Naamloos Collective presents: Hart als Zuid
After Corona silence comes sunshine
Photo by Cristóbal Pereira
Mid-October this year, our collective had to cancel the Hart als Zuid open air exhibition. Due to a chain of changing Covid-19 measures, it proved impossible to continue with our initial plan: neither the tours through Afrikaanderwijk, that would guide you through the neighbourhood along art works of our makers, nor our programme with spoken word sessions, a concert, a movie night, and panel discussion, could proceed. In such moments there’s only one thing one can do: take a deep breath, zoom out, put on a new pair of eyes and step by step find new coherence for all individual components left behind.
Meanwhile, we have been working on a different platform for highlighting the untold stories that we initially wanted to share with you. We are now, by means of a website, building a virtual public square for storytelling. As long as we cannot physically gather around, we can here accommodate the projects of Hart als Zuid. While we are in the process of constructing this space, MAMA kindly hosts our webpage here. Below, you will find a recap of our past projects, and projects yet to come:
What’s been?
URBAN MUSEUM
On the 22nd of October, artist Katerina Mavrida organised an Urban Museum workshop in NIFFO Gallery. Equipped with pencil and notebook, all participants were sent out on the streets for an inspirational walk through Afrikaanderwijk. The aim? To hunt the streets for hidden treasures: disregarded objects that are there for the taking. Like detectives, everyone set out, only to return with booklets full of sketches and notes. During a creative writing session, Katerina taught how to write stories about seemingly ordinary, worthless objects. By means of these stories, the disregarded objects found on the streets, were turned into real pieces of art! By sticking the written results next to the objects, Afrikaanderwijk temporarily turned into an urban museum. If you look well enough, you might still find some of the museum texts hanging around.
Would you like more information on the Urban Museum workshop, or the artist? Then click here.
What’s up?
FILM
On our very own YouTube channel, we are hosting an online film programme ‘On being home in Rotterdam’ – a compilation of films made by four young makers from Rotterdam (South). From Rotterdammers who recently moved here, to “original” residents from the Tweebosbuurt, from Rotterdam’s gabbers to the construction heroes of the Maastunnel: the movies discuss themes such as gentrification, migration, a feel of belonging, and community. Make sure you’ve seen the whole programme. Films are online until December 6th!
‘Who Am I Becoming’ by Natalia Papaeva, Nia Konstantinova & Yasunori Kawamatsu is a five-piece video work in which Yasunori engages in dialogue with five people who identify as immigrants living in Rotterdam. The project is dedicated to the notion of being an immigrant and the process of finding a new home here in Rotterdam.
‘But On the Other Side’ by Marlou Wirken tells the story of the Tweebosbuurt and its residents. The short documentary portraits residents in their battle of maintaining their beloved neighbourhood and homes.
‘My Tempo [Fvck Your Tempo]’ by Ana Brumat & Peckerhead is an Avant-gabber short movie about the roughness of Roffa South and its long lost Gabber subculture. We find ourselves in the midst of construction sites, rumouring around the city, where an interference of noise echoes through the air, structuring the cathedrals of mechanical symphony. Music and soundscape guiding the film are produced by Peckerhead and Madness Industry Recordings.
In ‘Do You See Me / Do I See You’ by Gijs van der Meer, we follow construction workers renovating the monumental Maastunnel of Rotterdam. The movie not only reflects upon the Maastunnel as physical construction, but also zooms in on the lives of the men who for months have been working on the tunnel’s space. What does their labour mean to them? Who are they, where do they come from, and which dreams do they cherish for the future?
What’s coming?
CREATIVE & CULTURAL SOUTH
Coming months we’ll be diving into Feijenoord’s neighborhoods again, ever searching for new stories to tell. In collaboration with photographers from South, we are collecting a series of portraits, looking for community centres, entrepreneurs, trattorias, galleries and cultural producers that provide the richness one finds in the area of Rotterdam’s South – starting within Afrikaanderwijk neighborhood. The series and interviews will eventually form an interactive map. More information follows soon!
