A perfect spot for fresh air at 1.5 meters distance
This bench could be seen as a symbolic and poetic representation of the time, when we lived in a 1.5 meter long society as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. It opened up opportunities for sustainable meetings with friends and family, as well as with strangers who could sit on the couch at the same time. It ensured that we were still able to meet at this exceptional time — even if it was from a distance.
The sofa was 2.5 metres wide, with a centre — exactly 1.5 metres — made of polished stainless steel. The intermediate part was invisible due to the mirror effect. Only the left and right sides of the sofa were clearly visible as seats. The reflection created a physical distance, but at the same time made the distance invisible.
Tuindorp Oostzaan was built 100 years ago, mainly as a garden village for the employees of the Nederlandsche Dock- en Scheepsbouw Maatschappij (NDSM). Raimond Wouda has spent the past 30 years capturing this part of Noord, which is visible in a publication and an exhibition at the city archives, and is now also shown on three billboards at the NDSM shipyard, near the source.
His mother and grandmother grew up there and he lived there for the first years of his life. Raimond Wouda about Tuindorp Oostzaan: “As I got older, my relationship with Tuindorp became more complex and ambivalent. It was a place that was both strange and familiar to me. I started taking pictures of the neighborhood and its residents to better understand what it meant to me. Tuindorp has become my most personal work.”
Inspired by the ideals of the English garden cities, the garden villages in Amsterdam were built, with Tuindorp Oostzaan being the first. Just behind the NDSM so that people could walk or cycle to work. Compared to the buildings on the other side of the IJ, the garden villages were given more space, gardens, squares and (cultural) facilities to serve as meeting places and create a sense of community. The close-knit community changed over time, the area expanded after the war, after which migrant workers and young families came to North. The most drastic change was, of course, the bankruptcy of the NDSM. As a result, the industry and other public functions such as the library slowly disappeared to a large extent.
The building boards now show a selection of photos that provide a glimpse into the larger story that Raimond has captured. A history of living and living in a changing city, a perspective on the community and surroundings of Tuindorp Oostzaan. The old obvious connection between Tuindorp Oostzaan and NDSM as a former shipyard, as a beacon in the district, no longer exists. However, it has been replaced by a new public and a so-called “cultural wharf”. The building signs reconnect the garden village and its residents and NDSM.
Raimond Wouda's photos are shown on the 'NDSM Billboards', with which Stichting NDSM-werf offers space for artists on large building boards: “In addition to the building signs on the western part of the NDSM, where construction is underway, we at NDSM-Oost give artists the opportunity to post their artistic statements on building boards. With its 10 hectares, the shipyard provides a wonderful background for large images in response to the context of the NDSM to make the work highly visible to Northerners and Amsterdammers,” says curator Petra Heck.
Credits and references
Raimond Wouda — Polder VIII, Tuindorp Oostzaan, Amsterdam 1921-2021, Thuis in de Stad. 100 jaar Tuindorp Oostzaan
The Tower of Babel project was a concept by artist Guido van der Werve. In his concept, Van der Werve took the Biblical story as a starting point. In this story, only one language was spoken on Earth and they collectively embraced the same idea: to build a city with a tower that would reach the sky. But God descended after this act of pride, made people all speak different languages, and spread everyone around the world. Because the people could no longer understand each other, construction was stopped.
What a contemporary Tower of Babel would look like, with just as many people as possible with different backgrounds, languages and voices, was what Guido van der Werve asked with this project. Stichting NDSM-werf and TAAK shaped this question in an architectural installation that expressed a certain polyphony of the city. The emphasis was precisely on the difference, the diversity and the (cultural) richness that lay therein. Watch a portrait of Guido van der Werve talking (in English) about the Tower of Babel and his art practice in the video:
WORKSHOPS
The polyphony also took shape in various specially developed workshops in which Amsterdammers and communities with different cultural, political, social or religious backgrounds of different ages participated. The starting point was how they thought about their ideal city and what values were important to them in it. The workshops were given by artists Fouad Lakbir, Tina Lenz, Mick La Rock, Olfa Ben Ali, Bengin Dawod, Rianne van Duin, Brendan Jan Walsh and Perrine Philomeen, who all worked from their own practice and discipline with themes such as ownership, visibility and storytelling and sharing.
The diverse “building blocks”, ideas and stories were translated into visual outcomes that were placed in the Tower between September 23, 2021 and storm Eunice in February 2022. There were banners, photos, a video, a sound system with stories, a Tower of Babel newspaper made by students at Klein Amsterdam primary school and a homemade brick wall that was incorporated into the tower. Brendan Jan Walsh rehearsed a libretto written by Guido van der Werve and performed on October 7 by the choir and the Promenade Orchestra, specially assembled for the tower. This is how the Tower of Babel became a metaphor for what the ideal polyphonic city could look like and what values and ideas were important to it.
For background stories about the Tower of Babel, check out the NDSM Online Magazine depot.
From May 5, 2022, Phase 2 of the Tower of Babel was visible: the tower was under construction, to indicate that it was still a work in progress. In addition to the videos and the libretto, there was a 3D sketch by Guido that illustrated how he wanted to see his ideal Tower of Babel finally realized: with a path where you could walk up and down endlessly. At that time, the path could be walked as a flat route.
