Opening: Remembering Otherwise

Join us for the opening of Remembering Otherwise, a solo exhibition by artist belit sağ conceived in close collaboration with curator Katia Krupennikova, the exhibition gives form to stories from a pivotal 1978 labour dispute in Veghel, North Brabant, led by migrant women workers from Turkey. These stories are brought together in a monumental tapestry in the Stadsloket Oost, complemented by a multi-channel video installation and collages informed by the artist’s archival research process.

Opening
Register here.

Entrance via Stadsloket Oost
Oranje-Vrijstaatplein 2

Programme

17:00–18:00 Gathering in front of the tapestry in the Stadsloket Oost
18:00–19:00 Opening talk with belit sağ, Katia Krupennikova, Josien Pieterse, and Jan-Bert Vroege.
19:00–20:00 Panel Conversation with Leyla İleri, belit sağ and Katia Krupennikova
20:00–21:00 Drinks

About

The dispute emerged when sixty-five women working at Veghel’s onion peeling factory resisted exploitative conditions: erratic hours, suffocating workspaces with no ventilation, no paid leave, and wages calculated by the kilo of onions peeled rather than by the hour. Supported by organiser Leyla İleri of Stichting Welzijn Buitenlandse Werknemers, the women unionised with FNV Voedingsbond, marking one of the first unionisations by migrant women in Dutch labour history.

Through weaving, moving images, and collaged stills, Remembering Otherwise transforms intangible memories, gestures, and sensory fragments into layered tactile and visual forms. sağ reimagines the women’s stories beyond the fragmented and decontextualised traces left in institutional archives, bringing forward moments of collective struggle and solidarity.

The impressive 7-metre by 3.5-meter tapestry designed by sağ and based on archival materials, is displayed in the Municipality Office of Amsterdam East, connecting the location with the adjacent project space of Framer Framed and making this history accessible to a wide Amsterdam audience.

Amsterdam – home to both sağ and İleri, a first-generation migrant from Turkey – is a city where migrant communities from Turkey have historically played an important role. The city anchors the exhibition, connecting the struggles of Veghel to the contemporary and historical struggles of migrant women’s communities in the city’s East, which sağ also came across during her research.

Crucially, the project emphasises revisiting the archive in dialogue with those who lived these histories. Non-verbal cues, gestures, and sensory memories take precedence over linear narrative; relationships and lived experience remain central. By reclaiming archives from institutions into public and embodied forms, sağ invites viewers into a conversation on labour, migration, resilience, and intergenerational dialogue.

Presented across two sites – the Municipality Office of Amsterdam East and Framer Framed – the exhibition expands the discourse on archives, labour, and migration histories in the Netherlands, while opening space for shared reflection and dialogue.

Credits

Artist: belit sag
Curator: Katia Krupennikova
Graphic design: Sarp Sozdinler

Remembering Otherwise is supported by the TextielMuseum Tilburg, Amsterdam Fund for the Arts (AFK), Mondriaan Fund, Gemeente Amsterdam Stadsdeel Oost, SAHA Association, Stichting Amarte Fonds and PPO Werktuig.

Framer Framed is supported by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science; Amsterdam Fund for the Arts (AFK); Municipality of Amsterdam; and VriendenLoterij Fonds.