NICHOLAS BRAINSTORM:

Although I have lived here in Rotterdam for almost two and a half years at this point, I feel like I have a very fleeting and circumstantial relationship to the city. I have spaces I go to, but otherwise don’t really make an effort to explore outside of these boundaries. For instance, I never go to any of the smaller grocery stores in my street, and always head to the Dirk. It is a very commercialized grocery store, which I generally know has everything I need, I know where in the store to find things, and the self-checkout makes the entre process more relaxing. In that way, I don’t need to ask questions or interact with anyone and can simply retreat to my safe space once I’ve completed my tasks.

There are three spaces I spend the majority of my time: at home, at KINO and in school. The immediate connection I can draw to these spaces is the relative high presence of foreign students and internationals in these spaces. All the grocery stores and café’s I frequent and enjoy are a walking distance from one of these three locations. I’m not sure exactly why I don’t leave my bubble more. I guess I don’t feel an intrinsic need to. In my hometown of Porsgrunn, I can’t recall ever having more than a couple of cafes that I ever would consider going to, and I always went straight home after school. I used to walk around quite a bit in the city centre, but then again always taking a very passive role, never interacting with people or entering stores. I think that is a very Norwegian thing too, not to interact with strangers besides a polite smile once in a while. Whenever I had the need to enter the store, it was very objective based; “going in, getting what I needed, and retreating home”. This also meant that the city never was a point of social connection and interaction for me, with most of this occurring within my own home, and generally only with my own family.
Considering this pattern of how I engage in spaces, I don’t necessarily think the language barrier is my biggest hurdle. I can understand quite a bit of Dutch (especially written) and have yet not struggled communicating with anyone I have met here. I think it has more to do with my expectation that I will be leaving soon, and hence don’t feel the need to immerse myself. I have moved 11 time throughout my life (including 3 times here), and I have gotten really used to making my home feel like a welcoming and comfortable space. My home is always the centre of my life: where I sleep, cook, eat, see friends, work, and paint. I guess kino also has become a bit of a home for me. I don’t really interact with strangers here, but the atmosphere and feeling of being familiar with space is what I gravitate towards. I can always go there to experience something new, but in a very controlled environment where I know everyone else also is experiencing the thing with me.

What makes me feel comfortable at KINO:
- A very cosy environment, with a visual style that reminds me of Scandinavian interiors: neutral colour palette, wooden accents, eclectic furniture, a lot of plants, big windows to back garden.
- I can hear a lot of people talking in different languages, and I enjoy sitting, drawing, listening and observing. What are they watching? How did they end up here in the city? Do they come her often (if I recognize them)?
- Watching a new movie with others who haven’t experienced it before makes me comforted in the fact that we all are new to this. Which to certain extent is why I gravitate towards those who have moved to the city from other places (I think).
- They sell warm drinks which is my life blood. when I’m at home I always have a cup of tea in reach.
- They play a good variety of music depending on who has the AUX. This is often how I connect with my friends, and I love sharing music with others.
- Movies are a great escape for me. It is one of the only ways I have found that allows me to take a break from whatever else is going on around me at the moment. I guess it is my way of exploring new places and feelings without having to put myself out there. Movies are a very passive art form.

How I move around in the city:

THE SPACES THAT REMIND ME OF HOME:
- Having lived in a big city for two and ahlf years now, I have realized that I'm not a city person. I avoid the busy streets, prefer to wait for the nexr one if the metro is full, and can't concentrate when there are a lot of sounds.
- Even the quiter streets here feel very different from where I grew up. Whenever I get back home from havinge been away for a few months, I always notice how fresh the air iis, and how calm it feels.
- The only spaces that occassionally give me the same feeling are the forested areas such as Kralingse Bos (especially the foresty part). I don't go here too often though, as it often makes it make me misss home more than it clenches my homesickness. I miss the ability to just walk for hours, without encountering a busy speed or a wast expanse of empty fields.