The South African Artist Goldendean (Dean Hutton) made inflatable soft sculptures that depicted the contours of their own bodies. Especially for the NDSM shipyard, they created the 'Big Fat Trans Light MerQueer', a hybrid between man and sea monster that seemed to have crawled out of the IJ water — with tentacles. They were inspired by folk tales about sea-lake people, such as the “Mermaid of Edam” and “Mamlambo”, a serpent-like river goddess from South African and Xhosa mythology, who was often depicted as a mermaid. When they were captured, they allegedly brought prosperity.
Goldendean shared moments of gentle courage to affirm the right of all bodies to exist, be celebrated, and protected. They evoked tender feelings by deliberately pretending to be crazy and playful, sometimes a clown, sometimes a warrior, always vulnerable... Radically soft in an uncompromising world... A tenderqueer invested trust in an audience to respond kindly, to keep our bodies safe together, to give queer space, no matter how we sometimes failed each other.
Johannes Buttner: Free Energy II, Peak Panic
Location: waterfront near Pllek
In his sculptures, installations and videos, Johannes Büttner (Germany, 1985) addresses socio-economic themes such as energy, work in the digital age and power. In addition, he worked with people with diverse backgrounds: from mindset and business coaches and bakers to people from the “digital working class”.
Johannes Büttner showed sculptures that he made for Into Nature, an exhibition in Bargerveen, Drenthe, curated by Hans den Hartog Jager, where energy was key. Büttner's luminescent sculptures were battery-operated made of aluminum, magnesium and alum crystals. The story went that they recharged over and over again, so that these batteries would provide infinite energy. Büttner had the batteries designed by “free-energy engineers”, an online community that believed that environmentally friendly, sustainable and free energy sources had been around for a long time, but that they were hidden by large companies and governments out of self-interest. Somewhere between truth and fiction, (pseudo-) science and faith, and in response to the lack of opportunities to verify this, the work evoked alternative ways of imaging.
In addition, Johannes showed lightboxes with advertising-like photos of “survival hacks” for a post-apocalyptic scenario. How did you make light in times of crisis? Faced with a pandemic and climate change awareness, 2016's work was now seen differently. DIY creations and creativity to deal with new catastrophes seemed inevitable.
Alice Wong & Crys Leung: COHESION
Location: LOAD OUT
Alice Wong was a story designer. By showing how our perception of reality was constructed, she tried to turn complexity into understandable stories. For this project, she worked with Crys Leung, communication designer, who investigated the role of media and the relationship to identity in her work.
Alice and Crys revealed 'COHESION', a large-scale installation that connected fragmented elements on the NDSM. The reflective circle stood for unity and collectivity; one could all come together and become more than the individual parts. Because the total circle could not be understood from a single position in space, the work created an infinite number of perspectives, depending on the point of view. The process of interacting from different angles, heights and distances made it clear how people collectively shaped a shared reality, where no perspective should stand above the other. Visible and invisible, seen and unseen were all equally valuable.
There were wild animals at the NDSM shipyard in 2021!
Designer and Illustrator Luca Boscardin was one of the two winners of the Open Call launched in 2021 by Stichting NDSM-werf. His project Animal Factory consisted of minimalistic metal animals, such as a crocodile and a giraffe. The works invited you to sit on or climb up and thus played with the idea of the NDSM shipyard as an urban jungle.
Animal Factory was a collection of animals designed in a simple and abstract way, each maintaining the exact size and proportions of the real animals. The objects — a giraffe, gorilla, crocodile and wolf — were characterized by a minimal shape, made of metal tubes and a minimal use of color: each one was painted in a single shade to encourage passers-by to open their minds and let their imagination run wild. Where, from a certain angle, the steel structure did not seem to have a specific shape, the contours of a gorilla were clearly visible from another location. This is how the animals were surprises in the industrial landscape.
With the objects, Luca Boscardin hoped to encourage creativity and multifunctional use of the shipyard. For example, the gorilla could also serve as a play object, the giraffe may have been an alternative workout tool, and the crocodile was a suitable place for visitors to sit down with a cup of coffee. As a toy designer, Luca drew space rockets, fantasy creatures, imaginary characters and super-fast cars every day. Using the life-size metal animals, he gave shipyard visitors the space to use their own imagination and invited young and old to play, hang out or exercise.
Animal Factory was created with the help of steel carpenter Iwan Snel, who was also based at the NDSM shipyard. The entire project was designed and produced in the immediate vicinity of NDSM. Nowadays, they can be found on the west-side of NDSM next to the Noord-Dok building in a park.
When ADE was canceled due to the Corona pandemic, we came up with something else at NDSM
For this edition of ADE, Stichting NDSM-werf invited the art and activist group Tools for Action + Floor out to use their site as a public rehearsal space for RÆV REHEARSAL. They invited the audience to rehearse new forms of togetherness. With a Bluetooth speaker system, floating inflatable sculptures and a minimalist techno beat, they moved around the city like a radiant, dancing swarm. The streets became the club, the steps, roundabouts and benches acted as temporary stages.
