THE SPARK OF THE CITY MAKER
Struggling in the city
© Paul Scala
The last supper as an icon for the new generation? A situation where students have completed their studies but face trouble finding a job, calls for greater collaboration between the government, educational institutions and of course entrepreneurs.
>> Over the past two years, I noticed every city has its
‘guerrilla officials’, from Groningen to Maastricht and from The Hague to Enschede. They are particular people within the local government who dare to allow for experimentation within their work. They trust and give space to initiatives, and assist them in exploring the boundaries beyond traditional, rigid governmental policies.
LOOK FOR THE GUERILLA OFFICIALS THAT ARE EXPERIMENTING AND BENDING THE RULES After the ferry, we walked to NDSM - a former shipbuilding yard, which was squatted during the 1990s and now is one of the largest cultural hotspots in Europe. To preserve this place, Eva de Klerk co-authored the manifesto Stad als Casco (City as Casco) and focused on creating a lively community within the building. The
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creative community is central to the project, which also has extensive environmental ambitions including circularity. Eva helped create this community that is home to many creatives, crafters and youth, including skateboarders and theatre-makers. In her inspiring Boekman lecture in the spring of 2015, Eva described the relation to the city. ‘What a beautiful image. The city is sleeping. Maybe she lost her poles. Nothing or no one can awaken her. Then comes the artist with a gift for the city. A kiss. A soft delicious kiss on the mouth. A flowery kiss that brings back radiance, vitality and breath. A kiss is a very powerful metaphor. But I believe it takes two for a really good kiss. Must an artist do all the kissing or does the city kiss back? And what is the nature of their kiss?’ I have witnessed this struggle a lot during the past two years: City Makers reform former industrial buildings, dockyards and create meeting places within neighbourhoods whose value cannot always be captured in monetary terms.’ Those big, rough industrial buildings inspire City Makers who see them as opportunities to create new life in an area. Often times, with a vision in mind, they think outside of traditional regulations. As Mark Slegers from >>