Stroom Den Haag
COORDINATOR ANTHROPOLOGY OF PUBLIC SPACE RESEARCH PROGRAM
‘Starting from the visual arts, architecture, urban planning and design the program of Stroom Den Haag – founded in 1990 – focuses on the urban environment. The topic of ‘being public’ is the connecting factor between many of Stroom’s activities. Stroom mediates, advises and offers suggestions to artists and supports a large number of projects in public space.’
https://www.stroom.nl/paginas/pagina.php?pa_id=9487473
From January 2020 – 1st of July 2021 I coordinated the ‘Anthropology of Public Space’ research program at Stroom Den Haag (on a freelance basis. 1 day a week). Anthropology of Public Space was about how art can relate to public space in this day and age. I wrote a position paper and coordinated 2 program parts:
DE STAAT VAN VERZORGING
Date: 1st of November 2020 – 18th of april 2021
Artists: Jack Engelbrecht, Koen Kievits, Jakob van Klinken, Mirjam Linschooten, Constanze Schreiber
Artist Bram Kuypers was involved in the proces of concept development as well. The Hague based artist Rachel Bacon was involved as coach and advisor.
De Staat van Verzorging researched the importance of nature in municipal policy. How are national and local ambitions reflected in the way in which a city uses and promotes nature in public space? The various sub-studies of the research project can be found on the project website https://staatvanverzorging.nl/
More information: https://www.stroom.nl/activiteiten/manifestatie.php?m_id=6984864
Posters & photos © Group De Staat van Verzorging. These posters could be seen hanging in public space of The Hague from 22nd of March – 18th of April 2021
As projectmanager I edited the texts for the project website and wrote a text for the Stroom Den Haag website. I preprared the budget for the management team’s consultation, made an order confirmation for all the artists involved, asked artist Rachel Bacon if she would be willing to act as coach, kept the budget, was in constant consultation with the artists and approached the press (directly resulting in local newspaper Den Haag Centraal writing an article about the project).
Press: newspaper Den Haag Centraal, author: George Vermij, 8th of April 2021
De Staat Van Verzorging Den Haag Centraal
WALKING SEMINAR THE HAGUE
Date: January – end of June 2021
Curators: Dirk-Jan Visser, Christian Ernsten
With this project Stroom offered people a glimpse into the city of the future via four audio tours (podcasts). The podcasts/walks were composed by heritage researcher Christian Ernsten and documentary photographer Dirk-Jan Visser. Using walking as a methodology, Ernsten & Visser wondered what the current design of public space entails and how we make use of public space as a place for encounters, and thus for the coming together of people and ideologies.
Between April-June 2021 4 seminars were organized, in 4 different parts of The Hague. For each seminar an artist and a scientist were assigned to conduct research related to the specific theme of the seminar.
Walking Seminar 1: Water in the city
Participants: artist Henriette Waal and geographer Clemens Driessen (Wageningen University).
District: Stadsdeel: Centrum-Segbroek
Length: 7 km
Starting point of the walk was the project ‘Het zichtbaar maken van de bron van de Haagse Beek’ (1992) bij artist Krijn Giezen. The Haagse Beek was originally dug to provide the Hofvijver with fresh water from the source at Kijkduin, but has since then been heavily modified and polluted. While water boards warn of desiccation and salinisation of the landscape, drinking water companies point to the increase in microplastics and are rushing to create drought scenarios. What is the current relationship between water, natural life and the city?
Walking Seminar 2: Metabolism of the city
Participants: artist Anne Geene and environmental scientist Roy Remme (Leiden University).
District:Wateringseveld
Length: 7 km
This walk started at the ‘Bomenmuseum’ (2008) of herman de vries in Wateringse Veld. The artist, whose work focuses on the disturbed relationship between man and nature, had 300 different types of trees planted in this district. Do we realize how much the regenerative capacity of the green lungs in a city and the quality of our living environment are affected by the emission of carbon dioxide, nitrogen and particulate matter?
Walking Seminar 3: Security in the city
Participants: artist Shailoh Philips and philosopher Patricia de Vries (Maastricht University).
District: Scheveningen
Length: 4 km
The design of Spanish architect and urban planner Manuel de Sola-Morales Rubio was intended to make the boulevard of Scheveningen more attractive and safer. At the same time at present women are still intimidated on the street and safety is once again under threat. The municipality therefore intends to use digital instruments as part of its smart city program. In what way can an artist -using digital techniques – contribute to a feeling of safety in the urban environment?
Walking Seminar 4: Coloniality in the city
Participants: artist Michelle Piergoelam and archeologist Nick Shepherd (School of Culture and Society Aarhus).
District: Centrum
Length: 4 km
The history of The Hague is closely linked to the colonial past. Partly due to protest movements such as #kickoutzwartepiet and #blacklivesmatter discussions about our slavery past and decolonization have become an integral part of our public space. How will this not only change our view of the city’s past but also have an impact on the future city layout?
The conversations which were part of the seminars were recorded by Marten Minkema and afterwards made into podcasts. More information: https://www.stroom.nl/activiteiten/manifestatie.php?m_id=9810489
From July 5th 2021 on the podcasts are available via: www.walkingseminar.stroom.nl
From 5th of July 2021 on, the audience could individually walk the seminars as well, each seminar taking about 60-90 minutes. For each seminar a digital map was created on the website of Stroom Den Haag. When walking with your mobile phone through the specific area of the city, following the routing of the seminars, you could start audio fragments at certain geograpical locations hearing the artist and researcher talking about the theme which was adressed as part of the seminar.
My role: as projectmanager I wrote a project text for the Stroom Den Haag website. I also preprared the budget for the management team’s consultation, made an order confirmation for all the artists and scientists involved, kept the budget, was in constant consultation with the artists and so on.
COPYWRITER
I was assigned by Stroom Den Haag to write 4 short texts about artworks in public space of The Hague for the Art in Public Space The Hague website as well. The website came online in June 2021. Home – Buitenkunst Den Haag – Buitenkunst Den Haag (bkdh.nl)
