Hartwig Art Foundation and Holland Festival present a special programme with the legendary Meredith Monk. Composer, singer, director-choreographer, and filmmaker, Monk is truly a genre unto herself. For more than sixty years, she has been devoted to exploring the expressive possibilities of the human voice. She has built a body of work in which music, movement, light, and space converge, forever changing the field of music and performing arts.
Friday, 19 June 5 pm: Meredith Monk in Person at Hartwig Proxy
Meet Meredith Monk in person at Hartwig Proxy, the neighbourhood space of the future Hartwig Museum in Amsterdam South. During this get-together, the legendary artist will also sign copies of Meredith Monk. Calling, the first monograph devoted to her oeuvre.
Meredith Monk. Calling spans Monk’s career in all its facets: from vocal artist to composer, from choreographer to filmmaker. The book also includes reflections on Indra’s Net, her most recent performance, which was presented by Hartwig Art Foundation and Holland Festival in 2023. The book was designed by Dan Solbach and published by Hartwig Art Foundation and Haus der Kunst at Hatje Cantz Verlag.
Friday, 19 June 8:30 pm: Monk in Pieces by Billy Shebar in collaboration with Eye
Monk in Pieces takes you inside the rich universe of Meredith Monk: composer, performer and pioneer of experimental music and performance art. Her influence on the art world is immense, yet often underestimated.
The film follows Monk in her seventh creative decade, as she looks back on a exceptional career and asks herzelf whether the work she has built can survive without her. Through interviews with artists like Björk and David Byrne, rare archival footage, and intimate observation, the film reveals Monk’s original language of sound, movement, and voice, transforming theatrical expression into a fully immersive experience.
At the same time, the documentary shows how Monk carved out her place in a male-dominated art world and how she passes her masterpiece ATLAS to a new generation of performers. A fascinating portrait of one of the most original voices of our time.
Click here for more information and tickets.
Sunday, 21 June 8:30 pm: Duet Behavior 2026 at the Bimhuis
An intimate evening with the music of Meredith Monk. Joined by percussionist and composer John Hollenbeck, they revisit her repertoire – opening it up, stretching it, and reshaping it in real time. Her voice collides and intertwines with his inventive percussion, resulting in new arrangements of iconic compositions, along with a few new ones, all brought vividly to life.
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Meredith Monk last appeared at Holland Festival in 2023 with the world premiere of her performance Indra’s Net, presented with Hartwig Art Foundation. Later that year, the first-ever European career-spanning exhibition of her work in the context of visual art Meredith Monk: Calling was presented by Hartwig Art Foundation and Oude Kerk.