Deleting Whiteness | robindingemans

Deleting Whiteness / Whiteout

Deleting Whiteness / Whiteout is a series of research and actions which began in 2019 and continues in 2020 and beyond through multiple strands. It is inspired by black civil rights activist of U.S.A who propose that white people cannot be part of the black civil rights movement unless they first delete their whiteness. It is the kind of notion that Robin Dingemans is accustomed to growing up in Aotearoa New Zealand, and even if seemingly paradoxical, to him entirely logical. From his experience, such a premise is likely to deliver positive steps towards change.

The strands to the project work are:

A Deleting Whiteness / Whiteout symposium at Weld in 2020
During the process of creating new performance, keep the research as a central pillar of any individual project. Such as where the work is generated, who are the decision-makers as to whether it tours or not.
Research stipend to investigate the notions through studio time and conversations with several artists in U.S.A and Indonesia.
Expanding the artist conceptual and theoretical framework on disorientating whiteness who work with Robin Dingemans & Andra Fåglar.

Pledge OR Manifestations:

To ensure all Robin's work for children have diverse cast on stage.
To speak out in all contexts where structural white supremacy is appaarent
Currently, no future production is planned to explicitly reference the result from the work. However the potential of a work for teenagers for stage or moving image is being considered.

Robin's background as a Pakeha growing up in Aotearoa is very informative to the motivations of the research. Civil rights practitioner Hamid Khan shared this notion at a Whiteness symposium in Stockholm in 2017. In early 2019 it reached a tipping point for Robin after audience reaction to a work by Yvonne Rainer presented at Malmö Konsthall, which is referenced in the following writing.

Not Again! Not Now!

Deleting Whiteness is supported by Konstnärsnämnden through the International Choreography Stipendium 2019. Multiple projects that fall within this work are supported by Kulturrådet (Swedish Arts Council) and Stockholm City.