A BODY SURRENDERED.

We first arrived at NAP+ on a Thursday evening, the first day of the event. With the storm clouds on our tails, we walked what could only be described as the red carpet. This fake red grassy terrain started at the entrance of the Central Markthal’s scaffolding entrance, and ended at the door of the wholesale food market building. Our shoes were soaked through, our clothes were practically a different colour, and with a trail of damp footsteps suddenly upon the Markthal’s cement floor, we began the walk through the NAP+ exhibition. A grand open space that resembles something of an airplane hangar, the Markthal is known, historically, for being the site of the open and food markets that used to be and continue to be a vibrant part of the city’s culture.

Each gallery that had been selected for this year’s exhibition was given its own booth, some bigger and some smaller, erected from white plaster atop the Markthal’s ground. Music echoed throughout the building, and echo box panels were organised throughout the day; artists from several backgrounds and disciplines gathered in the echo box’s living room-esque set up as they were continuously encouraged to engage in various and transparent conversations with one another, two of our own interviewees engaged in these panel discussions, talking about all things inspiration to the capitalist doom wheel that sometimes claws at their art.