Underground River public art work proposal
(nelly&)theo van doesburg foundation and artist carly rose bedford reintroduce how built environments are related to water, and tap into their potential to inform cultural meaning-making and contemporary mythology. the public art work proposal “underground river” proposes a glass sculpture made from the grains of sand drilled from the many layers of the amsterdam’s sluisbuurt soil, marking the temporary ferry stop that takes people from central amsterdam to the sluisbuurt area. Download the public art work proposal and get in touch via nadine@theovandoesburgstichting.nl to join the development or sponsor the further realisation of the work.

Introducing (nelly&)theo van doesburg foundations’ publicart work programme
Since 1987 the theo van doesburg foundation strives to realise visual art projects and initiate formats that generate positions and commissions for emerging- and early career artists that studied or resided in amsterdam. based on the placemaking terrain of sluisbuurt in amsterdam since 2011, the foundation collaborates with artists to develop scenarios for different public art works in the neighbourhood currently still under construction. parallel to the building process a public programme introduces neighbours, property developers, investors and other stakeholders with ideas on six themes that are key to the identity of the new neighbourhood sluisbuurt.

construction site conversations
artists thorben grobel (spazio cura), annee grote viken, kitty maria van ekeren, elise ehry, franziska goralski, carly rose bedford, aaro murphy and philip coyne collaborate with the (nelly&)theo van doesburg foundation on their unsolicited ideas for cultural development for the yet to be built neighbourhood in the capital of the netherlands.

each directed towards a different organisation, company or property developer, the proposals tackle six different sites and topics. the (nelly&)theo van doesburg foundation seeks investment for further development and production of these public art works. the process is curated by project space reneenee and jules van den langenberg.

The artist Bin Koh created a public artwork in Amsterdam’s newest neighbourhood, Zeeburgereiland. It is located on Eef Kamerbeekstraat, between three high-rise buildings by the architects Arons & Gelauff. The work is revealed in the summer of 2022 and intended to last at least ten years. 

Entitled Table of Contents, the artwork is a tiled, concrete barbecue table that combines grotesque elements with a cosy, familial spirit. The inhabitants of the three surrounding WOON& buildings, are invited to write their favourite recipes which are integrated on a web platform by the artist. Following its completion, Koh will organise multiple events around the work with her gastronomy collective Comfort Ball, notably on the fetishisation and alienation of Asian women in Western culture. 

Bin Koh: “When I was a child, my mother would put whiteboard markers next to the glass dining table so that we could draw whatever came into our minds, directly on to the table. I’m not a product designer or an architect, but this childhood memory of eating, drinking, digesting and sharing experiences with specific objects kept flooding back to me when I was considering a public art project for WOON&.”

The work invites inhabitants to contemplate savoured memories of cooking and to share a table. People can sit together, put charcoal in the middle of the table, grill food and enjoy their meal. Inspired by the difficulty of breaking set hierarchies in Korean culture, Bin Koh considers the potential of a common table to influence social codes. In essence, the artwork is asking: what makes for an intimate setting with neighbours? What creates intimacy between people? What enables people to speak out?

The integration of a public artwork into a given place ultimately depends on the response of its users. Unlike artistic interventions that are not context-specific or have only a single function, Bin Koh has opted for a remarkably open approach. While she is inviting the inhabitants of Eef Kamerbeekstraat to participate — inviting them to write down recipes, organising future events — she is also keeping things open: the artwork is an open-ended proposal addressed to all.

The public art work is developed in the context of a collaboration between Sandberg Instituut, (Nelly&)Theo van Doesburg Foundation and BPD property development that aim to position artists and their works in the public space of Amsterdam. 

Table of Contents is a public art work in Amsterdam’s Zeeburgereiland, resulting from a public programme in which seven invited artists, the municipality, property developer, researchers and other guests took part. Other artists involved are Fabian Reichle, Niels Albers, Franziska Goralski, Kitty Maria van Ekeren, Elise Ehry, Cindy Wegner, Willem Schenk.

Interested in developing or supporting a public art work in the City of Amsterdam with the (Nelly&)Theo van Doesburg Foundation? Email info@theovandoesburgstichting.nl.