Dutch Angle

Museum of Modern Art | Gallery
November 24, 2022 - 2023

The search for a universal language is one of the great themes of European culture. What would it be like to live in a world where we all understand each other, sharing linguistic and cultural phrases? In which the Tower of Babylon is just a humorous anecdote? A concentrated look at the collections of the Museum of Art accompanied by Dutchman Hubert van den Berg is as instructive as it is playful – he seeks universality in the image, more precisely in avant-garde typography. It is based on a specific historical event – the visit by Paul Schuitema, professor at the State Academy of Arts in The Hague, to Brno, where in January of 1936 he gave two lectures (devoted to experimental filmmaking and modern Dutch photography) and screened a series of short experimental films. These are all connected by a ‘Dutch angle’, an oblique angle, a diagonal, a linguistic element that is unparalleled – and really goes across time and space.