The Cost of Alliance

• Date: 12 June - 26 June
• Location: Stroom Den Haag

This summer, for the first time in NATO’s 70-year existence, The Hague will host the NATO summit. Located between the city centre and NATO’s security cordon, Stroom Den Haag hosts The Cost of Alliance, an exhibition that contextualises NATO’s stated role and historical presence.

The Cost of Alliance considers the historical dimensions of NATO as a political and military alliance. Alliances – a term towards strategic ends - are formed on account of the existence of a common enemy. The Cost of Alliance refers to the necessity of conflict or the threat of conflict to maintain the alliance. This cost consists not only of an economic value, but of a shared cost in the shape of history, the loss of common ground, cultural values, and ultimately, human lives. The project addresses the contradictions of complicity inherent to NATO: when does peacebuilding become a propaganda tool? What is the difference between individual and collective agency? What can we expect from allyship, and what do we provide in return?

The Cost of Alliance presents four works by four contemporary artists, contextualised by a public programme. The works on display speak to the culture of geopolitics, touching on themes such as secrecy, arms race, propaganda, the West, and the notion of a ‘world citizen’. Together the works reflect on the displacement of matter in service of NATO’s mission.

Juul Hondius’ film shows a semi-fictionalised account of the relocation of the NATO-statue in front of their Brussels’ headquarters. Kristina Benjocki and Stijn Verhoeff’s video installation sketches a portrait of the miles of tunnels underneath Maastricht that used to be NATO’s wartime headquarters. Vladislav Shapovalov’s installation recounts the story of NATO’s 1950s travelling exhibition ‘Caravan for Peace’ to look for its contemporary potential. Drawing upon the current conflict in Ukraine that implicates NATO’s mission, Lotte Geeven’s sound piece TILO records the heartbeats of Ukrainians at the front lines.

The Cost of Alliance is part of the long-term programme See You in The Hague, which addresses The Hague’s ambition and reality as International City of Peace and Justice.  With The Cost of Alliance Stroom participates in the Just Peace Festival in The Hague, a platform for dialogue, collaboration, and action on the pressing global challenges of peace and justice.

The Cost of Alliance is made possible thanks to the generous support of the Municipality of The Hague, Just Peace, and the Mondrian Fund.

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