White Balls on Walls

White Balls on Walls
Directed by Sarah Vos

Wednesday, June 14, 1 pm | BUY TICKETS

$12 | $8 Speed members

“White Balls on Walls is essential viewing not only for those who care about art and cultural institutions but for anyone interested in the vital changes happening within contemporary society today.”—Barbara Goslowski, POV

In one of the most transparent institutional acts, the Stedelijk, Amsterdam’s Museum of Modern Art, allows a film crew to cover an ambitious reassessment of their collection, staff, history of colonization, and its connection to art history.

In 2019, as director Sarah Vos started shooting her documentary, more than 90 percent of the art at the Stedelijk was made by white men. The museum’s director Rein Wolfs believes that must change, but it’s easier said than done—as becomes clear when the film’s director Sarah Vos follows Wolfs and his team as they strive for greater diversity in the collection.

The Stedelijk to allows the camera behind the scenes of a process that reveals uncomfortable and awkward questions. The curators and staff discuss titles of works that now raise eyebrows, the reassessment of work in terms of race and gender, and visitors who may bristle about the politicization of artwork.

This film is more than a look behind the scenes at a museum: as well as presenting a new perspective on art history, it magnificently encapsulates the struggles that are engaging many historical and cultural institutions. 2023, The Netherlands, DCP, in Dutch and English with English subtitles, 90 minutes.