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

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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

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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.

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

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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

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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.

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 💙💛

Want to stay up to date? Then follow us @mirrorsoupkitchen and @ndsm.

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?

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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

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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!