Kathy Acker Retrospective in The Hague Explores Plagiarism as Radical Tool

West Den Haag presents 'Blood, Guts, and Anarchy. The Work of Kathy Acker', the first Dutch retrospective of the American writer (1947-1997), running from February 28, 2026 to February 28, 2027. Curated by Leonor Jonker, the exhibition spans six rooms with archival footage, paraphernalia, a birth horoscope, and newspaper clippings. Highlights include Acker's 1980 performance at Amsterdam's One World Poetry festival (the year Beatrix became queen) and the rarely screened film 'The Blue Tape' (1970s) with Alan Sondheim. The show invites visitors to scan Acker's books and apply her cut-up method. Acker, influenced by William S. Burroughs, used plagiarism to challenge authorship, gender, and sexual power. Her novel 'In Memoriam to Identity' (1990) opens with a biographical sketch of Arthur Rimbaud. Acker faced controversy for appropriating a sex scene from a popular writer, retitled 'I Want to Be Raped Every Night'. The exhibition includes a scan station for visitors to apply her method. A festival around the exhibition will be hosted by West Den Haag in late summer 2026.