Contradictions and conflicts within
urban structures are central to Stijn Van Dorpe’s art. The city serves as a
field for experiencing and experimenting with social and cultural
discrepancies. Van Dorpe uses temporary interventions in particular to reveal
the human subject’s position within the urban structures he is subjected to and
to overcome them with the aid of performative transgressions of limits and
restructurings.
During his three-month artist residency
Stijn Van Dorpe engaged with the neighborhood and city district of Tarwewijk in
south Rotterdam, where he lived and worked for the length of his residency. His
film “Shortcut Tarwewijk” documents a performance, for which neighbors and
interested others were invited to take part in a walk through the district that
is strongly influenced by migrants and largely accommodates the workers of the
local docks. Starting from his studio in the port and industrial area, the
artist conducts the participants through the district in a straight line—down
streets, across squares, and literally through living rooms, schools, churches,
youth and cultural centers. His district walk, with glimpses into both private
and public spaces, offers a vivid cross section of the area and its social
relations. From religion and culture to the personal realm, the performance
gives a direct, authentic look into the everyday lives and worldviews of the
district and its inhabitants. While “Shortcut Tarwewijk” documents the
performance, in the film “Voices” the conversations and interviews with
residents that preceded it are recited and recontextualized. Selected passages
from the interviews are read by school children in a recording studio during a
singing workshop. The contents of the passages and their reproduction by the
children reveals the gulf between the views and experiences of the interviewees
and the children’s worlds of experience. With lightness the children read out
or rhythmically sing the sometimes drastic utterances of the Tarwewijk residents-interviewees,
playfully integrating them in their musical efforts.
Christin Müller
photos installation view: Günther Dächert
photos installation view: Günther Dächert
