BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 CALSCALE:GREGORIAN PRODID:adamgibbons/ics METHOD:PUBLISH X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H BEGIN:VEVENT UID:23275@offbeat.amsterdam SUMMARY:Trauma and Affect DTSTAMP:20260601T215232Z DTSTART:20260623T150000Z DESCRIPTION:Given the many current wars and conflicts\, it is crucial to un derstand how\ntrauma works\, how it is stored in our bodies\, and how it m anifests itself time\nand again. In this programme Ernst van Alphen\, Ihab Saloul\, Eugenie Brinkema\,\nand Ronald Ophuis engage in a dialogue regar ding Van Alphen’s latest book\,\n‘Trauma and Affect’\, in which he explore s the power of these concepts through\nart and literature.\n\nTrauma and a ffect: both concepts have become increasingly important in the\ncritique o f art\, literature\, and culture since the 1990s. The concepts have been\n used in many different ways and disciplines\, including queer studies\, fe minism\,\ncultural analysis\, art criticism\, literary studies\, and postc olonial studies\, as\nwell as sociology and economics. However\, with the current tendency to easily\nuse the concepts in relation to everyday event s\, they have suffered from\ninflation. This led to widespread confusion: the terms have been overused and\nexhausted\, thereby losing their critica l power.\n\nErnst van Alphen\, Ihab Saloul\, Eugenie Brinkema\, and Ronald Ophuis will engage\nin a discussion\, posing questions such as: what rele vance and critical power do\nthe concepts hold today? And how are they int ertwined?\n\nThe guiding of this program is Van Alphen’s new book titled T rauma and Affect:\n(Mis)Understanding Pain Through Art and Culture (Valiz\ , 2026). Through the lens\nof visual artworks\, literature\, and cinema\, Van Alphen explains how trauma\noriginates in the past and what explains i ts re-enactment in the present. In\naddition\, he discusses artists who de velop strategies that process affect into\ncritical making and thinking.\n \nThe work of visual artist Ronald Ophuis demonstrates how the ideas of tr auma and\naffect are made productive\, a proposition that will be explored in greater depth\nduring the panel discussion.\n\nValiz’s founder and dir ector Astrid Vorstermans will open the programme with a\nshort introductio n.\n\n\nSPEAKERS\n\nErnst van Alphen is professor emeritus of Literary Stu dies at Leiden University.\nBefore that\, he was Queen Beatrix Professor o f Dutch Studies at UC Berkeley. His\nfields of research and expertise are cultural analysis\, trauma and affect\nstudies\, and gender studies. He is particularly interested in issues that are\ncentral in modern and postmod ern literature and in the relation between\nliterature and the visual arts . His most recent publications include: Seven\nLogics of Sculpture (Valiz 2023)\, Productive Archiving (ed. Valiz 2023)\, Shame!\nand Masculinity (e d. Valiz 2021)\, among others.\n\nIhab Saloul is Founder and Research Dire ctor of the Amsterdam School for\nHeritage\, Memory and Material Culture ( AHM)\, and Professor of Memory and\nNarrative at the at the University of Amsterdam. Saloul is a founding editor of\nseveral book series: Global Her itage and Memory Studies in the Present\n(Amsterdam University Press)\, He ritage and Memory Studies (Routledge)\, Palgrave\nStudies of Cultural Heri tage and Conflict (Palgrave Macmillan)\, and the\nforthcoming book series Palestine: Past\, Present and Future Narratives (Central\nEuropean Univers ity Press CEU).\n\nEugenie Brinkema is Professor of Contemporary Literatur e and Media at the\nMassachusetts Institute of Technology\, status-only Pr ofessor of Cinema Studies\nat the University of Toronto\, and affiliated f aculty at the University of\nAmsterdam. Her work focuses on the relationsh ip between aesthetic form and\nviolence\, affect\, sexuality\, and ethics. She is the author of numerous articles\nand two books: The Forms of the A ffects (2014) and Life-Destroying Diagrams\n(2022)\, both with Duke Univer sity Press.\n\nRonald Ophuis lives and works in Amsterdam. He studied at t he Gerrit Rietveld\nAcademie and the AKI in Enschede. Ophuis’s practice in terrogates the\nrepresentation of interpersonal trauma and the pervasive i nclination to avert\none’s gaze. Drawing on sustained research\, dialogues with involved subjects\, and\ncarefully staged scenes with actors\, he co nstructs paintings that position the\nviewer as an implicated witness\, mo bilizing art as a site for affective\nengagement\, critical reflection\, a nd ethical judgment. He is also a member of\nSAAC (Sexually Abused Artists Collective).\n\nAstrid Vorstermans is the publisher/founder of Valiz\, wi th a background in art\nhistory and a long path in publishing. www.valiz.n l [http://www.valiz.nl/] URL:https://offbeat.amsterdam/event/trauma-and-affect GEO:52.3685931;4.8896879 LOCATION:SPUI25 - Spui 25-27\, 1012 WX Amsterdam STATUS:CONFIRMED CATEGORIES:amsterdam-centrum,books,discussion,feminism,film,gender,queer,sc ulpture,spui X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:

