The Mobile Project Office OpTrek
In the summer of 2002 this temporary (non-profit) organisation of artists
moved into the multicultural district, Transvaal, close to the city centre in
The Hague. In the coming years, the municipality of The Hague plans to demolish
and radically restructure this neighbourhood as part of an urban development
plan. OpTrek is concerned about the many all-embracing social and spatial changes
and their consequences for the neighbourhood and its residents. OpTrek is interested
in the political background and wider context in which these developments will
take place.
For a period of three years, OpTrek has set for itself the goal of visualising
the social and urban-development transformation in Transvaal through works of
art designed to reach a wider public. In this regard, we are inviting other artists/architects
to realise projects in the public spaces of the neighbourhood. With this effort,
we would like to contribute to the general discussion about future developments
of urban space, along with posing the question of what position artists could
take in such situations.
The municipal plans for urban-renewal areas, such as Transvaal,
are embedded in a development that is currently taking place not
only in the Netherlands, but also in other European cities. It
is a dynamic that has come about as a result of globalisation processes.
Cities are competing with the international market. The idea behind
city branding is to help hype up the images and make cities more
appealing to certain target groups. Low-income residents who live
in old city districts on expensive land, which are close to city
centres, must make way for wealthy owners who can afford to buy
the new houses that spring up after the large-scale demolition
of the old districts.
Remarkably, as part of municipal urban-renewal policy, artists
are purposely being employed at home and abroad during this interim
stage of demolition to new building to upgrade the districts. The
aim is to delay the delcine of the districts, to keep the streets
livable and safe, as well as to attract potential buyers through
the artistic aura. In this way, art will be used to brighten the
difficult period between demolition and new building, by helping
to mitigate the effect on people who are being forced to leave
their residential environments.
The
mobile project office, OpTrek, is aware of this policy. It primarily
takes the position
of a ‘witness’ that reflects
the locally complex situation and places it in a wider context
of urban and social developments. By means of artistic projects,
we add a visual voice to the changes in the district and focus
attention on the consequences for the residents. We record the
history of the district, the stories of the people who live there
and endeavour to expose the economic and political structures.
The Office
OpTrek’s mobile office repeatedly moves from one vacant house
to the next. It serves as a base of operations, breeding ground
and meeting place. On average, we spend six months at an address
and then, in tandem with the demolition, move to a new location.
The façade of each new mobile office building undergoes
a change designed to reflect our presence in the area. At OpTrek’s
first address on the Scheepersstraat a Japanese artist, Tadashi
Kawamata, marked the façade with a construction of floorboards
from demolished buildings in Transvaal. The construction cut right
through the windows to the interior, where Kawamata allowed the
floorboards to run through the building, creating new spaces in
their wake.
The Assignments
Besides the façade projects, we initiate an average of six
larger projects in the public spaces of Transvaal each year, along
with various smaller, spontaneous activities such as lectures or
film evenings. We commission multidisciplinary artists at home
and abroad to develop projects that reveal their visions of the
changes in the district. They can make temporary use of guest studios
in the district. This puts them in direct touch with the neighbourhood
and enables them to develop and execute their ideas. For us, the
projects are like magnifying glasses focused on the district, which
enhance the effect of unobtrusive details such as personal stories,
the current and disappearing social structures and the political
policy of the area. OpTrek alternates as initiator, mediator and
curator at the start of each project.
OpTrek does not have its own exhibition space. The projects mainly
take place in the public spaces.
The Projects
Not all projects target the same public. Alternately, we concentrate
on a project at district, city or national level. Per project
and per level, we decide which means of publicity we wish to
use to reach the desired audience: printed invitations, wall
posters in streets or e-mail messages to selected groups.
There are projects realised at district level in which the local
residents, their involvement and participation, receive full attention.
Projects at city level explore the political policy behind the
restructuring and urban developments in general. Lectures and presentations
given by OpTrek that mostly take place outside the district are
part of this level.
