Patrick Koster (NL) | Abbas Kowsari (IR) | Utagawa Kunisada (JP) | Utagawa Kuniyoshi (JP) | Abu Bakarr Mansaray (SL) | Mohau Modisakeng (ZA) | Hertog/Nadler (IL/NL) | Jens Pfeifer (NL) | LA Raeven (NL) | Ronald Tolman (NL) | Harm Weistra (NL) | Wieske Wester (NL) | Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (JP) | Ali Zanjani (IR).

​​Centre del Carme Cultura Contemporània, Valencia (ES). Meeting on Video-dance. October 3 – 7, 2018

EIVV the Encontre Internacional de Videodansa i Videoperformance (International Meeting on Video-dance and Video-performance) is an annual event in the city of Valencia, Spain. The 4-day meeting will be held at the Centre del Carme Cultura Contemporània. The meeting includes a festival with artists’ presentations, panel discussions, public debates and academic papers. The theme of the 2018 meeting is evolution: the general and historical evolution of screen dance, and the personal evolution of the artists. Harm Weistra participates in this 5th edition with his video Damaged Goods and short film Intrinsic Moral Evil. On the closing night, both dance films will be shown followed by a masterclass in which he reflects on and explores with the audience his evolution as a screen dance maker.

Aperture Summer Open. Manhattan, New York. On Freedom, July 14 - August 17, 2017

The Aperture Summer Open is an annual open-submission exhibition at Aperture Foundation’s gallery that features a wide variety of work drawn from members of their photographic community. Curated by Eric Gottesman, Hank Willis Thomas, and Wyatt Gallery, the exhibition offers a photographic response to Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms: freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. The photographers and image-makers selected for inclusion, each address these issues in their work in varying ways. Harm Weistra's work Carceri dei Danni Collaterali (2017) has been selected for the 2017 edition of Aperture Summer Open.
 
By merging multiple images of bombed and destroyed buildings in Syria, Weistra has created five collages inspired by and referring to Giovanni Battista Piranesi's sixteen famous prison etchings Carceri d'invenzione (Imaginary Prisons), fantastical aggregations of structures that did not exist in real life. Based on found footage, Weistra constructed contemporary 'aggregations of structures'. These compilations and assemblages of bombed buildings symbolize how Syrian civilians, unable to leave their cities under attack, take the freedom to utilize these 'carceri' to continue their life.

XXX PRIDE @ X BANK, Amsterdam (NL). July 31 - September 5 2017

XXX Pride addresses the need to appoint diversity. Grand opening at X BANK on July 30 by Beatrix Ruf, director of the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam.
 
XXX Pride is made in conjunction with the Amsterdam Gay Pride Arts & Culture Program. 
 
Harm Weistra & Eddi Bal present a selection of works from the installation Requiem for a Falling Man (2017). This installation pays tribute to the gay men, thrown off buildings by ISIS and is meant as a ceremonious farewell for all who did not survive the terror of ISIS. 

Family of Man, gallery JOEY RAMONE. Rotterdam (NL), June 2017

Family of Man - a solo presentation by Dutch artist Harm Weistra - focuses on the life of citizens during the war in Syria. By juxtaposing everyday newspaper images with his own photography, Weistra invites the audience to look at contemporary issues from an original perspective.
The title of this series is a direct reference to a 1955 MoMa exhibition, presented as "a mirror of the universal elements and emotions in the everydayness of life.” Weistra's series emphasize the differences by literally colliding found footage with images from his personal database, underlining that these differences strongly relate to where one is born.
 
Carceri dei Danni Collaterali is the second series within Family of Man. By merging multiple images of bombed and destroyed buildings, the artist creates Carceri dei Danni Collaterali (Prisons of Collateral Damage), referring to Giovanni Battista Piranesi's prison etchings Carceri d'Invenzione. Like Piranesi, Weistra creates capriccio, contemporary 'aggregation of structures' with footage he found on the internet. Resulting in compilations and assemblages of buildings, symbolizing the prisons Syrian civilians are forced to live in, being unable to leave their cities under attack.

Seen but Unnoticed, gallery JOEY RAMONE. Rotterdam (NL), June 2017

Seen but Unnoticed targets the tipping point where images of conflict and war no longer leave traces in our mind. Although observed, the images aren't consciously perceived anymore. This growing disinterest is due to one of the most fundamental learning processes of biological systems: a mechanism of ignoring repeating stimuli that emerge too often, so the focus can be on what is relevant and demands attention.
 
The works that constitute Seen but Unnoticed investigate how we're getting accustomed to violence, cruelty, and war. The 24/7 availability of the image driven digital media, undoubtedly strengthen habituation and shorten the time span in which we lose attention. The installation invites viewers to contemplate on this paradoxical loss of interest, while at the same time questioning at what point habituation becomes a threat.
 
The exhibition Seen but Unnoticed consist of the work Habituation, Rooftop View and the installation Requiem for a Falling Man. With this collaborative installation Harm Weistra & Eddi Bal pay tribute to the unidentified gay men who where thrown off buildings by ISIS. The work is meant as a ceremoniously farewell, for all gay men who didn't survive this terror. The central focus of this installation is the animation Echo of Falling Man, that can be seen as an afterimage. By mirroring the iconic Richard Drew photo of a ‘falling man’, who jumped out of the World Trade Center during the 9/11 attacks in New York, the work symbolizes the relationship between the Al-Qaeda attacks in New York and the terror ISIS spreads through the Middle East. 

Art Gallery Tour Poetry International. Rotterdam (NL), May 31 -June 3 2017

With over 20 participating Rotterdam galleries and art institutions, Poetry International presented in 2017 the fifth Language & Art Gallery Tour. Spread over the city, the tour showed the work of visual artists whose language, word and poetry are a source of inspiration or part of their work. Harm Weistra's solo exhibition Family of Man and the collaborative installation Requiem for a Falling Man of Harm Weistra & Eddi Bal were included in the 2017 Gallery Tour. On June the 2nd, the Australian poet John Kinsella and on June the 3rd the Chinese poet Zang Di presented work that reflected the art in gallery JOEY RAMONE. 

