Het begin
On Tuesday January 13th, 2009 we came together in getting to know each other and to tell
each other our story in our experiences of migration. We also constructed the first draft of
how the exhibition could develop. Not all the artists could be present. Dirk de Bruyn lives in
Australia and Renée Ridgeway had to be in New York. Through Skype we tried to include them.
Unfortunately, this did not work out with Renee, but Dirk came through well, even if the
projection of the picture on the wall was somewhat blurry. But we could see him and speak
freely together. You will see the group sitting around the computer, starting from the left:
Tiong Ang, David Bade, Nancy Hoffmann, Kitty Zijlmans, Dineke Huizenga, Sonja van
Kerkhoff, on the wall Dirk de Bruyn. And Rudi Struik was the camera man.
Synopsis
The Unwanted Land, Migration Experience
Proposal for a collaborative artistic project
[Rudi Struik, draft June 2008]
Confirmed Contributors:
Tiong Ang (artist, Amsterdam)
David Bade (artist, Curaçao/ Amsterdam)
Dirk De Bruyn (Deakin University Australia)
Sonja van Kerkhoff (artist, Leiden)
Renėe Ridgway (artist, Amsterdam)
Rudi Struik (artist, Leiden) & guest curator
Affiliated: Prof. Kitty Zijlmans (Leiden University)
Dineke Huizenga
Venue: Museum Beelden aan Zee, Scheveningen
Time: September-December 2010
Project Rationale
The Unwanted Land will be an interdisciplinary artistic and research project reflecting upon the issue of migration, and national and international identities. It will involve artists and researchers who all have first hand experience of migration.
Project Outcomes
The major outcomes of the project:
(1) An exhibition
(2) Workshop – The Unwanted Land: Stories of Migration
(3) Educational project
(4) Symposium
(5) Publication
Project Statement
After World War II, a large number of Dutch people emigrated to Canada, Australia and New Zealand to find a better life. Prospects for work and housing were extremely bad in the post-war era, and the countries mentioned above badly needed skilled workers. Many went and built a new life, some prospered, others were less fortunate. A good fifty years later, the Netherlands is as prosperous as it has been for many centuries and it has witnessed the arrival of a massive amount of migrants (including labourers and asylum seekers). At present, the Netherlands is a county of both emigration (still quite a number of people leave for other countries) and of immigration. For whatever reason of migration and wherever you come from, the experience of relocation never leaves you.
The project will explore, reflect upon and present in a variety of art forms how migration has a profound impact upon both people and countries.
(C) 2008 - Alle rechten voorbehouden