Brief aan Philip Zilcken Possibly 1928

Editor: This is a piece called "Brief aan Philip Zilcken," possibly from 1928, made with ink on paper. It's...well, it's a letter. The handwriting is quite elegant but also difficult to decipher. What catches your eye when you look at it? Curator: I see a trace of a particular kind of intimacy – the kind revealed when we engage in written correspondence. Consider the time investment required to produce a carefully composed, handwritten letter. This act, almost a performance, becomes radical within a society that often values speed over personal investment and direct communication. Editor: Radical how? Curator: By subverting dominant systems. We must also consider how such personalized communication practices serve those marginalized by systems that actively silence or disenfranchise people with disabilities, queer people, racialized groups and gender nonconforming individuals. Consider who has historically been afforded the luxury and safety of corresponding by letter, and who has been excluded. Editor: So you're saying the letter, the *act* of writing and sending it, becomes more important than its actual content? Curator: Precisely. Who was this letter intended for? How does it connect this artist with the larger history of radical activists writing against forms of injustice? By studying marginalized artists' processes of writing against power we stand to learn the potential inherent in art for activism, protest, and even healing. Editor: I never considered a simple letter having so much... potential. Now I see it. Curator: And potential has the power to write a better future.