Art Rotterdam (NL), Prospects & Concepts. February 2017
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​At the fifth edition of the annual exhibition Prospects & Concepts, the Mondriaan Fund presented work by 65 visual artists who received in 2015 the Stipendium for Emerging Artists. Prospects & Concepts is part of the international art fair Art Rotterdam. 

Harm Weistra participated with three works from his installation Seen but Unnoticed. The title targets the tipping point where images of conflict and war no longer leave traces in our mind. Although observed, the images aren't consciously perceived anymore. The artist got intrigued, noticing his growing indifference, although initially overwhelmed by the cruelties in the Middle East. He found out that his disinterest is due to one of the most fundamental learning processes of biological systems. A mechanism of ignoring repeating stimuli that emerge too often. This so-called process of habituation allows to filter out large amounts of sensory information, so the focus can be on what's relevant and what really demands attention.
 
The works that constitute the installation investigate how we're getting accustomed to violence, cruelty, and war. The 24/7 availability of the image driven digital media, undoubtedly strengthen habituation and shorten the time span in which we lose attention.
 
Works on display:

  • Carceri dei Danni Collaterali (2017)
  • Habituation. Rooftop View (2016)
  • Echo of Falling Man (2017) -  Harm Weistra & Eddi Bal
 
Fore more information, visit the Portfolio page.
 
Images: Matthijs Borghgraef

Ouchy Film Awards
Review
December, 2016

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The Ouchy Film Awards, Lausanne (CH), praises the film Intrinsic Moral Evil for the “delicate beauty and raw sensuality of dance”. The complete review can be read online.
 
Some more headlines:
 
“The acts are beautiful, erotic, and moving (…) a traditional version of beauty and grace”.
 
“The film uses the camera quite impressively … (giving ) a breathless, sexy beauty to the dance sequences”.
 
The Ouchy Film Awards is a quarterly awards competition. Intrinsic Moral Evil was nominated in the categories Best Editing (Michiel Boesveldt), Best Photography (Jorrit Garretsen) and Best Actor (Joan Ferré Gomez).

Erie Film Festival
Winner Best LGBT
November, 2016

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At the third edition of the Erie International Film Festival, Erie, PA (US), Intrinsic Moral Evil wins the award for Best LGBT film.
 
The festival was created to offer the local community an outlet for the passion of filmmaking and the excitement and creativity that Independent Film Offers.
 
The festival takes place annually and brings international cultures to Erie through the art of film, presenting a wide spectrum of filmmaking, from feature films to documentaries, animation and short films, to experimental, student work, big budget films, low budget and even micro-budget projects.

Queen City Film Festival
Winner Best LGBT Short
October, 2016

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The Queen City Film Festival (QCFF) is held each year in early fall in Cumberland, Maryland (US). At the fifth edition, Intrinsic Moral Evil wins the award for Best LGBT Short.
 
QCFF offers a four-day program of screenings and educational panels, and welcomes filmmakers from around the world. The festival of 2016 presented 85 films in various categories.

Headline Int. Film Festival
Winner Golden Cine Award
October, 2016

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At the Headline International Film Festival (CA), Intrinsic Moral Evil wins the Golden Cine Award. Headline International Film Festival (HIFF) is a festival which aims to advance and shine the spotlight on independent cinema and the creativity of artists, storytellers and collaborators worldwide.
 
Using a scoring system, all entries are graded so films do not compete against each other, rather entries receiving over a required number of points receive an award. The number of points determines the level of the award: golden cine, excellence, merit or honorable mention titles.

SHORT to the Point
Winner Best Editing
September, 2016

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SHORT to the Point, Bucharest (RO) is an international network of distribution, broadcast and promotion of short films. Winning films are widely distributed across Romania.
 
Intrinsic Moral Evil wins the Award for Best Editing. It’s the third time editor Michiel Boesveldt has been honoured for his editing of Intrinsic Moral Evil. Earlier he won at the Eindhoven Film Festival (Netherlands) and Best Independent International Film Festival, Karlsruhe (Germany).

Depth of Field Festival
Winner Outstanding Excellence
September, 2016

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Depth of Field International Film Festival, Nassau (US) is a web-based competition that aims to help the winners in the competition to achieve recognition and distribution opportunities.
 
Intrinsic Moral Evil is the winner of Outstanding Excellence for Choreography (Fernando Domínguez Rincón) and Cinematography (Jorrit Garretsen). 

Film Festival, Karlsruhe
Winner Best Editing
Summer Edition 2016

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At the first edition of the Best Independent International Film Festival, Karlsruhe (DE), Intrinsic Moral Evil won the award for Best Editing. It’s the second time editor Michiel Boesveldt has been honoured for his achievement. In 2015, he was awarded for Best Editing at the fifth edition of the Eindhoven Film Festival (Netherlands).
 
The Best Indie Film Festival in Karlsruhe has a summer and a winter programme, where a selection of short films are presented. The best Indie Films are screened in a Best of Festival programme in multiple film theatres.

New Renaissance Film Festival
Film of the Week
August, 2016

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For the Amsterdam edition of the New Renaissance Film Festival, Harm Weistra's film Intrinsic Moral Evil has been chosen as Film of the Week. The New Renaissance Film Festival is a one-day festival, organized by Jan Hendrik Verstraten and Massimo Barbato, both filmmakers and writers, with the believe that at the heart of every great film is a great story, one that inspires an audience and helps to shape culture in a positive way.

Besides in Amsterdam (NL), the New Renaissance Film Festival has a London edition. In 2016 - the first year that the festival runs - the Amsterdam edition will be held on October the 29th at LAB111. 

BIDFF
National Tour
September – October, 2016

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Bucharest International Dance Film Festival (BIDFF) is organizing a National Tour with the best films of the 2015 festival. Between September 15 and  - October 19, the selected films will be presented in 4 Romanian cities: Cluj (15 September), Timisoara (1 October), Brasov (6 October) and Iasi (19 October).
 
Harm Weistra’s film Intrinsic Moral Evil has been selected as part of the tour. 

Paris Play Film Festival
Winner Best LGBT Short
July 2016

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Paris Play Film Festival is a multimedia festival with an online competition and an annual live screening.

​At the Movies July 2016 competition, Intrinsic Moral Evil has been awarded as the Best LGBT Short.

Experimental Art/Architecture
BAU International Academy, Rome
July 16 - August 21, 2016.

