Guerilla
Expo. 1
The
shared, battled city
Amsterdam
presents itself as a tolerant, dynamic, creative, multicultural,
high-tech- metropolis. A city with international allure, where the new
cosmopolitan middle-class is working in the areas of media, culture,
art, free time and tourism, in which they can freely live, consume and
relax (lounge). Architectural highlights, tidied -up public spaces and
high-level public utilities have to make the city attractive for
international companies
and consumer based civilians.
Behind
this image presented in tourist folders and such hides a different
reality. Because of the rise of this new middle-class, other groups
are being pushed out of the center and the 19th century-area’s. Also,
through international data streams immigrants flow into the city,
invading from all over the world. These underpaid, and
often-illegalized employees are providing the comfort and pleasure for
this new middle class to exist, and give the city her colorful
presence. This multicultural society is being appreciated ass long it
presents itself in exotic stores and colorful parties. At the moment
it leads to any "distracting" behavior, unlike the demanded
"normal" ways as defined by the Amsterdam image, and the
norms and values dictated in this image are being disturbed, the
tolerance is making space for law & order. Not only for immigrants,
but also for members of subcultures, stray cats, bums and other people
who live a life different from the defined "normal”. Creativity
is being appreciated, but it has to fit into the image that the city
has of its own, and preferably serve the purpose of the free market.
There is also space for different opinions, as long as they are
expressed at the appropriate ‘normal’ space and time.
In
this shared city, the
inhabitants give their daily life shape from their own needs, wishes
and expectations. Meanwhile battling
for their own space, because they differ in the way they choose their
path, not necessarily following the one laid out for them, and thereby
crossing borders and trespassing into forbidden territories. The
Guerrilla Expo ‘the shared/battled city' wants to exhibit this
post-modern metropolis. How do people move trough the city, which
boundaries are being crossed and in which way do people (consciously
or unconsciously) seek confrontation with the ruling authorities.
With
this we want to show that the conquering of ones own space does not
only possess 'sympathetic' emancipation-moments, but also radical and
from in some perspectives causing negative fractures. In the battled
city, for example, we see Moroccan senior women claiming a tea-home
for themselves as well as white youths spray-painting swastikas on a
mosque. Also we see Moroccan kids climbing the national monument at
the dam during a demonstration against the war in Palestine -a
monument of rejecting against, or emancipating from the 'Dutch'
normality by a marginalized group - and at the same time storming the
Krasnapolsky Hotel, just because it has a Jewish name.
Exposition
These
tensions between the shared and battled city are taken as the core
subjects for this exhibition. Because these tensions seem to surface
at the moment an event breaks the boundaries of everyday life, we want
to connect this exposition to the squatting of a building in the
center of town. The space for the exhibition will be squatted for a
week. In the middle of the free market violence, the space has to
create an oasis of astray behavior, creativity and freedom, in order
to make consumer-based Amsterdam-inhabitant or tourist realize that
there is more to the city is more than just a shopping paradise. The
action squat is not a remedy to have cheap space, but has a direct
relation to the contents of this exhibition. The Guerilla Expo wants
to literally fracture the city’s structure, but because of an
inviting composition will also melt with her environment .The
continuing process of the shared and battled city will come into the
character of the exposition in this way.
Themes
The aspects of the shared/battled city are complex and all
surrounding. To give this a little more direction, we have chosen to
focus on four themes specifically. The themes are not being viewed as
a limitation, but as an inspiration source to which new elements can
be added. It is also possible to introduce new themes.
Amsterdam
city BV
Amsterdam
is being seen more and more as a corporation, visible in the way the
city is run and large interests in it are being sold. This determines
for an important part the city’s landscape and social-cultural
development.
Ideas
for working with this theme.
The
way in which economic principles like efficiency and rationalization
increasingly structure our everyday lives. The highly educated
Amsterdam inhabitant wants to arrange his working time and free time
in the most efficient way possible and enjoy as much as possible the
limited amount of free time he has. This way of life is possible
because of an informal economy in which illegal workers keep this s
lifestyle affordable. Pakistani and Indian people run the launderettes,
people smuggle cocaine into the country with their own bodies to
provide the necessary kicks. The sale of Amsterdam as a tourist
playground to outsiders by redesigning the authentic ‘Amsterdam
Look’ (like the newly developed Dam square or the old-fashioned
lampposts along the streets).
Amsterdam
city senses:
The
image that people have of a city is not only being determined by
social causes, but also by the conscious and unconscious observations
of the senses. Also in this reality of the city we find confrontations
and entanglements that can give at times very strong impressions.
Ideas
for working with this theme.
Sound:
the pollution of sound, dying noises, the terror of the muzak and the
prohibition of music in the street.
Sight:
horizon/perspective change brought forth by the changes in your
surroundings.
Image-terror:
the publex boards.
Free
expression: graffiti, stickers, posters and tags….
Adventure.
The city as a jungle: urban exploration/psycho-geography
Amsterdam
city culture:
The
city as a multicultural stage is the very broad perspective of the
Amsterdam society presented also as the ‘happy melting -pot’. At
the same time Amsterdam is a caricature of this stage where ethnical
differences are the main cause of being excluded.
Ideas
for working with this theme.
In
the city global developments, like a victory of Galatasaray in the
Uefa Cup Finals or the occupation of Palestine by Israel, are having
their influence on the context of Amsterdam itself. In which way are
global happenings taken into this context? And how does the city shape
these events?
On
one hand the multiculturalism is being desired, on the other hand
everything that’s different is being rejected. For instance Nike is
sponsoring the so-called “panna” football (a sort of Streetfootbal)
in Amsterdam. The street credibility of foreign kids is being desired
by Nike and therefore being marketed this way. (the hope that these
foreign kids emancipate them from this exploitation can also be
considered as a desire) In the meantime foreign kids are being
projected as” public enemy nr 1.”(like Rob Oudkerks
Cunt-Moroccans)
Amsterdam
controlling everything
The
controlling of the city life is making sure that only the preferred
norms of city behavior are possible. People that don’t fit up to
these norms, like bums for instance, are not wanted at certain spots,
and are being removed. Big groups of junkies are being banned from the
inner city in an attempt to ‘clean it up’ for tourists.
Ideas
for working with this theme.
Next
to the privatization of public space resulting in the fencing off of
areas, only specific types of use of public space are being tolerated.
Several kinds of zoning, controlling the public space and its use are
happening in the city, a lot of the time driven by fear. To illustrate
this it would almost be possible to draw a little map in which the
different zones are explained: the homeless free zones, the alcohol
free zones, the violent free zones….
Social
processes of zero tolerance. Supervision and control (security cameras,
neighborhood supervisors, disciplining city furniture, etc) Forms of
repression, forbidding demonstrations, preventive arrests.
Practical
For
some time already a team of 7 people are preparing this exhibition.
Now the time has come to attract more people want to join this
project. We would like to ask you to also give a contribution. You
could work on any of the mentioned themes or an aspect of one of them.
You’re free to connect these themes or create new themes and work on
them on your own or with others. You have complete freedom in the
shape you choose for your part, though our preferences are going out
too a fine arts exhibition and we want to avoid long amounts of text.
The
Guerilla Expo is going to take plaice somewhere in September,
depending also on when we will be able to squat an appropriate
location for the expo. We are hoping to have all the individual
contributions in at the end of august. In the middle/end of June we
would like to meet with everyone interested and exchange ideas.
De
Vrije Ruimte and Autonoom Centrum