RÆV REHEARSAL
RÆV REHEARSAL was initiated in Rotterdam in the summer of 2021 by visual artist Artúr van Balen, founder of Tools for Action, and choreographer Floor van Leeuwen. Every week, they rehearsed the dancing swarm in public space with a fixed group of twenty ravers, which in some editions grew to more than eighty people. After two massive editions of Unmute Us, the protest march for a more open event and night culture in Amsterdam, there was a strong need for people to come together, dance and have fun. By dancing, people were able to express their protest in a peaceful way.
Artúr van Balen, founder and artist at Tools for Action, explained: “Actually, this was intended as a new form of manifestation with the potential to become a protest. We used the rehearsal as a format because, from a legal perspective, it gave us the opportunity to meet with more than a hundred people in the open air, regardless of the changing corona rules.” Floor van Leeuwen added: “I saw the rehearsal as a way to practice collective movement together, coordinate, meet new people and even dance with people remotely, even when they were on their balconies.”
Swarms
RÆV REHEARSAL was based on the movement principles of swarms. Like a flock of birds, there was no central point or hierarchically organized movement; the direction was determined by the group as it moved. During each rehearsal, people had to move and dance about three meters apart. Based on these principles, the audience was invited to participate on October 15, 16 and 17 and to rehearse this collective movement together.
Music
RÆV REHEARSAL worked with a different DJ each time. As the swarm moved through public spaces, from iconic places to residential areas, the goal was to find sounds that resonated with the local environment or aroused curiosity. During previous editions, DJs performed such as Sukubratz, a Chilean DJ who combined techno with reggaeton, Cheb Runner, a Moroccan DJ who mixed electronic dance music with chaabi (a style of Moroccan folklore), and DJ Dance Divine, a queer artist from Brussels.
ADE
On October 15, 16 and 17, a group of up to a hundred people gathered at the NDSM shipyard to dance through Amsterdam-Noord. Various collectives, DJs and communities joined this initiative. The line-up was announced later. These were three unforgettable nights where a dancing swarm moved through the city, letting its heartbeat ring during the pandemic and activating spaces with bodies, music and light.
As an echo of the transformations in club culture, RÆV REHEARSAL highlighted the need to explore new forms of sociality and interrelationships by reclaiming and reprogramming public space.
In collaboration with Nieuw Dakota, Stichting NDSM-werf presented Public Air Filters by Anne-Jan Reijn at NDSM
Public Air Filters was one of the two winning entries for the 2021 NDSM Open Call. For this work, artist proposed Anne-Jan Reijn the question is what actually happened in the outside air that we breathe. By filtering air in public spaces, a dichotomy automatically arose: filtered air and unfiltered air. This immediately raised a question: maybe the unfiltered air could not be trusted? The series of sculptures by Anne-Jan was on display between July and October and was changeable during this period. This slow process was, in fact, the essence of the work.
In theory, every cubic meter of filtered air left a residue on the outside of the filters. The artist wanted to play with this residue, creating an archaeology of air filter pollution, where a form of manipulation was allowed. What if that residue on the filters formed the most amazing colored crystals? Did that have a direct psychological effect, making the air we breathed, for example, undesirable or unpleasant? Reijn played with the idea of danger that we couldn't see. Invisible risks that were in the air, such as asbestos or a virus, were scary but could also evoke a form of awe. With this work, the artist offered a different perspective on this issue by materializing the invisible. “We were constantly connected to invisible matter — and therefore the risks — and we systematically tried to eliminate it. At the time, the relationship of trust we had with science and politics was under great pressure,” says Anne-Jan Reijn.
Under no circumstances did the artist claim that filtered air was safer than unfiltered air: “This was really a work of art that played with the idea of distinction.”
Also read the interview with Anne-Jan Reijn in the Digital Depot - Online Magazine.
Credits and references
Visuals: Robin van Dijk, Benjamin Kotek, Gert Jan van Rooij
In the spring of 2021, it was quieter than usual at the NDSM shipyard. This had everything to do with the Corona pandemic that gripped the entire country, and the whole world. Due to social safety restrictions, programming at the outdoor area of the NDSM shipyard was a challenge. Nevertheless, at the NDSM-werf Foundation, we looked for ways to make NDSM's public space as beautiful and accessible as possible, even though it was quieter than previous years during this period.
From this idea, the NDSM Yard Gardens came into being: 30 to 50 garden boxes where NDSM residents could use as a small piece of urban garden. All at least half a meter apart, so that users could garden while respecting social distancing”. It turned out to be a great success: all gardens were immediately used by residents, visitors, artists, neighbours, and some entrepreneurs at and around the NDSM shipyard. From early spring to autumn, flowers, vegetables and other plants were grown in the square between the Y slope and the Noorderlicht. Workshops were also given to small groups of gardeners and at the end of the season, a real NDSM garden community was created.
In 2021, the first expressions in the (Un)monumenting program series were published on NDSM, including on the NDSM Billboards
What should or could a monument be today, for whom, and who decides this? For their programme series (Un) Monumenting, Stichting NDSM-werf invited makers and artists to reflect on these questions by creating a (temporary) work at the shipyard. For (Un) Monumenting #1, the collective Frerara — Frederick Calmes, Raquel van Haver and Raul Balai — invited to make the Drawing Assignment 2020, which they realized for the Amsterdam City Archives, visible at the NDSM shipyard. (Un) monumenting #1 presented Frerara with images from “Breathing of the City”, which focused on understudied Amsterdammers and their stories.
