Is there such a thing as an “average” family? If so, where do they live, how do they spend their time, and what for them is considered “normal?”
The Stedelijk is pleased to present A Family Portrait by Sander Breure and Witte van Hulzen. This unique performance, commissioned by the Stedelijk, is a sequel to their acclaimed 2014 work in which the artists made contact with an “average” Dutch family and, with their permission, eavesdropped on their conversations for a week. The theater script is based on transcriptions of the family’s actual conversations.
A decade later, in 2024, Breure and van Hulzen returned to the same family to create an updated portrait. Taking the form of a theater play, the performance shows how the family's life has evolved in the last ten years: the eldest daughter will soon leave the family home, while the teenage son is engrossed by video games. Over the course of two acts, seven actors bring both eras to life. The work gives the viewer glimpses into the simultaneous banality and intensity of everyday family life. The performance seeks to raise questions about what normalcy could possibly entail, how we recognize it in another, and how familiarity and difffference can be weaponized. Traces of meta-narratives such as colonialism, racial and gender disparities are integrated into the family’s everyday interactions.
Press reactions:
“I looked at it and understood our time, understood the Netherlands, I can't describe it any other way.” (De Volkskrant, 2014)
“After seeing the show I thought: I will never be a mother, not like that, not with a man like that, not with children like that. And: I really wasn't that kind of child! The average family is terrible!” (Mr. Motley, 2014)
“A Family Portrait by Sander Breure and Witte van Hulzen was a masterful sequel to the performance snapshot of the ‘average Dutch family’.” (Het Parool, 2024)
“With this project, both artists want to show how time, habits, rituals and emotions infect our everyday communication.” (De Volkskrant, 2024)
Performance 2024:
Actors: Wine Dierickx, Matijs Jansen, Lisa van de Wiel, Abel Peeters, Jonne van der Moolen, Mina Behrisch, Juliette van Leeuwen
Commissioned by: Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam .
Co-production: Actors collective Wunderbaum, IDFA
Curator: Karen Archy
Supported by: Mondriaan Fund
Production: Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam
Screenplay: Sander Breure & Witte van Hulzen
Sound Technique: Jaap Schledorn
Performance 2014:
Commissioned by: Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam
Curator: Hendrik Folkerts
Actors: Jessica Zeylmaker, Martijn van der Veen (2014), Noël Keulen (2015), Dunja van der Velde, Titus Schutte
Screenplay: Sander Breure & Witte van Hulzen
Production: Casper Jansen
Assistant director: Emma Waslander
Sound: Genevieve Murphy
Supported by Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst
