LI-MA at Internationale Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen 2026
Theus Zwakhals curates a present a programme from our catalogue, new acquisitions, but also older works
On 30 April 2026, LI-MA presents a curated programme at Internationale Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen, exploring shifting notions of European identity through media art. Titled In varietate concordia – United in Diversity, the programme takes the European Union’s motto as both point of departure and point of tension.
Once signalling optimism and cohesion through difference, the idea of a unified Europe now appears increasingly fragile. Against a backdrop of rising nationalism and political fragmentation, the selected works reflect on a continent that feels less like a collective and more like a constellation of disjointed parts.
Bringing together artists including Nicolas Provost, Ulay, Linda Wallace, and Broersen & Lukács, the programme spans decades of artistic production. Their works offer diverse and critical perspectives on borders, belonging, and the cultural imaginaries that shape Europe, both from within and from the outside.
Drawn from LI-MA’s distribution collection, which includes over 3,000 artworks by more than 600 artists, the selection by Theus Zwakhals highlights the organisation’s ongoing commitment to preserving, presenting, and circulating media art. As a platform based in Amsterdam, LI-MA supports artists in the development of new work while safeguarding the legacy of digital and media art through its conservation and archival practices.
Programme
Nicolas Provost – The Invader and The Origin of the World (Belgium, 2014, 2'46")
Inspired by the painting L’origine du monde, we see a shot of a naked woman on a beach in Southern Europe. A strong African man washes ashore. The woman walks along the beach and watches the situation in front of her.
Wim Gijzen – Series Mistakes nr 3 Italy (Netherlands, 1970, 4'32")
What are facts worth today? Are names decisive for spaces? Do they define a space? And if so, what happens if you exchange one name for another? With these works, Gijzen also undermines the claim to the truthfulness of images.
Ulay – Fortress Europe 'Kill Your Pillow' (Netherlands, 1992, 4'06")
Being critical of the EU, specifically its eastward expansion in the 1990s, this work created participatory platforms that sought ethical reactions from audiences to the realities of isolation and discrimination experienced by immigrants and those on the margins of society.
Sluik / Kurpershoek – March MATRIA (Netherlands, 1996, 15'41")
‘In Europe, new borders were decided upon. Mountains remained where they were, and rivers did not change their course, but the borders shifted...’ Shifting borders, the history of the Balkans and how landscape becomes territory all play a central role here.
Linda Wallace – Eurovision (Netherlands, 2001, 19'30")
Glamour and kitsch are the main components of the Eurovision Song Contest, but underneath this thick layer of make-up we also recognise a 1950s interpretation of the ‘European idea’. The festival is optimistic and colourful, and becoming ‘larger and larger’.
Eoghan Ryan – Doggerel (Netherlands, 2022, 13'57")
The conditions in Europe during the first half of the 20th century, as seen through Oskar Matzerath’s (The Tin Drum) eyes, linked with the current situation. It is one of contested migration and border enforcement, both personal and political.
Broersen & Lukács – I Wan'na Be Like You (Netherlands, 2024, 14'22")
The viewer is lured into a dilapidated glasshouse, by a ghostly figure, dancing to a variation on the popular song from The Jungle Book. Vocal group Black Harmony then offers a reinterpretation of the song in their own language, Sranantongo.
Header: Ron Sluik, Reinier Kurpershoek, March MATRIA (Netherlands/Croatia, 1996). in collection: LI-MA.