From April 9, 2021, three construction boards at the shipyard showed drawings by Frerara, which they made as part of “Breathing of the City”. The collective saw the city as a “living organ that wakes up every morning and never sleeps in its entirety.” Especially at that precarious time, it became clear who had the luxury of being able to work from home, and who didn't. Cleaners, sex workers, bus drivers; diverse characters starred in the drawings that portrayed, fascinated or embodied the three artists separately. At the building signs, visitors were able to listen to audio clips about the images and/or the people portrayed with their smartphones. The three artists brought together themes such as the archive, transition, art and culture and the city's signature in their work. To do this, they investigated the residents of the city of Amsterdam and specifically into continuing the tradition of keeping the city alive as a ritual. For example, with the drawings, they showed a different face of Amsterdam and created a temporary 'monument' for a number of understudied townspeople. On April 9, not only did the presentation start at the NDSM shipyard, but Frederick, Raul and Raquel also physically handed over the drawings to the City Archives for inclusion. The collection of drawings was published by the City Archives in three separate zines, which could be viewed and purchased, and they worked towards a fine publication that year. What was special was that the topic “Breathing of the City” was submitted by Frerara to the City Archives even before the coronavirus pandemic, and it had only gained in urgency since then.
Continuation of (Un)monumenting
The global conversation about monuments meant that the Foundation used this moment to bring the shipyard's history more to the surface. What could a memorial be, mean, and who had a say in it? And asking who deserved to be present in public spaces and who felt represented (and who didn't)? Based on the wish of the NDSM-werf Foundation for a polyphonic public space, the foundation commissioned several artists to give their views on this on the shipyard. The (Un)monumenting project consisted of several episodes: for each chapter, the foundation invited one or more artists to reflect on the theme of 'monuments' of the future. At that time, work was underway on (Un)monumenting #2, a video work by Turkish-Dutch artist Belit Sağ, in which she highlighted the invisible history of the NDSM shipyard. In the video, a collaboration with the Institute for Sound and Vision, Belit Sağ investigated the role of female Turkish migrant workers at the shipyard using archival material.
An exhibition with an audiowalk that took place in the future
Plastic Hypersea is was an interactive, site-specific work by an artist Sissel Marie Tonn commissioned by Sonic Acts and was experienced at the NDSM shipyard in Amsterdam.
Set in 2099, Plastic Hypersea was a guided, spatial and interactive experience that speculated on a possible future in immunology, merged with the topic of environmental health. As listeners explored the terrain, they were invited to imagine the environment as an extension of their immune system and to consider the many ways their bodies intertwined with microplastics in the sediments of Amsterdam's waterways. Ultimately, Plastic Hypersea asked listeners to leave behind the war metaphors that haunted immunology and to think about a more expansive sense of self.
Produced in collaboration with musician Vincenzo Acquaria Castellana and sound and recording artist BJ Nilsen, the localized sound experience was complemented by custom boat sails and ceramic sculptures created by Sissel that acted as “membranes” encoded with material and immaterial data about the hydrophobic, industrial waste that flowed through the waters of the Netherlands.
About the artist
Sissel Marie Tonn was a Danish artist based in The Hague. Her practice focused on the shifts in perception that occurred when people became entangled in their surroundings, blurring the boundaries between body and environment. Her artistic research often resulted in interactive, sensory installations.
Plastic Hypersea was built on Echoes, an interactive GPS-enabled mobile app for audio walks. To access the work, you had to download the app from the App Store or Google Play. They then put on headphones and wandered around the area of the NDSM shipyard while following the sails and ceramic sculptures. The gradual unfolding of the work was activated while walking and exploring the environment.
SEXYLAND was an art project in the form of a temporary society. For 365 days, the club had a new owner every day. He was able to implement the program as he wished, ranging from art expressions to sporting events, from gangster rap to stroboscopic light dinners. SEXYLAND was a tabula rasa that could be described in any way. SEXYLAND strived to mark every unknown corner of Amsterdam and show the enormous diversity the city had to offer.
In 2021, Sexyland moved from the NDSM shipyard to the other side of Amsterdam-Noord under the name: Sexyland World. As part of Sexyland's departure, we spoke with stakeholders Aukje Dekker and Samira Ben Messaoud in a podcast episode of NDSM X. Listen to it below.
On the way to school or work, kissing behind a corner of a building, sprinting to the ferry, giggling from a car, chewing gum on the ground, fishing in the dock: daily activities at the NDSM shipyard. In NDSM Nursery Square, a project by Studio Makkink & Bey they looked at daily activities at the NDSM shipyard asking how they could reprogram them through cultural activities.
From October 2019, there was a temporary square to visit where there was space to intervene with a flexible infrastructure and influence the behavior in the shipyard's public space. The square therefore never looked the same, moved with its visitors and was sometimes coloured by artists in residence. For example, park furniture could be borrowed and there were singers and artists who sang to the sailors during rush hour in September.
Artist Antoine Guay built a bread oven in a container, after which the bread baked therein was distributed to visitors on a number of Saturdays in exchange for a nice gesture or action. City poet Gershwin Bonevacia spent a while at Nursery Square as a “poet-in-residence”. A documentary was also shown in the Nursery Square of Nina Swaeny Cherry. And because this was also a public square, by and for Amsterdammers, designer Jurgen Bey and curator Jules van den Langenberg also invited local residents and parties at the shipyard to make their own programming proposals.