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​The Experimental Art, Architecture & Design Festival in Rome, presents art, video screenings, live performances, architectural & design projects and installations/sculptures. The festival is hosted by the BAU International Academy in the heart of Rome.
 
Harm Weistra participates - from his series Curbed Chaos, the Beauty Beneath - with the diptych Amsterdam, City view from Duintjer Building I & II. By abstracting well-known cityscapes, the artist provides these spots with a new skin, inviting the viewers to enter an imaginary world.

PREMIO COMBAT PRIZE, Livorno 
Finalist category Video Arts
June 25 – July 16, 2016

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​PREMIO COMBAT PRIZE is an art prize, promoting and enhancing Contemporary Art. For the seventh edition of this contest, 80 artworks have been selected in five categories: Painting, Photography, Graphic Arts, Video Arts, Sculpture and Installation.
 
The competition will culminate in the exhibition of the finalists' works at Museo Civico G. Fattori in Livorno (IT).
 
Harm Weistra participates with his film Intrinsic Moral Evil, selected in the category Video Arts.

Carmarthen Bay Film Festival
Winner Best Experimental Film
May 12 – 15, 2016

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Damaged Goods – Harm Weistra’s 2011 graduation film – won the Award for the best Experimental Film at the Carmarthen Bay Film Festival in Llanelli, Wales (GB).
 
The festival has in it’s fifth year been approved as BAFTA qualifying festival. BAFTA, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, is considered as the British equivalent of the Oscars.
 
The winners were announced at the Award Evening, May 12th. 

SELF IDENTITIES | Buenos Aires 
Laura Haber Gallery, Buenos Aires 
June 4 - 30, 2016. 

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SELF IDENTITIES is an international photography, painting, installation, video-art and performance festival, hosted in Buenos Aires (AR) at the Laura Haber Gallery. The festival explores the perception of our being and the discovering of identity. People have to deal with a multitude of different identities and roles, creating and adapting their social identities. The invited artists play with these concepts and share with the audience their idea of identity, celebrating it through art.

​Harm Weistra participates with his film Intrinsic Moral Evil, in which discovering identity is one of the main topics.
 
Laura Haber Gallery in Buenos Aires - directed by curator Laura Haber - belongs to the innovative galleries of Argentina. 

BORDERS | VENICE
Art and Architecture Festival
May 28 - July 28, 2016

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The Venice BORDERS festival consists of multiple events during the 15th Venice Architecture Biennale, in venues and historical buildings like Palazzo Ca' Zanardi and Venice Art House. 

The exhibition BODIES+CITIES SKIN explores the borders between built and un-built and investigates the complex spatial mechanisms within contemporary cities and territories. 
 
Harm Weistra participates - from the series Curbed Chaos, the Beauty Beneath - with Berliner Dom from Mühlendammbrücke. By abstracting a well-known cityscape, the artist provides this spot with a new skin, inviting the viewers to enter an imaginary world.

The Underground Cinema
Nucleus Arts, Chatham, Kent (GB)
March 16, 2016

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The Underground Cinema is a pop up cinema run by art center Nucleus Arts. Harm Weistra participates with the videos Damaged Goods and Upsetting. The video Upsetting ... is circling around the mantra 'It Gets Better', focusesing on hatred and violence against the gay community. The video is carefully compiled from footage, found on the internet. It reflects the most visible part of YouTube, where Damaged Goods reflects the more hidden part: written comments. For this video these comments are articulated in a dialogue by two voice actors. The comments seem to guide the movements of two male dancers, ultimately influencing to what extent they dare to live their life, inviting the viewer to reflect and to take a stand.

​Although the diptych seems to focus on the gay community, it has a broader relevance, in the sense that it shows the impact of internet and social media on the life of individuals and groups. 

Roze Filmdagen, Amsterdam
Jury Best Short Film
March 10 – 20, 2016 

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As winner of the Best Dutch Short Award 2015 for his film Intrinsic Moral Evil, Harm Weistra was invited for the Best Short Film 2016 jury at the 2016 edition of the Roze Filmdagen, together with photographer Henri Verhoef and director Pat Mills.
 
Nominees for Best Short Film 2016:
 
09:55–11:05, Ingrid Ekman, Bergsgatan 4b (SE)
Allt vi Delar (SE)
Axiomatic (CA)
Closets (GB)
Code Academy (US)
Hole (CA)
Lady of the Night (FR)
Schleierhaft (DE / AT)
Trémulo (MX)
We could be parents (SE)
 
Winner of Best Short Film 2016 at the Roze Filmdagen: We could be parents by Björn Elgerd (SE).

Queer Shots Munich
Winner Audience's Choice Award
December 21, 2015

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​On the shortest day of the year, at the international Kurzfilmtag, a foretaste of the Queer Film Festival Munich in April 2016 has been offered in the City Cinema of Munich (DE). In the Queer Shots, ten award-winning short films are the focus: whether gay, lesbian, transgender or queer. The ten movies showcase the exciting diversity of the current international queer short filmmaking and were on display for the first time in Munich.

Intrinsic Moral Evil - the winner of the Audience's Choice Award - will be shown at the Queer Film Festival opening in April 2016.
 
Umberto Federico on his weblog: What a great short film. If you have the chance - watch it!

Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
Forming Identities
December 12, 2015

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​The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts - Musée de Beaux-Arts Montréal (CA) presents in cooperation with film festival image+nation a compelling collection of shorts that interrogates identities while exploring concepts of form and genre. Using collage, animation, live action and the music video as formalistic constraints, these short films masterfully unite image and content. Intrinsic Moral Evil will be presented as one of these shorts.
 
This intimate series of films and (Skype-)interviews with the creators introduce new voices and visions that are exploring the interweaving of identities and cultural expressions.

​Eindhovens Film Festival
Winner Best Editing
November 26 – 29, 2015

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​At the fifth edition of the Eindhoven Film Festival (NL), Michiel Boesveldt, the editor of Intrinsic Moral Evil won the award for Best Editing.
 
The festival emphasis Independant Films. Besides a program full of animations, special fiction films and documentaries, the festival served a very diverse and tasty menu of workshops and master classes.
 
The Eindhoven Film Festival was held in Cinema NatLab.

