Initiated and published by de Appel arts centre in Amsterdam, The Shadowfiles is a journal that focuses on events behind the scenes, or activities with little public visibility. The first, bilingual Dutch–English, issue came out in October 2010 (time flies!) and was in some ways a response to the effects of the financial crash and the (renewed) pressure on publicly funded institutions to somehow relate to the market, and become less reliant on government support. It took as its starting point the project ‘Take the Money and Run’, an auction organised by de Appel, in collaboration with Witte de With, to raise funds for the refurbishment of the building de Appel was then due to move to. De Appel’s considerations, doubts and objections against such activities are exposed and the phenomenon of auctions is explored in a wider framework. Issue # 1 comprises contributions by Maria Barnas, Jan de Clerq, Ann Demeester, Nell Donkers, Edna van Duyn, Xander Karskens, Lars Bang Larsen, Martha Rosler and David Thomas.
Issue # 2, published in 2012, focused on notions of metamorphosis and carnival and comprises contributions from Anne Demeester, Esther Peeren, Edna van Duyn, Annemarie de Wildt, Daniël Rovers, Koen Brams, Sally O’Reilly, Isla Leaver-Yap and Piet Meeuse. Although the topic seems different, there is a link between the two in that this issue explores notions of turning things inside out and upside down as a response to and a method of engaging with changing circumstances and positions.
For both issues I did the copy-editing and proofing, but also translated the Dutch contributions into English and did some of the English into Dutch conversions.
Gerrie van Noord 