The NDSM-Werf Foundation is back with a podcast, but this time with a new look! In this three-part series, The Plotcast, architect Afaina de Jong explores Amsterdam-Noord. The goal: to gather ideas for a design for an empty plot on NDSM.
From a second-hand clothing store to a new coffee shop, podcast creator Jesper Buursink and architect Afaina de Jong explore a lot of interesting places in Tuindorp-Oostzaan in episode 2 of De Plotcast. What would these northerners want to see on this vacant lot, formerly the location of Sexyland and the old shipyard club? A watchtower for people watching? Tree houses or other places to play around? Listen along to some wonderful stories in part two of the triptych, “Cranes and Front Gardens.”
With the ideas from this podcast in mind, Afaina de Jong is making an architectural intervention that will be installed at the NDSM shipyard in 2022.
Interview: NDSM (Come To) Light artists Alice Wong & Crys Leung
tekst:
Editors
This winter, the NDSM-werf Foundation presents (Come To) Light, an exhibition consisting of three light works by international artists. With their works, they shed light — literally and figuratively — on topics and people that are important to them. Who or what should be visible in the public space?
In this edition, we speak with visual artists Alice Wong and Crys Leung. Anyone who recently took an evening walk at NDSM may have already passed their new project without even realizing it: the work Cohesion is because it is so big that it cannot be seen at a glance.
How did this project start for you?
Alice (A): Last August, we were asked to participate in this open-air exhibition. At that time, we were on a summer vacation together. We had never done a project in the public space before, but we decided: “Why not?” This is the seventh project we're working on together, and we were excited to challenge ourselves with something new.
It's always fascinating to work with a new medium. I call myself a “story designer”: I love to embed narratives in my work, and it works well to use different media for that. If a certain story is best told in a podcast, I'll create a podcast. If it needs to be shown with a chair, then I'll push myself to make a chair. If it has to be a circle, we'll make a circle.
What a nice, open-minded attitude! How did a concrete idea come about then?
Crys (C): We had to think deeply about how best to make a work of art for the public space. We wanted to do something that wasn't too technical, with lots of wires and cables.
A: We also focused on the text that explains “(Come To) Light”: it was about inclusivity, visibility, bringing people together, about what is seen and what is not. After that, we sat in a café for a few days and thought about this in the context of NDSM. We agreed that this is a place where everything happens, but also a place that people call home. For many people — from migrants to artists — NDSM has been a kind of gateway. What histories does this area have, how can we bring them together, and what should be visible here after this pandemic? That's when we decided to name the project “Cohesion”.
When you stand next to it, you can't see exactly what it is
C: It was not an option to use high-end technology, such as cables, programming, TV screens, or anything else that is susceptible to damage.
A: We wanted to make something analogous that, as a medium and concept, still manages to bring people together well. At one point, we looked at the NDSM map and asked ourselves, “Why don't we just create one big circle?” The first idea was to create a huge shape, almost one kilometer wide, that would cover the slopes and various buildings such as the Hilton hotel. That was kind of our male ego talking; we wanted to do something really big and paint the walls all over.
C: That's when we were confronted with reality. We couldn't just place a piece of art in so many places, so we made the circle smaller. That's when we started glow-in-the-dark paint to consider, or thermoreactive material, or anything that would invite people to touch the work.
So the goal was to keep it analog yet interactive?
A: Yes, it was supposed to surprise people and make them wonder, “What is this about?” We wanted to make something light-reflective.
C: Next, we spent a lot of time researching materials — a big part of this project. We've reached out to suppliers in many different countries to find material that can withstand wind, rain, and outdoor temperatures. This turned out to be 3M Stamark road marking tape.
A: We needed a lot of help from friends. Making the proposal, writing out the concept, setting up the material inventory; it all took a lot of math. Without the help of all these people, we would not have been able to make this circle.
C: And since the project is called 'Cohesion', it has even more meaning.
Can you tell us more about what 'Cohesion' symbolises?
A: We've created a circle that's too big to see at a personal glance — that's what it starts with. When you stand next to it, you can't really see what it is exactly. A line? A circle? Am I inside or outside? We want people to ask themselves these kinds of things and give them different meanings.
We can't really judge the things we see until we look at them from different perspectives and have the full picture in front of us. Especially nowadays, everyone clings to different information, assuming that what we know is the correct version. But we seldom realize that one perspective isn't always better than the other — it's often just the knowledge that fed us or what we've been told. Together, all these perspectives contribute to our reality, and that is what the circle should symbolize. In addition, by placing the circle in this specific spot, we remind the audience that, despite our differences, we must keep coming together in physical space.
The work already brought people together, even when it wasn't there yet
How do people respond to work?
C: People respond to it in different ways. Sometimes they come to us to talk to us. But today, people also started parking their cars next to the line — something they're more likely to do if the line is a little thinner. That way, it matches their perception of real signage. And when we swept the ground before we could attach the road marking tape, we received compliments from some police officers for keeping the area clean.
A: All these public reactions and incidents made us realize that even though we created the whole circle, it's impossible even for us to see the full picture, and therefore the different ways of dealing with it.
