The cloudy skies over NDSM and the IJ invite you to dream and fantasize. The installation 'WolkenPoort' developed by an artist Yasser Ballemans together with students from Klein Amsterdam primary school. WolkenPoort is a monument that focuses on dreaming about the future. Flags are often used to commemorate something or to indicate who owns a place. They therefore (just like monuments) often confirm existing power structures. But can flags also symbolize inspiration, change and movement?
With these questions, Yasser Ballemans worked with students from Klein Amsterdam on behalf of the NDSM-werf Foundation. Students from Klein Amsterdam (now group 8) proposed various designs in a workshop, some were on the “art committee” that provided feedback on the final design, and the students indicated that it would be nice if a new “farewell ritual” were associated with the WolkenPoort every year.


The WolkenPoort has become a ritualistic gate that honors the children of the last school year. A gateway with a changing sky full of dreams about a vibrant future. The children drew or photographed a cloud that they noticed, gave them an idea or simply loved last year, and these can now be seen as a flag in the Cloud Gate (made by Graphical Workshop Amsterdam). Together, they form a temporary cloudy sky. These flags stand for inspiration, change and movement. Central is the wish to tell the children that they can continue to sail on their own compass and have ownership over it.
After six weeks at NDSM, WolkenPoort will move from the NDSM shipyard's ferry landing to Klein Amsterdam's schoolyard at the end of June.
About the artist
As a visual artist, Yasser Ballemans is interested in the role of art in rituals, such as parades, campfires, carnivals and commemorations. In many projects, Ballemans investigates how meaningful art can be created together.


Credits and references
Visuals: Gert Jan van Rooij