Between Blue Waves and Green Corridors

It all started in 2017 when the Municipality of Arnhem planned to demolish the artwork Blauwe Golven to make way for a new park-like layout, within its Creative Corridor or Green Corridor project. Several parties were active that either supported or wanted to prevent the demolition of the artwork.
In 2018 Hans van Houwelingen was invited by BEAR, the fine art department of ArtEZ in Arnhem to do a 6 week workshop with students that researched this situation. This grew into a two-year research project by an independently operating team of young artists, some of the involved ArtEZ students and Hans van Houwelingen made the film Tussen Blauwe Golven en Groene Corridors. The film has since been screened in leading contexts such as Sonsbeek 20-24, Dokumenta 15, and several national and international location. The aim of the film Tussen Blauwe Golven en Grone Corridors was to make the context in which this decision making process was taking place visible and tangible in a comprehensive video installation. The central question was how Dutch cultural heritage relate to the interests and responsibilities of its users and owners. What does cultural heritage mean, what is its value and who determines it? In short, which factors and actors determine the fate of cultural heritage?

From many hours of interviews with politicians, historians, local residents, schools, businesses, lawyers, heritage institutions, architects, art institutes, art lovers and art haters, one conclusion could be firmly drawn: Nobody could be found that knew exactly the rules and codes of conduct by which public art should be treated as cultural heritage in the Netherlands. Experts have more questions than answers. Stakeholders assembled arguments to further their causes. The video recordings indicate a spectacle of opinions and assumptions, often opportunistic in nature.

Usually, an artwork moves within a host of conventional institutional, cultural, economic and political frameworks. In this film, the roles are reversed, this framework plays the leading role and moves within the context of this artwork. All the actors we know as condition creators are here protagonists in an unfathomable drama. Not least, it is the interviewers themselves, the young artists who consistently also filmed themselves, who implicitly outline the contours of a new vulnerable generation in a hardened politicized artistic climate.

From March 2023, Anna Nijenhuis has been creating the performance Blauwe Golven (Blue Waves), inspired by the film Between Blue Waves and Green Corridor. In the performance, she asks the question: who and what determines the value of art? The performance will premiere at Omstand, an exhibition space in Arnhem in the autumn 2023. It will then tour various museums around the country, including Museum Arnhem. In preparation for this performance, Anna went into residency at Theater aan de Rijn.
For more information and an interview with Anna visit: Anna Nijenhuis - Theater aan de Rijn