Z-Files #33: A Minute of Shelter

Sculpture International Rotterdam and BKOR are organizing the 33^rd edition of Z-Files in response to the recently unveiled memorial A Minute of Shelter (2025) by Narges Mohammadi. This artwork on Coolsingel demands attention for women and girls in unsafe situations, in the past, present, and future. The sculpture was commissioned by the Municipality of Rotterdam in collaboration with Sculpture International Rotterdam following the tragic murder of the 16-year-old Rotterdam schoolgirl Humeyra in 2018.

Against the backdrop of recent discussions about the safety and visibility of women in both the private and public spheres, for this edition of Z-Files, A Minute of Shelter serves as the point of departure for a deeper conversation.Drawing on artistic and social practices as well as feminist theories on art and architecture we will discuss the significance of visual art in this context. How can visual art in the public space contribute to a better understanding of the position of women in the city? And how can we make personal experiences and social constructs visible?

Programme
The evening starts off with a contribution by writer, storyteller and programme creator Shantie Singh. As a creative public administration specialist for the Municipality of Rotterdam she is, among other things, committed to fighting violence against women, and she was closely involved in the realisation of A Minute of Shelter.

Journalist Wilke Martens subsequently talks to the artist Narges Mohammadi about the backgrounds and creative process of A Minute of Shelter.

Political philosopher and researcher Catherine Koekoek’s work focuses on the practical and spatial conditions for democracy and social justice. Informed by A Minute of Shelter, her lecture explores how art can be used as an expression of resistance as well as a space to tell stories that often remain hidden.

Elke Krasny, Professor of Art and Education at the Akademie der bildenden Künste Wien, focuses her work on the ways in which spaces and structures reproduce social inequalities, and how art practices can contribute to reflection, change and restoration. In her lecture, she will explore ways in which women (can) occupy space in the city through visual art and how care, criticism, violence and transformation play a role in this.

We conclude the programme with a discussion between Narges Mohammadi, Shantie Singh, Catherine Koekoek and Elke Krasny, mediated by Amira Gad, curator of Modern and Contemporary art at Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen and co-curator of Sonsbeek 2026.

After the programme there is an opportunity to continue the conversation at the Kino bar.