Around the world architects, urban-development planners and visual
artists collaborate to explore the urbanisation process and, consequently,
future urban space. OpTrek seeks national and international contacts
with related artists. With some we exchange experiences; with others,
we form a type of collaboration.
Even though the three levels have their own effects, funds and
publicity strategies geared towards a specific group, they are
mutually connected. This enables the various public groups to meet
and exchange perspectives. An important criterion with each project
is the question of whether we are in a position to achieve that.
The role of the artist
Besides the daily duties inside the organisation, such as progress
discussions with artists, publicity and funding arrangements,
we participate in the life of the district. We visit neighbourhood
meetings and other get-togethers in Transvaal to learn about
the visions, dreams, concerns and questions of the local residents.
We keep the people in Transvaal informed about our own activities
by talking with them, by publishing articles in local newspapers
and posting current information on the district website.
OpTrek is part and parcel of this lively, sometimes problematic
but always energetic, district where we engage as visual artists.
This compels us to find answers to several questions. What role
can an artist play in urban and social developments? Is it is possible
to play a significant role simultaneously in the district and in
the field of art? Through our presence in the neighbourhood and
the projects that we realise, can we create public support for
critical interventions? What are the effects? Do they come at the
expense of good relations with the municipality and the housing
associations?
Reflecting on the position of the artist in the urban-renewal
process is an important task of OpTrek. This is reflected in the
programmes and choice of artists that we invite.
OpTrek’s 2003 programme was primarily geared towards building
a network of local residents and officials, starting an audio archive
with interviews, making the organisation transparent and creating
public support in the district. In 2004 we concentrated on the
substance of formulating commissions, the working methods of the
artists, as well as the visual language and type of presentation
relative to the location in the district.
Some projects took on a political nature. For example, PIEK’s
project, Do-it-self Demolition, was geared towards the municipality’s
distribution policy.
In 2005 OpTrek developed strategies designed to utilise and reverse
the situation that occurs during the stage between demolition and
construction, when stagnation and destruction isolate the district.
The ultimate aim is to utilise the interim stage and make it productive.
The Rotterdam architect duo, Jan Konings and Duzan Doeple (RAL
2005) are working on the Hotel Transvaal project, a plan to draw
attention to the large-scale vacancy problem by utilising buildings
due for demolition as inexpensive sleeping quarters in the district,
of which there is currently a shortage.
With the project Guests of Transvaal, the artistic group WochenKlausur
from Austria launched the idea for a debating centre with a view
towards connecting the district of Transvaal to city’s cultural
centre. Their plan is to invite social and cultural institutions
to share their expertise with the district and to engage in a dialogue
with the local residents and other interested residents of the
Hague. The plan is being realised in collaboration with the Institute
for Latent Knowledge and the District Debate Council.
Four years of research by OpTrek will be rounded off with the symposium,
The Artist in Urban Renewal: lap dog or pit bull? The central theme
of this symposium is the role of the artist and the client.
We have found that artists and artists’ collectives are also
working in similar circumstances, sometimes in the same way, sometimes
using different methods. Theoretical research projects such as
the organisation, Public Space with a Roof (PSWAR) and 66 East
in Amsterdam, stand side by side with projects such as Dwaallicht
(Will o’ the Wisp) (2004-2005) from Jeanne van Heeswijk in
Nieuw-Crooswijk, Rotterdam, and Pleased to meet you Ypenburg (2005)
from Marjet Hartskamp and Tim Eshuis in 7X11, Ypenburg. There are
even autonomous approaches, such as the Artwalk project from Holger
Nickisch in Amsterdam.
Besides the different approaches, there are also recognisable
common aims: providing insight in the change processes, designating
the political mechanism around urban renewal and identifying the
special qualities of the neighbourhood and its residents.
The Hague, December 2005
Contact:
info@optrektransvaal.nl
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