Our Exquisite Corpse

A participatory artwork

The waiting lists for transgender healthcare in the Netherlands are massive. The average waiting list for a first interview with a psychologist to get a gender dysphoria diagnosis is two years. This is not the beginning of treatment, but an assessment to see if you even qualify for specialized care. As of March 2023, the waiting list at the UMC in Groningen is 30 months long. 30 months equals 130 weeks. 30 months equals 912 days. 21.900 hours. 1.314.900 minutes.

The ongoing participation project OUR EXQUISITE CORPSE visualizes these endless waiting lists. A cadavre exquis is a poem or a drawing made up of multiple segments by different people to form an, often barely legible, end result. OUR EXQUISITE CORPSE is such a cadavre exquis, but time-based. We welcome everyone to contribute one or more tiles to a quilt spanning several meters. You keep track of how much time you spend on the tiles. Seconds, minutes or hours, as long as you want. All these minutes are added up. We keep going until we reach 1.314.900 minutes. 21.900 hours. 912 days. 130 weeks. 30 months.

Over the next couple of months, maybe even years, we will bring the artwork to several locations where you will be able to contribute.

OUR EXQUISITE CORPSE will be at Noorderzon, August 22nd. More dates will be announced soon! E-mail us if you would like to host the project.

If you are unable to come to any events but would still like to contribute, you can make your own tile at home (35 x 35 cm), write down your time on a note and send it to/drop it in the mailbox at Henri Dunantlaan 2, 9728 HD Groningen.

OUR EXQUISITE CORPSE is supported by Buro Mix and COC Bob Angelo Fonds.