Museum Camilo Egas (Ecuador)
En Carne Viva
November 13 - 30, 2015

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​The Museum Camilo Egas, Quito (EC) presents in cooperation with the festival El Lugar Sin Límites, the sixth art exhibition Fotográfica Y De Videoarte, En Carne Viva.
 
Harm Weistra participates with his film Intrinsic Moral Evil .

PiGrecoZen, Ancona (IT)
Winner People's Choice Award
October 5 – 6, 2015

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Intrinsic Moral Evil wins the People's Choice Award at PiGrecoZen FilmFest, Ancona (IT). The main goal of this first edition of the Italian film festival, was to be a catalyst for personal transformation, change, health and wellbeing.
 
The focus of the film Intrinsic Moral Evil on identity, gender and acceptance of differences, fitted perfect in the program's emphasis on “the celebration of life and the exploration of our potential". The festival "believes that change is available to us anytime; all we have to do is to ask the right questions”. The way Intrinsic Moral Evil questions the role of the Catholic Church, touched the Italian audience.

Gay Film Night
Screening in 11 Dutch theaters
November – December 2015

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The film Intrinsic Moral Evil will be screened as short in the November / December series of Gay Film Night 2015. In November, the short will be screened before the feature film Perfect Obedience of director Luiz Urquiza.
 
The Gay Film Night is an initiative of Cinemien, an independent Dutch film distributor. Gay Film Night brings every month a new gay film to 11 cinemas in the Netherlands.
 
The November 2015 program:
 
03-11 Rotterdam, Lantaren/Venster 
16-11 Hilversum, Filmtheater H'sum 
16-11 Maastricht, Lumière
16-11 Utrecht, ‘t Hoogt 
17-11 Amsterdam, Het Ketelhuis 
22-11 Nijmegen, Lux 
23-11 Amersfoort, De Lieve Vrouw 
24-11 Breda, Chassé Cinema 
24-11 Deventer, Filmhuis De Keizer 
29-11 Eindhoven, Plaza Futura 
30-11 Den Haag, Filmhuis Den Haag 

Montreal Intern. Wreath Awards
Nominated Best Short Film
November 2015

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​The Awards of the Montreal International Wreath Awards Film Festival (CA) are decided under a democratic process of popular vote. The festival recruits a minimum of 10 artists involved in film. This association of artists collectively votes on which film will be playing at our festival, and votes on which films get nominated and win.
 
Harm Weistra participates with the film Intrinsic Moral Evil (2013). The film is nominated in the category Best Short Film.

Mondriaan Fund
Stipendium Emerging Artists
Oct. 2015 – Sept. 2016

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The Stipendium Program for Emerging Artists (Werkbijdrage Jong Talent), for artists who graduated recently, has been granted to Harm Weistra. Artist can apply within 4 years after graduation. This grant aims to stimulate artistic and cultural entrepreneurship, and the development of work which makes a contribution to contemporary art in The Netherlands.

Mondriaan Fonds is a publicly financed fund for visual art and cultural heritage. It supports innovative projects and activities by visual artists, intermediaries (curators and critics), museums and other heritage organizations, art institutions, archives, galleries and commissioning parties. All grants are awarded with a view to promoting the production and presentation of relevant Dutch visual art and heritage in the Netherlands and abroad, where a commercial market is (yet) undeveloped.

Paris Art and Movie Awards
Winner Best Photography
September 25-27, 2015

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The film Intrinsic Moral Evil wins the Award for Best Director of Photography at Paris Art and Movie Awards in Saint-Germain-des-Près, the historical heart of Paris (FR). The credits go to Jorrit Garretsen, responsible for the photography of the film.

Intrinsic Moral Evil was in competition with:

Michel Baudour (BE) for the film Foret; Fabien Drugeon (FR) for L'Automne de Zao; Raul Fernandez (FR) for L'Appel; Olivier Landry (FR) for The Hunting.

MIC-Género, Mexico
Winner Best International Short 
September 3 – 17, 2015

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Intrinsic Moral Evil wins the award for Best International Short Film at MIC-Género, the Mexican International Film Festival with a gender perspective. Starting in Benito Juaréz on September the 3rd, the program ran for two weeks at 33 locations.

The exhibition brought together works from 50 countries and awarded the most outstanding in six categories: Best First Film, Best Mexican Feature Film, Best Mexican Short Film, Best International Short Film, Best International Feature Film and the Young Jury Award.

The main theme of the 2015 edition was human mobility and migration. The festival also was dedicated the identity construction from a gender perspective, with testimonies of a changing world and a changing social reality.

Cannes Short Film Festival
Winner Best LGBT Short
1 - 4 September 2015

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The film Intrinsic Moral Evil wins the Award for the Best LGBT Short at Cannes Short Film Festival (FR).

The Cannes Short Film Festival (CSFF) wants to showcas the best of international short filmmaking in one of the world's famous film festival cities. CSFF brings together filmmakers from around the world for an presentation of cinematic excellence and innovation. With screening more than one hundred short films, the 2015 CSFF is dedicated to short filmmaking.

Iris Prize Festival, Cardiff
Finalist
7 - 11 October 2015

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The film Intrinsic Moral Evil is one of the 30 finalists, competing for the Iris Prize, the world’s largest short film prize, valued at £30,000 for the winner. The Iris Prize is known as the Gay Short Film Oscars. Cardiff’s International LGBT film prize is the only short film prize in the world which allows the winner to make a new film.

Films from 18 countries made it through the final: the Czech Republic, Canada, Germany, Brazil, Israel, Norway, The Netherlands, Ireland, India, Australia, US, Portugal, New Zealand, Mexico, Chile, Denmark, and Great Britain. With 8 films, the US has the largest number of films in competition. Denmark is second with three films. As winner of the Best Dutch Short Award, during the Roze Filmdagen in Amsterdam (12-22 March 2015) Harm Weistra represents The Netherlands with his film Intrinsic Moral Evil (2013).

The Iris Prize is presented during the Iris Prize Festival in Cardiff, Wales, from 7 - 11 October 2015. The winner of the Iris Prize will be announced on Sunday 11 October 2015 during the Iris Awards. 

