Nieuw Licht is a series of exhibitions that invites artists to illuminate the museum’s collection of works by Groningen’s avant-garde artist society, De Ploeg. Thematic resonances, shared material approaches or direct research into De Ploeg are all possibilities, and in the inaugural exhibition, Nieuw Licht 1: Ani Schulze – The Convent of Pleasure, all three are present.
In 2023, Ani Schulze began her experimental soap opera, The Convent of Pleasure. Weaving together historical and literary references from the seventeenth to the twentieth century, Schulze’s work is firmly rooted in the issues of our present times. Her ongoing series engages with the pleasure and pain of exile, resistance to gender-based violence, the ambivalence of surveillance technologies and the critical potential of entertainment formats.
The soap opera takes its title from a comedy by the scientist, philosopher and writer Margaret Cavendish. ‘The Convent of Pleasure’ from 1668 follows a group of women who decide to defy the conventions of their time. Instead of marrying, the women form a convent and live together. Cavendish grew up amid the femicidal terror of the witch trials in the seventeenth century. Her play envisages a community where women collectively reclaim their lives and safety – a feminist vision over 150 years before the word féminisme first appeared in the French language.
For Schulze, Cavendish’s play is one layer within a web of references. The Convent of Pleasure features guest appearances by artists including Marie Vassilieff and Abigail de Paiva Cruz. For the latest episode, Schulze alludes to De Ploeg’s collective structure as well as the watercolours and puppet-making of their first female member, Alida Pott.
Curator: Clare Molloy