‘Countries do not exist, people do, that is why there are countries.‘
OPENING: Tuesday 17 May, 6 – 8 PM
On view till 4 JUNE, 2022, Tuesday to Thursday 10-18 hrs, by appointment: please drop an e-mail to indicate when you intend to visit at productie@h401.org
The two artists Merapi Obermayer and Henk Wijnen question the idea of Europe: do we need to give up more of our national identity to become European?
More than ever Europe is top of mind; in the Netherlands the national days of commemoration 4 & 5 May remind us of a founding story of the European Union, the ‘never again’. On 9th of May we celebrated Europe Day all over the continent and with the Eurovision Song contest Europeans proved their desire for solidarity. But what does this solidarity represent in the end and what are we willing to give up for others? Who is in and who is out, where does Europe start and where does it end?
The exhibition EUROPE… A NEVERENDING WORK IN PROGRESS is, like the continent itself, a work in progress, it will develop and travel further.
Poet and visual artist Merapi Obermayer (1947 Indonesië) says about her work: “The process of creating tangible objects, to which stories are attached – stories that determine the memories and how we look back on the past today – find their origin in the purely individual and personal experience.” In her work Merapi Obermayer often links a historical object that is meaningful for her to an interpretation of her memories, her own experiences and those that have been handed down to her. Her work frames these memories and adds an artistic interpretation to them. Memories from her life, her youth, her relationship to the Dutch East Indies, the legacies of the past that have been passed on to her, her family history that brought her to the Netherlands, making connections between her Dutch and Indian history: it all comes back in her work. Her work is shown in group and solo exhibitions and in 2001, her novel ‘Insulinde’s daughter’ was published by Bert Bakker publishers.
Henk Wijnen (1950 Asten NL) works independently and in collaboration with various artists in long-term projects. He has lived and worked in New York, Germany, Tasmania and Swiss after his study of art in Tilburg & ’s Hertogenbosch and as a resident at the Jan van Eyck Academy. His work features a wide variety of themes and media. In recent years it has become increasingly clear how the many different projects together form a whole in projects like ‘RESERVED-projects’ since ’78 with Jockel Heenes till 2000, ‘Wijnen RESERVED Planet’ (www.wijnen-reserved-planet.nl), ‘Tight against each other’ with Martyn Last 2006 – 2015 and ‘Monument-of- Mankind’ with Wim van Sijl, 2009 (http://www.monument-of-mankind.org/)
Merapi Obermayer and Henk Wijnen together with Bülent Evren organize the ‘Feest der Onafhankelijken’ since 2016.
Henk Wijnen bracht een reclamestandaard in voor EUROPE A NEVERENDING WORK IN PROGRESS. De titel van object is: ”With a new heart green into Europe”
De reclamestandaard bestaat uit tekst en beeld waarin een toekomstbeeld wordt geschetst voor Nederland als het groene hart van Europa.
De vraag wordt hierin gesteld ‘ben ik een Europeaan? Voel ik me een Europeaan? En wat heb ik er voor over meer Europeaan te zijn dan Nederlander?’
Er wordt een utopisch verhaal geschetst waarbij de Nederlander in samenwerking met Europa een wereldomvattende bijdrage kan leveren aan een
gezondere aarde, wat begint met de stad Emmen te verklaren als havenstad en badplaats. (In 1986 heb ik reeds Emmen aangewezen als de nieuwe havenstad van Nederland door
de stad Emmen bij hun 850 jarig bestaan in schetsontwerp een vuurtoren in opdracht te ontwerpen. Het heeft toen niet tot uitvoering van de opdracht geleid).