What's it like for you to show work in the public space? What do you find valuable or important about that?
C: This is the first time we've done a project in public space, and also the first time we've talked to so many different people throughout the process. Because we do something with the surface on which people walk, everyone had to cooperate. At one point, a car was in the way, and we had no choice but to go find that person. After all, it's hard to keep drawing a circle if you skip a piece and the lines are no longer connected.
Would you like to work in the public space more often?
C: We could certainly do it again, but maybe on a smaller scale. In the future, we will also take more account of external factors, such as weather conditions.
A: Working in public spaces means working automatically with many different people, and that requires commitment from all sides. That can be challenging, but it also brings cohesion.
By doing this project and talking to a lot of people, we became part of this area ourselves. And our recognisable, bright green suits helped with that, too. The process itself became almost a performance in itself. It's not like people wake up on a Monday morning and work is suddenly there. As we worked on it, ran around and widened the circle bit by bit, people started questioning it. So that's another layer: the work was already bringing people together, even when it wasn't finished.
C: Sometimes, however, we couldn't keep talking to people; we don't have all day, and the project has to be completed! Until last week, this led us to the following conclusion: the circle is the result, but cohesion is the process.
The exhibition '(Come To) Light' can be visited free of charge at NDSM in the winter of 2021 - 2022, with different durations and dates per work.
Credits and references
Lees
Interview: NDSM (Come To) Light artists Alice Wong & Crys Leung
The NDSM-werf Foundation is back with a podcast, but this time with a new look! In this three-part series, De Plotcast, architect Afaina de Jong explores Amsterdam-Noord. The goal: to gather ideas for a design for an empty plot on NDSM.
What another one is it. Jesper Buursink and Afaina de Jong meet a man who has lived in Tuindorp Oostzaan for 80 years, also speak to someone who only came to live there last week, but a tarot reader is also being challenged. In the episode, you'll find out what fantastic and original ideas these people have for the future meeting place on the currently vacant lot. Maybe an adult paddling pool? Learn everything in this 3rd edition.
With this episode, we close the triptych 'Cranes and Front Gardens' and say goodbye to podcast maker Jesper Buursink. But don't worry, because The Plotcast will keep going on for a while! To do this, we are moving from Tuindorp Oostzaan to the plot on NDSM where Afaina de Jong goes out with the guys from Radio Noord Amsterdam. It will be heard in two weeks.
The NDSM-werf Foundation is back with a podcast, but this time with a new look! In De Plotcast, architect Afaina de Jong explores Amsterdam-Noord. The goal: to gather ideas for a design for an empty plot on NDSM.
Drum roll, because episode four of the Plotcast can be listened to. And this time, it was included on the plot itself! Together with the men at Radio Noord Amsterdam, Afaina de Jong searched for the needs of residents, passers-by and people who work at the NDSM shipyard and their thoughts for the currently empty lot. Maybe a park for animals and plants, where once upon a time we are not dominant as humans? Or will it be a place with the role of capturing CO2? On the other hand, a mini festival site isn't such a bad idea either...
In this episode #4, also called “Plot in North”, there is plenty of inspiration that allows Afaina de Jong to get started. One glimpse of the veil; the podcast also features singing here. So it's definitely an episode not to miss!
Interview: program maker and curator Isabeau Keurntjes
tekst:
Editors
Visuals: Randy da Costa, Gert Jan van Rooij
This winter, the NDSM-werf Foundation presents (Come To) Light, an exhibition consisting of three light works by international artists. With their works, they shed light — literally and figuratively — on topics and people that are important to them. Who or what should be more or less visible in the public space? In this interview, we speak with Isabeau Keurntjes, producer, program maker, event manager, and curator for some time now. In collaboration with a diverse selection of artists, she combined the themes surrounding (Come To) Light in an exciting opening program on November 12.
Can you tell us more about your background and your experience as a curator?
My background is mainly in event management and production. I've been circling the hospitality industry for about ten years, but at some point I also started doing events — for example in the A'DAM Tower. I haven't been working as a curator very long; the first major project I did was this one at NDSM. Via Serginho (Stekkel, ed.), I ended up at the NDSM-werf Foundation. The ensuing conversation was about giving opportunities to new curators. That was absolutely right for me, because I've been doing events for a long time, but had never put together a program of this format myself.
However, as operational manager of the Members Club at the A'DAM Tower, I was already involved in community-focused and social events — a big contrast to the commercial events I've always done — and I noticed that I felt very much at home there. I want to devote part of the time I spend in this sector to events that mean something to many different Amsterdammers.
I do my job because I want to create an unforgettable experience
Corona is a big one for many people switch been. Many event managers, including me, had to quit or have a lot downtime had. That makes you wonder: when everything starts up again afterwards, what do I really want to do with this work?
Where do you get inspiration from as a curator? And what ambitions do you have when it comes to curating in the future?
I think that the value of what curators do — bringing people together through events — is underestimated. I've always said I do my job because I want to create an unforgettable experience for people. I want to touch people with a story. In that regard, a program must be right in every aspect and ensure that you are included in a story.
That's why I find it so interesting to combine my work as a curator with my experience as a producer and event manager. If the story and experience are both correct, the program will be unforgettable. I'm constantly looking online for artists and how they've been brought together at events that have already taken place.
