7 Walks (Help U Zelve) activates a number of historical documents in a short walk in the vicinity of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Antwerp. They illustrate part of the history of the Antwerp cooperative movement which came about after the failure of the First Internationale (1864 - 1876), with the foundation of the SM Vrije Bakkers (1880). Consumer cooperatives, especially cooperative bakeries, aimed to improve the living conditions of the exploited working class at the end of the 19th century in the industrialised harbour city. Catholics and liberals saw the success of Moeder Vooruit, the socialist cooperative in Ghent, and also founded their own cooperative bakeries. Each political tendency dealt with questions on freedom and collectivity: is the cooperative to remain a purely economical vehicle, or should it serve as a tool for political empowerment?
Vermeir & Heiremans (Author)
Johannes Grillet (Invited expert)
Gesture: 7 Walks (Help U Zelve)