Experimental Cinema, Venice
Future Memories
18 - 29 August 2015

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Alongside the 56th Venice Biennale,  the Venice Experimental Cinema and Performance Art Festival III will be presented. An international festival of experimental cinema, video art and performance art. The event consist of a cycle of 3 appointments organized in June, July and August 2015. 

For each of the exhibitions a selected and limited number of international artists has been invited. For the event in August, Harm Weistra participates with his films Damaged Goods (2011) and Intrinsic Moral Evil (2013).

The event – which is titled FUTURE MEMORIES – Reconstruction of new identities – is focused on the idea that the transformation of our identities is essential to face the changes of the contemporary world. The process of building ourselves passes through the continuous relations with other people’s identities and the identities of communities, cultures and societies. The event will be focused on the need to build ourselves, to build the world.

The festival will be hosted in Venice, at Palazzo Ca’ Zanardi from August 18-29, 2015.

Agite y Sirva, Mexico
Retrospective 2008-2015
August 25 - October 11, 2015

The films Intrinsic Moral Evil (2013) – the 2014 winner of Mexico´s First National Screendance Award – and Damaged Goods (2011) are selected for the Retrospective of the Festival Agite y Sirva 2008-2015. The exhibition runs from August 25th to October 11th, 2015 at the Centro Cultural de España in México.

Damaged Goods had been screened during the 2013 edition of Agite y Sirva, the travelling video dance festival of Mexico; Intrinsic Moral Evil was selected for the 2014 edition, where it won the first price.

Paris Art and Movie Awards
Nominated Best Cinematography
September 25-27, 2015

The Paris Art and Movie Awards is an international festival with award ceremony that welcomes filmmakers from all over the world to meet in the historical heart of Paris, Saint-Germain-des-Près.

Harm Weistra participates with the film Intrinsic Moral Evil (2013). The film is nominated in the category Best Director of Photography.

Sunderland Shorts Festival 
Winner Best Art/Experimental Film
July  2-5, 2015

The film Intrinsic Moral Evil wins the Award for the Best Art/Experimental Film at Sunderland Short Film Festival (UK).

Sunderland Shorts is a new film festival in the North East of England, created to celebrate the finest short filmmakers from around the corner and across the globe, providing them a platform to showcase short films to international audiences. The festival is created in collaboration with DC Shorts (Washington, USA) and supported by Sunderland City Council and the Washington DC Commission on Arts and Humanities.

The first Sunderland Shorts Film Festival screened more than 65 unique films spread across 9 screenings in 4 venues across Sunderland.

Loikka, Helsinki (Finland)
Winner Audience Award
March  19-23, 2015

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The film Intrinsic Moral Evil wins the Audience Award at Loikka Dance Film Festival in Helsinki, Finland.

Loikka is Finland’s only film festival specialized in dance. The program included 67 dance films: shorts, dance documentaries, musical movies, 3D and 4K films. The four day long festival had films from 23 different countries, 14 world premiere, Finnish novelties, 60secondsdance -film competition, Audience Awards-screening, LoikkaPro program for professionals and events free of charge.

Loikka Festival was held March 19-22, 2015 in Helsinki at the movie theatres Andorra and Orion.

Roze Filmdagen, Amsterdam
Winner Best Dutch Short Award
March  12-22, 2015

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The film Intrinsic Moral Evil wins the Best Dutch Short Award at the Roze Filmdagen in Amsterdam. This price is awarded on a combined vote by the audience and the organizing committe.

The Roze Filmdagen ('Pink Film Festival') is the largest film festival for LGBTQ films in The Netherlands. In 2015 it's celebrated its 18th edition, from March 12 - 22. The selection of films included romantic comedies, provoking documentaries and everything in between. The festival had a special focus on short films.

Harm Weistra's short film Intrinsic Moral Evil (2013) was screened on Monday March 16 and on Saturday March 21.

Queens World Film Festival, NY
Nominated Best LGBTQ Short Film
March  17-22, 2015

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The New York Queens World Film Festival screens challenging films representative of quality independent cinema from around the world. 

Harm Weistra participates with the film Intrinsic Moral Evil (2013). The film is nominated in the category Best LGBTQ Short Film.

Festival of World Cinema, London
Nominated Editor and Cinematography
February 22-26, 2015

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The International Filmmakers Festival of World Cinema in London promotes the cinematographic art by presenting films of quality and entertainment. The International Filmmaker Festival is a annual event, in 2015 in its 8th year. 

Harm Weistra participates with the film Intrinsic Moral Evil (2013). The film is nominated in the categories Best Editor of a Short Film and Best Cinematography.

Art Rotterdam 2015
Van Nelle Fabriek, Rotterdam
February 5-8, 2015

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The 16th edition of Art Rotterdam (NL) informs the visitors about all the latest developments in visual art. Art Rotterdam wants to be an alternative for the large international art fairs with different views on young art in diverse exhibition concepts. Video art can be enjoyed in an open and interactive setting at Projections. The Mondriaan Fund shows the youngest talents.

At the Main Section of Art Rotterdam, the Rotterdam-based gallery JOEY RAMONE presented 4 artists: Tudor Bratu, Fotini Gouseti, Lieke Snellen and Harm Weistra. 

Harm Weistra particpated with the series Parametric families (2009-13) and Where I come from, but hardly know (2009-13).

Parametric family (2009 – 2013) is a concept from mathematics, referring to a set of objects that have one or more parameters in common. The series Parametric Family consists of four works, each portraying this concept. The four  depict that these families aren't static, but gradually evolving, like in a group of children in primary school. 

The series Where I come from, but hardly know (2009-13) consists of two portraits, in which the artist explores his past, by reconstructing his memory of ancestors he lost at a young age. The portraits symbolize his mental images as fragmented and blurred remains from the past. 

Art Space Roodkapje, Rotterdam
Winterwolven 4, Radicals
January 3-4, 2015

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WinterWolven is a multidisciplinary performance-festival in the Rotterdam art space Roodkapje, Rotterdam (NL). A festival where the newest of the new art comes together. It is the cutting edge showcase where art and entertainment merge. It allows the strangest works to emerge and present themselves. WinterWolven encourages new ways of interpreting and experiencing unexpected collaborations and contact with a variety of artists and a wide range of audiences.

