Artists residency, exhibition and radio project

Valerie Van Leersum, an artist from NDSM in Amsterdam, will be our resident artist for the SITE Festival Open Studios. Valerie Van Leersum has been creating a body of work, since 2002, driven by her search of the meaning of the concept of home and the relationship between the ground and identity. For this she uses objects, text, audio, collages and photography in order to convey their work in a fruitful and specific way. The work moves between the ‘factual’ history on the one hand and the subjective experience on the other, between documentary and imaginary. In 2007 Valerie Van Leersum built her studio at the former NDSM shipyard in Amsterdam. Inspired by the ideas of artist Contant Nieuwenhuys, New Babylon, this yard has been turned into the largest cultural breeding ground in Europe. A place that now tries to maintain it’s independence within the advancing city. Under the theme of Places in Drift, Valerie Van Leersum will show work that is based on the transitions of the NDSM wharf and Stroud own transition grounds.

Valerie will work with artist Tara Downs, who lives in Stroud and Amsterdam to make and transmit podcasts from Valerie’s studio at NDSM to the gallery at SVA. Tara will interview artists from NDSM and other cultural places in Amsterdam as well as philosophers, anthropologists and visionaries about urban places in transition. Valerie will also make podcast interviews with artists and visitors in response to the show. The podcasts will be available online and to listen to in the gallery.

SVA has followed the evolutionary history of artist run spaces in UK and Europe and was particular inspired by the story of artist spaces set in the industrial docklands of Amsterdam after meeting Bert Hogervorst and Peti Buchel, in 1998, who wrote Turning Tide: The Users Role in the Redevelopment of Harbour Buildings in North-West Europe.

Preview:  Friday 4th May 6-9pm
Opening times: Sat -Sun 11am-6pm and Weds-Fri 11am-3pm

Blog