You just turn on your Spotify, but what you don't get is the artist's entire process
What aspect of the work and the identity of curators and creators do you prefer to make visible?
In addition to the fact that people and themes were highlighted by the creators of the (Come To) Light artworks, we wanted to highlight not only individuals, but also certain professions and types of work in this program. Anna (Martinova, stage name Tulpa Dusha, ed.), for example, did a performance with live synthesizers. She thus explains the labour and expose the process of making music. Among other things, we wanted to show how many artists can't hide behind one work of art.
It's so easy for us these days. You quickly turn on your Spotify, but what you don't get is the entire process of the artist behind it. That is so understudied today. Actually, we also wanted to work with a scenographer — someone who designs plays with costumes, sets, lights, you name it. At the end of a theater performance, everyone claps and the actors are the recipients of this applause. But the scenographers are actually never in the spotlight, even though they are such a big part of it. A lot of the artists I know are very humble. They do such beautiful work, but are not exposed to enough light.
Would you describe a program as a total work of art that brings together all kinds of artists?
Absolutely. Everything you see in a program contributes to a (hopefully) unforgettable experience. We also tried to show that in this program, and it's something I try to do with every other event.
At the opening of (Come to) Light, you and Serginho Stekkel presented a number of performances about creating light and giving light. This was provided by Gershwin Bonevacia and Alistair Sung (spoken word + cello), Charissa Chotoe and Soortkill, Tulpa Dusha (synthesizers) and Charmaine Wartes (music). A very diverse list. What made you choose these names and settings? What was the main idea behind this?
As a program maker, you make a lot of considerations. I would like diversity — in the sense that all cultures are represented — to be a matter of course in every program. We are talking about Amsterdam's public space here. Of course, NDSM belongs to the North district, but for this program, I also liked to invite Soortkill from the Bijlmer, for example. Normally, he wouldn't come to NDSM so quickly, but I think it's important to bring people from different corners of the city together.
Gershwin (Bonevacia, ed.) is a vocabulary artist. He can tell the complete story so beautifully, and that makes the whole thing even stronger. But especially when a program takes place in the public space, it goes beyond a single artist and must reflect the relationships of the entire city, for example with regard to the participation of men and women and different cultures and backgrounds.
You recently participated in the very first edition of NDSM's Young Curator program, where we annually ask “young” or not so experienced program makers to put together a program or event. Here we are looking for programs that connect to the shipyard as a cultural place, but with an urban and industrial character in which public space, outdoor programming, is the starting point. What is the importance of young people in the field of curatorship for you?
If we want public space to offer space for polyphony (an important spearhead of Stichting NDSM-werf, ed.), it is important that there are curators who also attract younger people to a program. My age group connect not always good with a museum or an exhibition. By putting together a program that is indeed inviting for young people, you contribute to who they are, to their inspiration and their social, cultural and social development. That's why the story should appeal to them, and if the curators themselves are also young, this connecting function is filled more quickly.
Credits and references
Visuals: Randy da Costa, Gert Jan van Rooij
Lees
Interview: program maker and curator Isabeau Keurntjes
The NDSM-werf Foundation is back with a podcast, but this time with a new look! In this five-part series, De Plotcast, architect Afaina de Jong explores Amsterdam-Noord. The goal: to gather ideas for a design for an empty plot on NDSM.
Success not guaranteed
What else can you do as an architect in a market where every creative expression is expressed in monetary value, and area development contributes to gentrification more often than not? In this latest edition of The Plotcast called “Success Not Guaranteed”, we take a step back. We zoom in on the plot for which Afaina de Jong will design an “inclusive public space”. But how do you do that? As an architect, how can you still make an impact in a place where there are so many balance of power and interests?
Together with Veerle and Catherine from the Response Podcast, Afaina reflects on this task and its wider context. In addition, we also get to know the shipyard a little better with Petra Heck (curator at the NDSM-werf Foundation) and Erik van der Paardt (Erik's House).
With this episode, we conclude the series The Plotcast. We thought it was a great adventure and hope you experienced it that way too!
After a number of audio experiments, we're back this year with a brand new season of NDSM X. At the end of 2021, we spoke to Serginho Stekkel and Isabeau Keurntjes (unfortunately by phone): the guest curators of the opening of (Come To) Light.
There must be more space for (new) talent in Amsterdam North
We spoke to them about their inspiration for this program, but also the need for good creative facilities for a young target group in Amsterdam-Noord. They also give a little glimpse into their own plans for the future.
In the second episode of this season, we speak with Peter Scheer, director of SEMilla Sanitation. With them, we are setting up a sustainable toilet block at the shipyard.
Maybe we'll use your urine for a cleaner shipyard soon
Using technology inspired by space travel, they reuse our poop and pee to make the shipyard more sustainable. Peter explains exactly how that works in this new episode of NDSM X.
If you've been walking around the shipyard on Fridays in the past few weeks, you may have seen them standing there. Two friends who are cooking large pots of soup on gas stoves.
The two friends, Jasper Van Den Berg and Roel Wouters, sell this soup for a good cause. Under the name Mirror Soup Kitchen, they mirror the same soup dishes at the shipyard every Friday as those of the activist artist collective. Kukhnia from the Ukrainian city of Lviv.
