Helene Lundbye Petersen

The White Book Helene Lundbye Petersen

The White Book challenges our current condition. Written during the month of November 2011 by independent curator and writer Helene Lundbye Petersen, the book is a collection of personal reflections on critical issues that are confronting us today. While addressing the urgency for critical debate about these concerns, Lundbye Petersen advocates for the imperative to include our subjective voice into how we negotiate our purpose and how we arrive at essential meaning. The book is divided into four interrelated parts. The first part intends to agitate and is written in a tense pace expressing problems caused by Western consumerist culture. Part two consists of a series of poetic and philosophical statements about existential questions, followed by a pragmatic manifestation of how such viewpoints could inspire us to overcome challenges that are often considered hopeless. The final part brings these ideas into a concrete context. It is a curatorial manifesto for the art space offering a refreshing perspective on the role of art, serving as a model as to how the field could be re-negotiated. The manifesto argues for art's potential as an open space to advance the dialogues and encounters that are needed for the realization of hopes for change in society at large. The White book is a call for engagement to build new platforms conducive to rethinking the world.