Official opening: 5x Nederlands MIJNVERLEDEN and a look at the mine industry abroad, including Poland and Ukraine
On March 6th the official opening of the expositions 5x Nederlands MIJNVERLEDEN ( mine history) took place in Schunck in Heerlen. The Mayor of Heerlen Paul Depla, the alderman of culture of Heerlen Barry Braeken and the director of Schunck Kor Bonnema welcomed the audience and introduced in detail the background of all 5 expositions.
| Exactly 50 years ago, in 1965, Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs (and later Prime Minister), Joop den Uyl, announced the phased closure of the pits. A sudden end was brought to a period of unprecedented enterprise and prosperity. The Netherlands tackled this period of transition with exceptional drive and vigour. Unlike in neighbouring Belgium and Germany, almost every trace of the Dutch mining past was wiped out. From 1965 to 1975, a programme of modernisation known as “Van Zwart naar Groen” (From Black to Green), was put into effect in South Limburg, a course of events which knows no parallels in living memory.Now, at the very point in time when the tangible memories of older generations are themselves becoming history, the Jaar van de Mijnen 2015 focuses attention on this slice of the past with a year-long event: the ‘Year of the Mines’, or M2015.M2015 puts the lost accounts of Dutch mining history on the map, helping to preserve it for future generations.For M2015, SCHUNCK* has invited artists and cultural commentators, who deal with the past in their own unique fashion, by adding their personal processes of recollection to the collective, community-wide memory. In five presentations they offer a future for yesterday in their own special way. |
| ONDERGRONDS?! 07 March to 22 May 2015SCHUNCK* Glaspaleis / Exhibition area (+1)Daily 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. / Free admissionOét d’r SjtubContemporary artists with a personal connection to the mining region of South Limburg show how its industrial past has made its mark on their work, wittingly or unwittingly. As representatives of the third generation after the closure of the mines, its mining history has been passed down orally, either as a result of growing up in the region, or as part of their family heritage. They address issues that have become lost from the public gaze and conjure up aspects of nostalgia and identity, for example, by alluding to industrial and cultural heritage in their work. In so doing, they inspire us to make a reassessment of the past, with the aid of new depictions and unexpected twists and by adopting a different perspective on the future which is based on the present (and the past).The title, Oét d’r Sjtub (local dialect which literally means ‘out of the dust’), alludes to the complex and ambiguous task of recalling the past during collective events of remembrance, such the Jaar van de Mijnen (Year of the Mines). What would happen if the dust were simply swept away, dust (d’r sjtub), which coloured the region and its inhabitants black, not to mention their lungs? Even today, the expression ‘oét d’r sjtub make’ can also mean ‘get out of the way, get lost!’The team of artists consists of Melanie Bonajo, Roger Cremers, Chaim van Luit, Danae Moons, Sandro Setola, Su Tomesen.Roger Cremer visited Poland for his project. ‘My grandfather was a coal miner in Limburg. I grew up with the heroic stories of the pits, without ever seeing one actually working. In 2001 I decided to travel to Poland, where mines are still operating. I really wanted to get a taste of the history. Poland was a logical choice: It is relatively close to the Netherlands and a lot of Poles used to work in the Dutch mines. Later, I also visited coalfields in Ukraine, South Africa and Inner Mongolia in China”. The photos taken in Poland are the first images Cremers ever shot of mineworkers. Cremer portrayed also Soma in Turkey.To accompany the Oét d’r Sjtub exhibition, final-year students at Bernardinuscollege in Heerlen will be exploring their own (mining) past.
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| MIJNSHOP & MIJNCOLLECTIE07 March to 31 Dec 2015Bongerd 4, HeerlenTues 10 a.m. to 5.30 p.m., Thurs 12 noon to 9 p.m., Sat 12 noon to 5 p.m.For the Jaar van de Mijnen, SCHUNCK*, M2015FASHIONCLASH and 100% Heerlen are launching an update of former mineworkers’ clothing. Three young designers from Zuid-Limburg, Linda Friesen, Ebby Port and Gabriel Guevara will be presenting their contemporary interpretations of mineworkers’ clothing as ‘a second skin’ for Heerlen. The designs have been inspired by the cultural backgrounds of immigrant communities that came to work here.The MIJNcollectie collection of clothing will be presented and sold in the MIJNshop, a pop-up store housed in vacant premises at Bongerd 4 in Heerlen. Every month, youngsters working as part of the on-the-job training scheme, 100% Heerlen, will make commercial additions to the MIJNcollectie on the basis of a simple pattern. Volunteers from various neighbourhoods will be staffing the pop-up store. This pop-up store will also serve as the information point for M2015. |
| EXPLORING THE LANDSCAPE 2: SILICA 14 Feb to 07 June 2015SCHUNCK* Glaspaleis / Store Front (0)Daily / Free admissionFrank Bruggeman has installed a collage of historical and contemporary features from the South Limburg landscape in the store window at SCHUNCK*. Bruggeman is fascinated by the management, preservation and upkeep of man-made features of the landscape.This time Bruggeman has devised an installation which relates to Limburg’s mining history and the present-day white sand quarries in Heerlen. The display will include fossils, contemporary elements, such as fine white sand from the Sibelco quarry and material from the last spoil tip in Brunssum. |
| IN DE MIJNSTREEK30 Jan to 24 May 2015SCHUNCK* Glaspaleis / Aad de Haas Zaal (+4)Tues to Sun 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. / Free admissionIn the years following the Second World War, the idiosyncratic artist Aad de Haas played a unique role in the artistic climate of Limburg. Despite his homesickness for his native Rotterdam, South Limburg soon stole his heart. His new surroundings, with its mines, cooling towers, slag heaps, pitmen and festivals, such as Carnival, are a recurrent theme in his work.Using on-loan paintings, drawings and sketches, various editions of the Carnival newspaper, Et Leureske, festive decorations and photographs, this presentation paints a picture of South Limburg through the eyes of the painter. Furthermore, the most recent acquisition of SCHUNCK*’s Aad de Haas collection will also be on display: het Naaktje (Naked), which he painted in 1945 in his very first home in Limburg, in Ingber. |
| MIND THE BLACK!07 March to 31 Dec 2015SCHUNCK* Glaspaleis / StaircaseDuring normal opening times SCHUNCK* / Free admissionIn Mind the Black! Ahalouch presents a picture-book story, which conjures up memories of the mining history at the heart of the old mining metropolis: the staircase in SCHUNCK*. Her own interest in questions of representation are fused in this mural, which contains various elements from the mining regions’ past.By using circus-like elements, the history of mining is looked at from a completely new perspective. The juxtaposition of humour and sorrow (a laugh and a tear) forms the leitmotif in this work, which can be seen throughout the year on the staircase at SCHUNCK*. |
Text: Schunck and Communications-Unlimited
Photos: Copyright © Communications-Unlimited