The theme of WinterWolven revolves around being RADICAL. The political term, radicalism, focusses on altering social structures through revolutionary means and changing value systems in fundamental ways. Pulling them from the roots! Roodkapje tends to go against the grain. Not to shock, provoke or insult, but to wake people up and make them think about what exactly one is ‘supposed’ to do. With works that challenge the status quo and that are radically different. 

Harm Weistra participated with the film Intrinsic Moral Evil (2013).

Art in Red Light, Amsterdam
Beurs van Berlage
December 27-30, 2014

Art in Redlight, the Amsterdam Independent Art Fair had his 10th anniversary edition at the Beurs van Berlage. An audacious mix of artworks and performances from 150 selected artists. 

Harm Weistra participated with the series entitled an unusual representation of everyday holiday snapshots. By twisting their properties, the work conjures up a new reality. As a result, at first glance they look familiar, but on a closer look they appear difficult to recognize. The images depict a reality that sidetracks our perception and mystifies the true nature of the original snapshots. 

Curbed Chaos dissolves the distinction between failure and coincidence. An software glitch inspired the artist to develop a procedures that’s repeating the failing software. Once mastered what originally started as an accident, it freed him from the limitations of traditional photo editing and manipulation, resulting in a personal approach that rips off the identity of the snapshot.

The process generates images that are balancing between figuration and abstraction, distorting the notion of illusion and the real. Inviting the viewers to enter an imaginary world where they have to reshape their perception; challenging them to charge everyday sites with a new meaning.

Three of the works from Curbed Chaos; the Beauty Beneath have been published in the 2014 October - November issue of the American online magazine F-STOP (portfolio page Happy Accidents).

KANTOR Weekend, Amsterdam
The Official Cultural Takeover
November 14-16, 2014

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KANTOR - The Official Cultural Takeover - is a Music, Performance, Art & Technology Weekend, that in November 2014 had its second edition in De Sloot Office in Amsterdam Westpoort. KANTOR is an initiative to give a positive spin on the growing vacancy of office buildings. KANTOR transforms the empty workplace into a cultural stage for diverse creative talent and renowned cultural institutions such as EYE, the Film Museum, National Opera & Ballet, The Little Comedy and Boijmans van Beuningen Museum. KANTOR provides them with an alternative place to get directly into contact with a new audience. The building includes for the weekend  a temporary cinema, theatre, restaurant, gallery and different dance stages.

Harm Weistra participated on Saturday, November 15th with the film Intrinsic Moral Evil (2013) in a film program of video clips and shorts, curated by the Nederlands Film Festival (NFF).

aGLIFF, Austin Texas (US)
Winner Short Experimental Award
September 2014

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aGLIFF is the Austin Gay and Lesbian International Film Festival. Founded in 1987; having its 27th edition in 2014. The festival received over 300 submissions from 40 different countries. A record number of narrative shorts have been submitted with an astounding count of 135 entries, 85 documentaries & narrative features received.

Harm Weistra participated with the film Intrinsic Moral Evil (2013) and won the Short Experimental Jury Award.

Nederlands Film Festival
Utrecht (Netherlands)
September - October 2014

The film Intrinsic Moral Evil opens with a danced meeting of forces between two boys in an anonymous space, and gets an unexpected twist when a third dancer emerges. When one of them has to clear the stage, this leads to a sensual dance. A voice-over of an adult man reflects on how the 'being' of a young man relates to the impossibility of really knowing. The story develops gradually and unveils his latest secret just before the credits start. Through a postscript the contemplation of the voice-over as well as the choreography get an additional meaning." Nederlands Film Festival (NFF)

The film Intrinsic Moral Evil was officially selected for the festival and in competition for the Gouden Kalveren.

Agite y Sirva 2014
Winner Screendance Award Mexico
April - November 2014

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The film Intrinsic Moral Evil has been awarded with Mexico´s First National Screendance Award. The film by Harm Weistra, with a choreography of Fernando Dominguez, won this price, being the best film of the 2014 festival Agite y Sirva.

In its report, the jury highlights: “the superb integration of choreographic with the language of filmmaking. (…) the three dancers convincingly convey the viewer of the complexity of human relationships, the power of desire and the game of seduction. The treatment of the light on location, not only contributes to the quality of the image but enriches the drama too. The same goes for the editing and post-production that emphasize the emotions of the dance and characters and succeed in transmitting this on screen.”

Art-Athina: Statement Made
Faliro Pavilion, Athens (Greece)
May 15-18, 2014

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Statement Made documents the contemporary art scene in the present tense. The viewer is called upon to follow an experiential route where each work leads to the next in an uncommon narrative. By presenting more than a snapshot of the current art scene, Statement Made aspires to establish a discourse among the works on show, reflect the contemporary reality and showcase the multifaceted preoccupations of the artists and the variety of media they employ.

Statement Made - with selected works from participating artist at the main floor of Art-Athina - has been curated by Artemis Potamianou, an artist and curator based in Athens, who curated exhibitions of Joseph Kosuth, Damien Hirst, Terry Atkinson, Joseph Beuys, Peter Greenaway, Candice Brietz, Guerrilla Girls, Mark Titchner.

The artists in this exhibition are represented by the galleries that participate in the main programme of Art Athina.

Harm Weistra participates with the series Parametric families (2009-13).

Art-Athina, 2014
Faliro Pavilion, Athens (Greece)
May 15-18, 2014

Launched in 1993 by the Hellenic Art Galleries Association, Art-Athina stands as one of the longest lasting contemporary art fairs in Europe and as the largest annual visual arts event in Greece. A meeting point for international artistic creation, Art-Athina brings together significant Greek and foreign art galleries, cultural institutions, curators, collectors, art critics and art lovers.

The Rotterdam-based gallery JOEY RAMONE presented three of its artists at the main floor of Art Athina: Christina Calbari, Yasser Ballemans and Harm Weistra.

Harm Weistra participates with the series Where I come from, but hardly know (2009-13).

Agite y Sirva 2014
Screendance Festival Mexico
April - November 2014

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Agite y Sirva (Pour & Shake) Screendance Touring Festival was founded in 2008 as a promotion, production and discussion network around the crossings between arts of movement and audio-visual arts. The film festival shares the idea that screen dance arises from the exploration of movement in a screen, representing through several aesthetics, resources and conceptions, everything moving. Agite y Sirva serves short, mid-length and full-length screen dance and dance documentary films. Bodies, objects and concepts pass through Agite y Sirva.

