4th May 2003 - Sunday
Noordplein
15.30 to 16.30
team Daniela

For today I had an appointment with Daniela, that is been working with a street in the north of Rotterdam, the Zwaanshals, doing several art projects and interventions with and for the inhabitants and users of that street. She invited me to come one day and bring my puppet theatre and since I haven’t been in the north with it, I was quite excited with the idea.
We both new that the best day would be a shopping day, which means a Friday or Saturday, but the weather hasn’t been helping, and we wanted to be a nice event for everyone.
For a week it was been either raining or extremely windy, which got us to Sunday with no possibilities, but since it was almost summer temperature today, we expected a lot of people just walking around, and we decided to meet at the Noordplein at 15.00

I took the tram, to the north, and for my surprise a circus was installed in the middle of the square, nice! Waited for Daniela that came with 2 friends and we went to check the Zwaanshals street and see how was the movement. With all the commerce closed nobody was around, thus we decided to put it in the Noordplein , in front of a few benches where almost 15 people were seated. Because of the wind, I knew what to expect, stand next to the structure to prevent it from falling and I have a few talks with passers-by.

Daniela brought, as we agreed before, her video camera, so today was the first time we recorded motion images of the event. I was always reluctant to do so, because I thought it would work as a double effect, to participate in this structure is already to be under a “spot light”, to play and be filmed is double exposure. But yet, I decided to have the proof.

We opened the structure, and all the skating, cycling running kids came and gather around with immense questions, and wanting to play. I discovered today, that even that I always had a lot of kids interested in engaging they didn’t do it so much, because they don’t speak English, and my Dutch is not enough to inform and keep them interested, but today, with Daniela there mediating this talks, and interact as an audience the kids played for a long time, answering back her questions. Adults stopped to watch the play, but when there children already playing, they wouldn’t think on playing, because it’s a kids game. Anyway, we manage to gather a group of people discussion about the platform, the puppets, the reason. The filming was taken quite naturally from the children’s part, also because they are hidden by the structure, so in a way not so aware of a camera or audience.

People were quite curious though, even if just a small amount of people passed by. One men at one point thought I was somehow connected to the circus next to us, and wonder how we would justify it to the police if they asked what we were doing there. After asked if he could keep Bin Laden’s puppet figure, as I answers not, he was satisfied with a picture of him holding one of the most ‘wanted’ man in the world.

After trying hard to keep the show on, it was evident that it would be any better, or useful to anyone actually, we decided to move it further to the street, or just spot in front of a terrace and ask the costumers if they would like to play, nobody did. Obviously in such a sunny day, everyone is just out shopping in the center, or in a park. We consider going to one, but the day was to experience the north, and it went as it did, the park will be for a next day, I guess. Not so sure, because the war issue is over and the platform used to star the :lords of the war” as become obsolete, time to move to another issue, and find new ways of discussing the aftermath of all this. Has one of the kids stated today- speaking for Balkende – Alle mensen, women, mothers fathers, brothers and sons are dead – alle mensens zijn dood in Baghdad!

posted by carla at 6:47 PM