Diving in Deep

From the first of November till the end of SUD 2010, Dutch artist Ties Ten Bosch will live and work in Ndogpassi III, one of the more deprived area's of Douala. In this area he will open his laboratory, which will function as an atelier, gallery, shop and base for all interventions he will do in the area. 

While the theme of SUD2010 will be 'water', Ties will focus his interventions on the natural source in the center of the area that is being used for drinking, washing and cleaning. But also on the little river running through the area and the bridges that cross this river.

From the 18th of June till the 4th of July 2010, Ties was a guest at Doual'art to do his first studies. Together with Paulin Tchuenbou and Yves Makongo he visited the area of Ndogpassi a few times and was very inspired by the area and the possibilities there, but also very taken by the problems around the subject of water there. With his laboratory that he will run for a month and a half he will try to bring an ongoing energy as well as new creative solutions to get attention for the problems with the water. Attention not only from the people in the neighborhood, who will be asked for collaboration, but also attention from the visitors of the SUD.

To be continued...

Ties Ten Bosch is an artist in residence in Douala offered by Fonds BKVB

something about Water

As all over the world, water plays an important role in Douala. The city originally grew from a couple of small villages on the banks of the Wouri river. The inhabitants of these villages were known as the Sawa, ‘the water people’. It is the general belief that the people from Douala arose from the water, and since then have been living from the water and with the water. It has always been an inextricable and important part of their lives.
Many years later, under the rule of German government in Cameroon (from 1884 until 1916), the harbors of Douala were built right on the waterfront, as a result of which the people from Douala no longer had a direct access to the water and were thus deprived from their original way of living. In the development of the city that followed, the many small rivers and canals within the city were cut off from the Wouri and from each other, leaving behind a non-functional infrastructure of small canals, creating annual problems to the most poor, and often illegal residential settlements within the city.

all about SUD 2010: visiting program Doual’art

9 – 17 June 2010 Rotterdam, Amsterdam, The Hague

The visiting program All about SUD2010 in June 2010 was an effective and enjoyable week of hard work. A lot of meetings and conversations in Rotterdam, Amsterdam, and The Hague brought us steps closer to the realization of the SUD2010.

The week started on Wednesday 9th of June in Brussels where Marilyn and Didier attended the opening of GEO-graphics at BOZAR Brussels, in which Doual’art participated. The following day, after the arrival of Paulin Tchuenbou, Lucas Grandin, Marilyn and Didier in Rotterdam, everybody had the opportunity to settle in, and Ties Ten Bosch – the first Dutch official artist-in-residence to be sent out by the Fonds BKVB to Douala – got to meet his Cameroonian hosts to be. Lucas Grandin, from France, showed his Jardin Sonore Ambulant, which he built earlier in April, a mini-model of the Jardin Sonore he had built in Douala in February 2010.

Friday
On Friday, the actual visits to the various institutions started. First, we visited the Netherlands Architecture Institute (NAI) where we had an inspiring conversation with Fanny Smelik, to be followed by the presentation in TENT., where RAW foundation was invited as a guest speaker because of the possibility to rebuild the pavilion of Doual’art into a residency, in a sustainable way. Christine Eyene – curator and journalist, born in Paris from Cameroonian parents and now living and working in London – was also present. She and other the guests, joined us after the presentation for an informal welcoming diner at B.a.d foundation.

For the presentation in TENT., the people from TENT. had kindly prepared the space for the presentation, and after they had welcomed all visitors and guests, Marilyn presentend Doual’art and the aims of SUD2010. She explained the necessity of the SUD for the city of Douala, and the importance of the theme Water. Also, she introduced all artists that will be taking part in the SUD2010.

The weekend
In the weekend we spent a lot of time working on the SUD; preparing the applications, working on the planning, preparing the visiting program for the SUD2010, et cetera. Besides this serious work, there was time for some ‘fun work’, like visiting 2012 Architects, Jan Jongert and Iris de Kievit, where Christine de Baan (director of Dutch DFA) passed by to join us and meet Marilyn. We also visited the Maasvlakte 1 & 2 and the Rotterdam Waterfront to see the transformation of the Rotterdam riverside from harbor to service economy.

The last days
On Monday, we went to The Hague to visit Hivos and the Embassy of Cameroon. In Rotterdam we visited George Brugmans, director of the International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam (during the Netherlands’ first football match in the World Championship – against Denmark, Cameroon would follow later).
Tuesday 15th of June was reserved for a visit to Amsterdam, with meetings at the Fonds BKVB, the Prins Claus Fund, the Mondriaan foundation, and Raw Foundation.

After the last meeting, everyone went home one by one. Marilyn went first to Paris, Christine to London, Paulin and Didier went directly to Douala, and Lucas to France. On Thursday 17th of June, Kamiel Verschuren of ICU art projects and Ties Ten Bosch left for Douala for the Ars&Urbis 2010 and for Ties’ first part of his residency in Douala.