Given the many current wars and conflicts, it is crucial to understand how trauma works, how it is stored in our bodi es, and how it manifests itself time and again. In this programme Ernst va n Alphen, Ihab Saloul, Eugenie Brinkema, and Ronald Ophuis engage in a dia logue regarding Van Alphen’s latest book, ‘Trauma and Affect’, in which he explores the power of these concepts through art and literature.

Trauma and affect: both concepts have become increasingly important in th e critique of art, literature, and culture since the 1990s. The concepts h ave been used in many different ways and disciplines, including queer stud ies, feminism, cultural analysis, art criticism, literary studies, and pos tcolonial studies, as well as sociology and economics. However, with the c urrent tendency to easily use the concepts in relation to everyday events, they have suffered from inflation. This led to widespread confusion: the terms have been overused and exhausted, thereby losing their critical powe r.

Ernst van Alphen, Ihab Saloul, Eugenie Brinkema, and Ronald Oph uis will engage in a discussion, posing questions such as: what relevance and critical power do the concepts hold today? And how are they intertwine d?

The guiding of this program is Van Alphen’s new book titled Trauma and Affect: (Mis)Understanding Pain Through Art and Culture ( Valiz, 2026). Through the lens of visual artworks, literature, and cinema, Van Alphen explains how trauma originates in the past and what explains i ts re-enactment in the present. In addition, he discusses artists who deve lop strategies that process affect into critical making and thinking.

The work of visual artist Ronald Ophuis demonstrates how the ideas of trauma and affect are made productive, a proposition that will be explore d in greater depth during the panel discussion.

Valiz’s founder an d director Astrid Vorstermans will open the programme with a short introdu ction.

Speakers

Ernst van Alphen is professor emeritus of Literary Studies at Leiden University. Before that, he was Queen Beatrix Professor of Dutch Studies at UC Berkeley. His fields of research and expertise are cultural analysis, trauma and affect studies, and gender studies. He is particularly interested in issues that are central in modern and postmodern literature and in the relation betwee n literature and the visual arts. His most recent publications include: Seven Logics of Sculpture (Valiz 2023), Productive Archiving (ed. Valiz 2023), Shame! and Masculinity (ed. Valiz 2021), amo ng others.

Ihab Saloul is Founder and Re search Director of the Amsterdam School for Heritage, Memory and Material Culture (AHM), and Professor of Memory and Narrative at the at the Univers ity of Amsterdam. Saloul is a founding editor of several book series: Global Heritage and Memory Studies in the Present (Amsterdam Universi ty Press), Heritage and Memory Studies (Routledge), Palgrave Studies of Cultural Heritage and Conflict (Palgrave Macmillan), and t he forthcoming book series Palestine: Past, Present and Future Narrati ves (Central European University Press CEU).

Eug enie Brinkema is Professor of Contemporary Literature and Me dia at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, status-only Professor of Cinema Studies at the University of Toronto, and affiliated faculty at th e University of Amsterdam. Her work focuses on the relationship between ae sthetic form and violence, affect, sexuality, and ethics. She is the autho r of numerous articles and two books: The Forms of the Affects (2 014) and Life-Destroying Diagrams (2022), both with Duke Universi ty Press.

Ronald Ophuis lives and works in Amsterdam. He studied at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie and the AKI in En schede. Ophuis’s practice interrogates the representation of interpersonal trauma and the pervasive inclination to avert one’s gaze. Drawing on sust ained research, dialogues with involved subjects, and carefully staged sce nes with actors, he constructs paintings that position the viewer as an im plicated witness, mobilizing art as a site for affective engagement, criti cal reflection, and ethical judgment. He is also a member of SAAC (Sexuall y Abused Artists Collective).

Astrid Vorstermans is the publisher/founder of Valiz, with a background in art histo ry and a long path in publishing. www.valiz.nl

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