Interview Nelleke Broeze

Nelleke Broeze interviewed by Hattie Wade during the Graduation Show 2022 at the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague (KABK).

If I Can’t Hide, I Better Flourish

Graduation project 2021-2022 by Nelleke Broeze
Multimedia installation

If I Can’t Hide, I Better Flourish is a short film and installation that questions the idea of autonomy in relation to public space. Nelleke Breeze explores this from her personal perspective as a woman. She says, “While growing up, I increasingly found myself in situations where I adjusted my movements in public space:”

In this film, she starts to wonder if that means that she’s becoming further removed from herself. Because even though she has agency, we still lose our autonomy due to the subtle power structures. Curious as to whether she is the only one who feels this way, the filmmaker explores this with the help of other women.

Throughout the film she is confronted with the desire to be invisible, which is deeply rooted in her. She is taken out of her comfort zone by the other woman in various scenes, with one goal: How can women collectively defeat this system and redefine space?