Squatters 2

As part of the Cultural Capital 2001 programs of Rotterdam and Porto, Witte de With, Museu Serralves, and Porto 2001 have invited a group of international artists to make new work which explores the city and urban space. The resulting exhibition was Squatters.

The resulting exhibition Squatters consists of two parts. Squatters #1 focused on the creative use and re-use of ‘occupied space', Squatters #2 featured works which explore the city’s morphology and the experience of architectural space.

Participating artists Squatters #2: Massimo Bartolini, Alexandre Estrela, Jeanne van Heeswijk/Rolf Engelen/Siebe Thissen/Frans Vermeer, José Antonio Hernández-Díez, Rita Magalhães, Honoré d’O, Gert Robijns, William Speakman and Simon Starling.

Squatters #2 features works which explore the city’s morphology and the experience of architectural space. By describing, outlining and altering various spaces, these works visualize a series of special relations between sensory perception and the physical environment. An installation by Jeanne van Heeswijk deals with the history of the Rotterdam squatters movement. William Speakman designs a small church after Le Corbusiers Chapel of Notre Dame du Haut in Ronchamp. Inside the church, he grows tomatoes under artificial light. Massimo Bartolini emphasizes a spatial outline with the help of two thousand feet long pearl necklaces. Rita Magalhães portrays her sister as a spectator at small urban gatherings. Gert Robijns employs intricate technological means to stimulate a sense of space. Each work explores spatial forms and the ways these forms can be perceived.

Support for this exhibition stems from: The British Council, Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisbon; Fundação Luso Americana para o Desenvolvimento, Lisbon; Instituto de Arte Contemporânea, Lisbon; Istituto Italiano per i Paesi Bassi, Amsterdam; Rotterdam 2001; and Rotterdam Festivals.