Topic Talk: Who Tells the Story? Art, Power and Shared Histories

Cultural narratives have shaped how societies understand themselves and others. Museums, archives, visual arts, performing arts and academic institutions have played a decisive role in constructing these stories — defining what is preserved, what is displayed, and what is left unseen. 

Today, questions around colonial collections, restitution, appropriation and representation challenge long-standing structures of authority. Who has the right to interpret history? How are knowledge and cultural memory produced and transmitted— and who benefits from these frameworks? As art, science and public institutions increasingly intersect, new tensions and responsibilities emerge. 

This panel brings together artists and institutional voices to explore how contemporary cultural practice can question representation, rethink collaboration, and reshape histories. From revisiting collections and archives to rethinking collaboration and authorship, the discussion asks: how can we shift from inherited hierarchies toward shared forms of storytelling — and what responsibilities come with the power to narrate?

Join several Topic Talks throughout the festival at Stadsschouwburg, featuring artists, researchers, experts, and audiences. Let’s talk about resistance, the role of spectators in the field and beyond, art and power, ethics and AI, and more.