Correspondences : de Appel 1975-2025

Correspondences: de Appel 1975-2025 traces the activities of de Appel through letters, telegrams, airmail, postcards, faxes, and emails, sent to and by de Appel. Each document reflects on the artistic projects and programmes de Appel has commissioned and platformed, the cultural developments and careers it has supported, the triumphs and hardships it has experienced, and the collaborations and friendships it has ignited. At the same time, the collection sheds light on the careers and lives of artists and art professionals that were and are part of de Appel’s orbit as well as the the developments of the (international) art field throughout the years.

Rather than providing an overview of de Appel’s public activities throughout the decades, this publication illustrates the relational history of de Appel, focussing on its networks, conversations, and collaborations. In general, these inner workings or moving parts of institutions are often kept private, reaching audiences only by way of their impact; how they inform exhibitions, performances, publications, programming, assemblies, and other public formats. Looking at the correspondence archive—which is, by its very nature, authored by many—allows us to become familiar with the connections between people, places, developments and events and the multitude of personal perspectives that make up the seemingly singular work of an institution.

The book features materials by more than a hundred different authors and includes paper-based and digital correspondence by, amongst many others, Laurie Anderson, James Lee Byars, Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, General Idea, Mona Hatoum, Patricia Kaersenhout and Carolee Schneemann. Context is provided by written guest contributions by Alice Butler, Alison Burstein, Annet Dekker, Susan Gibb and Brian Fuata and de Appel's archivist Nell Donkers. In their texts they depart from their own specific perspectives on correspondence and archival practices, which function as a doorway or bridge to a specific range of correspondence material. An edition by Alison Knowles in the shape of a ribbon forms a special prompt to the reader of the book.