This collective cooks simple, vegetarian soups from home and distributes them to war refugees or other people in need. They now do this from 7 locations in Lviv.
Because direct access to goods and money is currently very difficult in Lviv, Roosje Klap and her network ensured that, with the proceeds from Mirror Soup Kitchen, among other things, a large truck full of necessary goods and grains and two coaches could be sent to Lviv. They took more than a hundred people fleeing back with them.
The NDSM-werf Foundation strongly supports this initiative and on May 5, 2022, we will host a XL Edition at the Tower of Babel.
Direct remote support
The idea for Mirror Soup Kitchen came about more than two years ago when, in Beirut, Rani Al Rajji, a friendly club owner, started cooking for his community in the devastated center of the city. The explosion in the port was the last push to stop dancing but to prepare and serve hundreds of simple meals a day from his club. To support him, neighbors Jasper van den Berg and Arne Hendriks decided to mirror exactly these recipes every week from their homes and sell them to their friends and people in the neighborhood. This way and regularity ensured that attention was maintained at the place of urgency and did not fly away with time.
Want to cook soup yourself?
Have you become enthusiastic to help yourself, but don't live near the NDSM shipyard? Then you can now recreate the recipes at home. Download here the first recipe and read how you can also find and cook other Kukhnia recipes. Invite your friends and family and let's make sure we pick up as much as possible together for Kukhnia 💙💛
Creative multi-talent Jasper Van Den Berg is one of the initiators of the Mirror Soup Kitchen. With this initiative, he raises money for the victims of the war in Ukraine by selling soup. The money will directly benefit an artist collective in Lviv, which cooks exactly the same meal soup there, but for victims of the war.
A more social world starts with you
But Jasper does much more, and we also talk to him about that in this new episode of NDSM X. A thread running through his projects: collective with a social character. Because Jasper had so much to say, we decided to split this conversation into two parts. From now on, part 1 can be heard, where he talks, among other things, about his involvement in Sexyland and how an initiative such as Mirror Soup Kitchen came about.
The NDSM-werf Foundation strongly supports this project and on May 5, 2022, we will host an XL edition at the Tower of Babel.
From Open Call to multi-functional basketball court
Anyone who walked across NDSM on a sunny day last year saw enthusiastic dunk attempts, spontaneous competitions and professional moves. Since we worked with our partner 3×3 Units, who are committed to empowering young people through street basketball, have created a 3X3 Legacy Court at the shipyard, it is in full use. By young and old, local residents, artists and casual passers-by. By: Ewa Scheifes, program maker Stichting NDSM-werf
After a year and a half of intensive use, the field needed repair, and we also think it's time for the location to get a new, fresh look. The enthusiasm for the field was also so great that we would like to create an additional 3X3 field so that more people can play. That's why we thought it was the right time to make our long-term dream of transforming the spot where the field lay into a visually appealing, multifunctional living space come true. A space that amazes — for example, is the basketball court also a changing canvas for art? A public place where functions intersect, for example, imagine the field transforming into a festival stage or a hang out and meeting point during events.
For example, is the basketball court also a changing canvas for art?
In our search for who would best design a suitable and exciting concept for this — do you ask an architect, designer or graphic artist? — during a conversation with 3X3 Unites, the idea came up with a Open Call to launch. Anyone who felt addressed by the call was allowed to come forward and experience was not required, but a sharp vision was. In this way, we also hoped to reach creatives who are not yet on our radar and discover new names unknown to us.
What's next?
Mission accomplished; in the end, we received 25 applications from individuals, duos, collectives and agencies. The submissions came from the community at NDSM, from Amsterdam and the whole of the Netherlands, but also from Copenhagen and Berlin, among others. Our inbox was filled with original ideas for crossovers, declarations of love to basketball as a metropolitan street sport, and visual references for the location. From these submissions, we have chosen three parties that we are most curious about, they were invited to make a sketch proposal.
Our inbox was filled with original ideas for crossovers and declarations of love
Because we like to be surprised and are looking for distinctive concepts, we deliberately chose three parties with different starting points and expertise, namely from architecture, spatial design and visual arts. With them, we shared a briefing with a number of hard preconditions that the concept must meet, and a set of soft values that can be played with. For example, we think of original ways of greening, circularity and sustainability, how festivals can also make use of the site and the multi-functionality of the space.
In the next phase, they will present their idea in a short pitch to the team at the NDSM-werf Foundation, 3X3 Unites and potential other partners, after which we will see which concept best suits the site. This includes whether the preconditions have been met, but also whether the idea emotionally has the “NDSM factor”, matches the appearance and use of the shipyard, and whether circularity and sustainable use of materials were taken into account in the design. The sketch proposals will be presented at the beginning of June, and in mid-June we will know which designer (s) we will be collaborating with to come to an executable design!
This is the continuation of the conversation we had with multi-entrepreneur and artist (depending on how his hat looks that day) Jasper van den Berg.
A more social world starts with you
Jasper talks about his latest project 'the solidarity housing fund'. An idea resulting from his own realization that, from a privileged position in the housing market, he contributed to the situation as he is today. He wanted to do something about this and — together with friends, of course — came up with a new plan to keep the city livable. He explains exactly what this means in the second part of the conversation we had with him.
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