EUKN - European Urban Knowledge Network - “Eye on Klarendal” - Art workshops in Arnhem, the Netherlands

“Eye on Klarendal” - Art workshops in Arnhem, the Netherlands

Introduction

In the Dutch City of Arnhem, local people help come up with ideas for a piece of art in their neighbourhood. They can also help creating it.

Problem

The Klarendal district in the City of Arnhem had a negative image in the media. One of the aims of this project was to highlight some of the positive things about the area. The ‘Come on Klarendal!’ project group helped fund the launch of the project with urban policy funds, on condition that the project match this contribution with funding from other sources.

Description

Local people and local artists together create pieces of art to be displayed in a busy location in their community. A public piece of art in which they have been involved can help people identify more strongly with their surroundings. By means of the art workshop, the artist explores new sources of creativity and the participants achieve greater self-esteem. The project actively builds community involvement and raises the participation of citizens in local life.

Approach

A market stall was set up to distribute two hundred cameras to local people. The project attracted a great deal of interest. All participants were asked to take pictures depicting their lives and their perspective on the neighbourhood and make them into a scrapbook. The scrapbooks – 165 in total – which together tell the story of the neighbourhood, are displayed in the ‘De Kroon’ windmill in the heart of Klarendal. The photos have been used to produce a large artwork, in the form of a 220 m2 sheet hung on the side of the windmill. Several other artists supported Roel Simons during the project.

Results

Local people have fun getting involved in their neighbourhood and helping raise its profile.
People became more involved in the community. The exhibition featured here became a meeting place for local residents, and people became interested in the lives of those around them.
The exhibition attracted large numbers of visitors, including many local residents, and drew a lot of attention from outside the area. The scrapbooks were also displayed at a working conference on urban policy in Brussels.

The project resulted in the following learning experiences:

Don’t allow the result to be a product merely of the participants. It should be a product of the entire neighbourhood.
The process of creation is essential to the end product and to the value of this tool in the community.
The group of participants should reflect the demographic profile of the area.
The artist should preferably be local, and should be able to listen and be willing to collaborate. He/she must be good at working with different people.
Art can be expensive. It is important to bear the financial viability of the project in mind.

Resources used

The project was sponsored by both the private and the public sector.

Contact info

Eye See You! Projects
Roel Simons

Project start date

01/01/2003

Links

Source: Cities for People

Document type

case

Themes

Urban Policy > Social inclusion & integration > Community development

Keywords

Citizens' participation