Director and curator • Ximena Monroy

Harm Weistra participates with the film Intrinsic Moral Evil (2013). The film - with a choreography of Fernando Dominguez - has been awarded with Mexico's First National Screendance Award. 

Motel Mozaïque
Rotterdamse Schouwburg (NL)
April 3-4, 2014

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The (inter)nationally respected Motel Mozaïque festival offers a mix of pop music, dance, theatre and visual arts. At various indoor venues in Rotterdam distinctive programmes are presented. Motel Mozaïque showcases new and upcoming movements in different art disciplines, and the crossovers between. Motel Mozaïque was created during Rotterdam 2001, Cultural Capital of Europe. 

Rotterdamse Schouwburg is the main festival venue. The festival utilizes the complete building. In the main hall selected art will be screened, from short films to hypnotic images. The participants include Marjan Laaper, Risk Hazekamp Era Vati (HU), Nadia Luijk and Anne-Mercedes Langhorst, Desiree Palmen, Harm Weistra and Authentic Boys.

Harm Weistra participates with the film Intrinsic Moral Evil (2013).

Cinedans 2014, Amsterdam
EYE Film Museum
March 12-16, 2014

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Cinedans- Dance on Screen, the largest dance festival in the world, runs from March 12 to 16 2014 in EYE, the Amsterdam Film Museum. During the eleventh edition of Cinedans, the festival exhibits over 60 international dance films, documentaries and interactive installations. 

Cinedans exhibited in 2014 seven short film programs and a number of documentaries. In addition to the regular program components as Point Taken and the One Minute Dance Film, Cinedans presented for the first time an animation program, in cooperation with Click ! Animation Festival Amsterdam, and a program of experimental dance films from the EYE collection. 

Harm Weistra participated with the film Intrinsic Moral Evil (2013).

Art in Red Light, Amsterdam
Beurs van Berlage
December 26-30,2013

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In 2013 Art in Red Light has its ninth edition (AIR9) in the monumental space of the Beurs van Berlage, in the centre of Amsterdam. AIR9 presents the arts in a broader perspective: it offers not only a selling and exhibition platform, but a discussion and event platform as well, with a wide range of events, such as music and art performances, lectures and discussions, conversation dinners, creative workshops and more.

The Art in Redlight (AIR) Foundation is a non-profit organization based in Amsterdam. AIR organises an annual, innovative, and multidisciplinary art selling platform, in Amsterdam’s famous Red Light District. This platform gives both established and up-and-coming artists the opportunity to show their work to a broad public.

Harm Weistra participated with the film Intrinsic Moral Evil (2013).

Encounters and Confrontations
JOEY RAMONE, Rotterdam
November 9 - December 14, 2013

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Encounters and Confrontations, the first solo exhibition of Harm Weistra at the Rotterdam-based gallery JOEY RAMONE, presents 2D, mixed media art as well as a 10 minute new film. 

The film Intrinsic Moral Evil questions the apparently rationally and logically but often culturally entrenched beliefs and opinions. 

Parametric family (2009 – 2013) is a concept from mathematics, referring to a set of objects that have one or more parameters in common. The series Parametric Family consists of four works, each portraying this concept. The four  depict that these families aren't static, but gradually evolving, like in a group of children in primary school. 

The series Where I come from, but hardly know (2009-13) consists of two portraits, in which the artist explores his past, by reconstructing his memory of ancestors he lost at a young age. The portraits symbolize his mental images as fragmented and blurred remains from the past. 

JOEY RAMONE, ROTTERDAM
I Miss my Youth
November 17 - December 22, 2012

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By using fragmentation, repetition and displacement and through a range of visual languages the group exhibition “I Miss my Youth” attempts to re-invent images of the past to negotiate new relations to the future.

Participating artists:
Alexis Milne, Dwight Marica, Harm Weistra, Jan Robert Leegte, Joris Kuipers and Marcel Niehoff.

Harm Weistra participated with the wall sculpture Hidden Hatred.

Art Rotterdam Projections
Cruise Terminal, Rotterdam
February 6-10, 2013

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The 14th edition of Art Rotterdam shows the latest developments in visual art and is the platform to experience the current state of affairs in contemporary art. 95 galleries, of which 50% from abroad, present their most up to date programme. They introduce their upcoming artists. At Art Rotterdam Projections 19 galleries present a video work of an upcoming or more renowned artist in an open and interactive setting. The Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant, reviewed Projections as: "... all nineteen videos from galleries from The Netherlands and surrounding countries (are) of a sublime quality, top of the bill." 

The Rotterdam-based gallery JOEY RAMONE presented at Art Rotterdam Projection the video Damaged Goods by Harm Weistra.

Agite y Sirva 2013
Screendance Festival, Mexico
April - September 2013

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Agite y Sirva (shake and pour) is a Mexican touring video dance festival with screenings in Mexico City, Oaxaca, Unarte and Puebla. In 2008 created by Marianna Garces and Ximena Monroy as a diffusion, production and reflection network around movement and audio-visual arts crossings. Agite y Sirva shares the idea that video dance is born out from the exploration of movement on screen, representing through diverse aesthetics, resources and conceptions, anything passing.

The festival offers short, mid and full length video dance pieces and dance documentaries. The 5th touring screen dance festival's open call received 232 pieces from 35 countries. The 2013 Official Selection was carried out by Paulina Rucarba and Ximena Monroy.
The 2013 edition begins in Puebla, Mexico from April 11 to May 18 at several venues.

Harm Weistra participated with the video Damaged Goods (2011).

A selection of the films participating in Agite y Sirva has been presented at SurReal || Iberoamerican Videodance Competition, Berlin (Germany), where Damaged Goods was awarded with the 3rd price.

Galerie8, London 
Damaged Goods
May 25 - July 8, 2012

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Damaged Goods – the first solo exhibition of Harm Weistra abroad - addresses issues such as identity, acceptance, and tolerance. The exhibition consists of a three-channel video installation, a LED scroll display, text-based wall sculpture, and digital prints based on stills from the video. The main work in the exhibition, Damaged Goods II, takes user generated (written) comments found on the internet as its starting point. These comments addressed against the gay community – in dialogue articulated by two voice actors – are contrasted with the intimacy of the two male dancers. The comments guide their movements and gradually influence to what extent they dare to live their life.

