Were it as if : beyond an institution that is

Whom does a contemporary art institute like Witte de With belong to? How are its stories told and untold? And could a staging of its exhibition history through traces, remains, and scars constitute an act of resistance against the tide of accumulation? This publication follows WERE IT AS IF by Bik Van der Pol as a case study and much more. Many-voiced, it enlists the power of fragments as points of provocation to engage with methodologies of the contemporary. An important consideration of the history and future of contemporary art venues, taking Witte de With and its socioeconomic context as its departure point.