KIDS TOURS
If only we could just gather together, in real life, and organise the tours as we had planned to. Luckily, we won’t become a virtual entity completely. Since Covid measures for kids remain gentle, we can re-develop the tours – originally for grown-ups – into children’s tours, that we will organise in coordination with primary schools and several out-of-school centres situated within the Feijenoord area. Combined with a workshop, the tour follows a route, passing the works of art that you see below. During this tour, we will collectively think of stories that make who we are.
Tours are available by the end of December. Interested? Send an email, to:
ART WORKS
Yorbi Gutierrez’ ‘Arc de Mémoire’ is situated on the Kaapstraat square, and tells a story about ownership: of your neighborhood, your home, your familiar surroundings. The sculpture is a bridge, a portal, and a canvas, where local residents, entrepreneurs, students and local artists collect their stories by means of drawings and written texts.
At Spoorweghavenplein, you will find Nikki Georgiou’s ‘The Place In-between’: an audio-installation representing the residential area of Feijenoord, by translating the neighborhood’s characteristics into sound and image. In what ways are sounds of value to a residential area, and how does sound create a sense of home and belonging?
Intimate narratives of eight characters provide the starting point for ‘Hope for South’, a spoken word series of four video works, made by our filmmaker Nabil ‘The Alchemist’ Tkhidousset. The stories are inspired by encounters with entrepreneurs, youth workers, and healthcare providers from the Feijenoord neighbourhood. The videos are part of the tours: during the walk they will be screened on various locations.
“We are what society calls us to be.”
Context
About Naamloos Collective
Hart als Zuid has been set up with Rotterdam’s South current socio-economic changes in mind. Naamloos Collective, nourished by their personal experiences there and their migrant backgrounds, set out to explore how the South’s residents perceive these changes. How do people get to know their neighbourhood? What makes people feel at home or alienated?
Hart als Zuid has come about because of the surprising perspectives and unique life stories that Naamloos Collective tracked down in conversation with the local community. By presenting these stories, they hope to stimulate awareness of the importance of ownership within one’s surroundings.
Keep an eye on our socials for the ins & outs, and further updates from Hart als Zuid.
We are story collectors who make visible the rich diversity that is present in Rotterdam’s South, by entering into dialogue with the community. We remain Unnamed and are not bound by frameworks and expectations – we are everything and nothing. Our chameleon-like identity allows us to facilitate space for marginalised communities that do not fit the norm. We do this by connecting with the surroundings and illuminating experiences that are usually silenced. “We are what society calls us to be.”
With its projects, the collective tries to address current social issues in the form of art, workshops and research. Hart als Zuid is its first outcome. The group hopes to be an inspiration to other young collectives in cities and neighbourhoods facing the same socio-economic challenges in promoting their living environment’s art and culture.
Who we are
Contact
Initiators
Nikki Georgiou
production@naamlooscollective.com
Yorbi Gutierrez
Nabil Tkhidousset
finance@naamlooscollective.com
Communication Manager
Eline Staats communication@naamlooscollective.com
Production Keymaster
Ellie Cholakova
Ambassadors Keymaster
Shearey Pinas
teamcoordinator@naamlooscollective.com
Social Media Keymaster
Sam Wullems
E-mail: info@naamlooscollective.com
Adres:
MAMA
Witte de Withstraat 29-31
3012BL Rotterdam
Naamloos Collective originated under the wings of MAMA and On the Point. Hart als Zuid is made possible in part by Creative Europe, Fund for Cultural Participation and the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds. The collective realizes its future projects under its own title.
About Networks
A growing group of makers is moulding and solidifying (inter)national connections. These networks contribute to the emergence of cross-disciplinary collaborations, that each have their own unique voice. We identify these networks and actively promote new partnerships. We operate in the background and use our knowledge to support, produce and facilitate activities that are in line with our content creed HOME | IN REALI LIFE | NETWORKS.