Viewers of the exhibition are invited to literally take a position and view the work under accompanying speaker installations. By contrasting the video of the dancers with recited hate speech, the work aestheticizes hatred and invites the viewer to reflect on an individual’s identity and rights.


The wall sculpture Hidden Hatred (2011) is a visualization of the research which underlies the video Damaged Goods. For the video, a small selection of the comments found on the Internet have been articulated by two voice actors. For the wall sculpture a broader range of collected comments are silkscreened black on black on panels, shaped as contemporary poetry. From a distance, the texts hardly can be seen. When the aesthetics of the sculpture seduces the audience to come near, the work gradually reveals its potentially offensive messages.

Although the work focuses on the gay community, it has a broader relevance, addressing instances of suppression for those who deviate from what is considered the norm. Perceived tolerance as a precursor to subsequent methods of control, and forcing individuals to live within social boundaries can also be seen as the major themes of the exhibition. Artist Harm Weistra explains that the work is not meant to be propaganda, but instead an invitation to explore perceptions and positions that can be taken on the subject.

The video installation Damaged Goods II has been made in cooperation with Eddi Bal.

Project Space Cucosa, Rotterdam
Attraction of the Opposites
February 10 - March 9, 2012

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In its second edition, Attraction of the Opposites brings together 10 international galleries to co-exist under one roof in a curated exhibition. The main theme is the human body, in particularly the multiple layers around it as they are shaped by the social structures that confront it. The exhibition explores concepts such as individuality, identity and the group, experience versus meaning.

The exhibition – curated by Kiki Petratou - showcases new work of 17 artists, who mainly work in the fields of video-art and installations.

Participating artists:
Wietse Eeken, Dwight Marica, Alexis Milne, Hans van der Ham, Midas Zwaan, Rob van der Hoeven, Tjalling Visser, Marie-Louise Elshout, Joris Kuipers, Harm Weistra & Eddi Bal, Yasser Ballemans, Katharina D. Martin, Marcel Niehoff, Kavecs Projects (Vana Kostayola & Kostis Stafylakis, Kiki Petratou, Fotini Gouseti, Christina Calbari.

Harm Weistra participated with the video installation Damaged Goods II (in cooperation with Eddi Bal)

Art in Red Ligt, Amsterdam
The Old Church 
September 20-23, 2012

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Art in Redlight, The Independent Art Fair, features a host of up-and-coming innovative artists from a wide variety of artistic disciplines, such as painters, sculptors, photographers and multi-media artists. The contemporary art works are presented as a coherent exhibition in the attractive space of the Old Church, originally built in the 14th century.


Harm Weistra participated with the video Damaged Goods.

24 Uur Cultuur, Rotterdam
Cruising Area 2.0
September 10-12, 2011

The city of Rotterdam yearly opens its cultural season with 24 Uur Cultuur, 24 straight hours of theatre, dance, visual art, music, film, architecture and design. Offering visitors the chance to experience and enjoy an attractive, varied and surprising program.

Artists are invited to contribute to this event. Harm Weistra participated with the installation Cruising Area 2.0

Roodkapje, Rotterdam
the Only Gay in the Village
July 21 - Augustus 8, 2011

The international group exhibition ‘the Only Gay in the Village’ at Project Space Roodkapje tries to answer the question if mega events, more specifically mega gay events such as Gay Pride and the Eurogames contribute to the acceptance of homosexuality or if these events lead to segregation? The Netherlands looks to have embraced the gay community. Only a small percentage of the population seems to reject it. Gay couples are allowed to marry, to adopt children and gay characters play an equal role in TV series. But, is the image presented by the gay community and the media still accurate? In ‘the Only Gay in the Village ’ artists reflect on the current state.

Participating artists:
Meike Martijn (nl /de), Erik Alkema (nl ), Marion M. Morrison (nl /us), Remie van Os (nl ), Harm Weistra (nl), Robert van Herpen (nl), Dik Fagazine (pl), Xavier Stentz (de), Zeljko Blaće (b&h/hr), Jose Begega (es), Silas (nl).

Harm Weistra participated with the installation Cruising Area 2.0

Graduation Festival
Fenixloodsen, Rotterdam
June 23 - July 3, 2011

Foto
Harm Weistra’s installation for the Graduation Festival of the Willem de Kooning Academy, addresses issues like identity, acceptance, tolerance and the right to exist. Although the installation focuses on the gay community, it has a broader relevance, standing for the way in which individuals as well as societies are treating and suppressing those who deviate from what is considered the norm. All the four presented works separately deal with this issue. At the same time they refer to and reflect upon each other.

The video ‘Upsetting …’ addresses hatred and violence in the public domain, mirrored by ‘Damaged Goods’ that addresses the impact of verbal abuse on the way an individual dares to live its live. ‘Upsetting ...’ is based on video’s, the most visible part of YouTube, where ‘Damaged Goods’ reflects YouTube’s less known, more hidden content, the user generated comments. ‘Cruising Area 2.0’ – a proposal for an art project in public space – could be conceived as questioning the legitimacy of outdoor sex. But within the context of the violence in the video ‘Upsetting ...’ and the hatred in the video ‘Damaged Goods’, one could as well conclude that suppression forces men to stay in the closet and to go after anonymous sex. All these negative expressions and emotions come together in the wall sculpture ‘Hidden Hatred’.

Story telling is a major aspect of all the  works. The multiple stories in ‘Upsetting …’ for instance circle around the mantra ‘It Gets Better’, carefully constructed on the basis of fragments of found footage. ‘Cruising Area 2.0’ is a response to a political initiative to mark out a Rotterdam gay cruising area. Cruising Area 2.0 can be seen as a hyperbole of a future, where the gay community is forced between the boundaries the majority dictates as acceptable. By that, this work typifies a next step in domesticating gay male, and moreover characterizes that minorities in general are tolerated, as long as their behaviour is in accordance with what the majority considers acceptable. Minorities and the boundaries majority forces them to live between, could be seen as the major theme of the installation at this exhibition.