MY HOME

As a result of bombings the Luxor and Hotel Centraal were the only buildings that remained standing following the second world war. For the latter half of the 20th century, West-Kruiskade was known for crime. This reputation has rapidly changed throughout the last decades, now being known as a multicultural center and the city's chinatown on it's south side.

160 different nationalities living in the neighborhood

Keti Koti party is commemirated in this area (abolition of slavery)

Chinese New Year and various Surinamese traditions are celebrated publically in collaboration with- and funded by the Shared Future Foundation

Acquired its multicultural character during the 1960s and 1970s

Seen from the Diergaarde Bridge, 1930

1960s

Luxor on the left, 1950-60s

Luxor Palaast and Hotel Centraal to the right, 1950-60s

Bibi

For me, I feel a deeper connection with Chinatown. Not only because it’s a neighbourhood with lots of Asian supermarkets, convenient stores, and asian restaurants, but it’s also a place where I find people who look like me. People with an asian ethnicity. I think this correlates a lot with other people's opinion or preference when it comes to choosing a place or area where you connect mostly with.

I feel joy strolling around in those streets, looking at all these different people, and I even find joy in just buying products in the grocery store that I recognize and immediately link to the dishes that you can make with them. For many people, these products are just ‘weird’ looking vegetables, unknown frozen products, or unfamiliar ‘nasty’ (without even knowing how it might taste) canned food, but for me, these goods are components for authentic comfort food.

I feel the safest in a neighbourhood that welcomes me without words. I truly can’t say that I feel at home since I have been living in the Netherlands since I was two years old, but I do feel a sense of belonging wherever there is a Chinatown in these big cities.

But it’s not the only neighbourhood in Rotterdam where I feel most safe. It’s also in the South of Rotterdam. I have been living in the south a few months before university started. From the moment I have moved in until now, I feel a sense of comfort in this area. A lot is happening here and especially in my street which is Hilledijk.

There were two men who were, voluntarily, helping me with bringing up some of my stuff when I was moving here. There was one guy who immediately helped me with getting my scooter off the ground after it fell. And other men have done this as well many other times.

Underneath my apartment, there is a barbershop where lots of guys from different age groups swing by for a cut. And it’s always busy, people in there always have fun, and the people who work there are incredibly sweet. Whenever I’m not home, they keep my packages stored in the shop until I get home. And when the package is big or heavy, they always offer to bring it up for me.

During my evening walks, old men are circled around the block with their friends and they are chatting and laughing. Even though the neighbourhood is quite small, I rarely see familiar faces. There are so many different cultures and communities merged within this area which makes living here comfortable and easy.

There are always people around you. The shops are open until late. The lights in those small apartment complexes are lighting up the streets together with the Christmas lights wrapped around the trees, and the lantern lights next to the tram rails. It always feels alive.

RESEARCH

WEST KRUISKADE, ROTTERDAM

In 2015 werd voor het eerst gesproken over de nominatie van het immaterieel erfgoed van de West Kruiskade in al zijn diversiteit voor de Inventaris Immaterieel Erfgoed Nederland. Het erfgoed dat daarbij gepresenteerd werd, bestond uit uiteenlopende tradities als Keti Koti, het Chinees Nieuwjaar, het Hindoestaanse Divali, Afro Surinaamse rituelen en de gevarieerde eetculturen in de West Kruiskade; allemaal cultuuruitingen die beleefd worden in de publieke ruimte en waaraan iedereen in de West-Kruiskade kan deelnemen en aldus een samenbindende, misschien zelfs gemeenschapsvormende functie vervullen.

Slagerij Schell weet het aanbod steeds weer aan te passen aan nieuwe bevolkingsgroepen in Rotterdam. Er is in de stad geen slijter die zoveel soorten exotische drank verkoopt als de Gall & Gall op de West-Kruiskade.

De festivals zijn belangrijke publiekstrekkers voor de West-Kruiskade. Inmiddels is Arjan Chan van supermarktketen Wah Nam Hong voorzitter van de Stichting Chinees Nieuwjaar. Hij vertelt dat het festival eenvoudig begon en was bedoeld om ondernemers in de straat een gelukkig nieuwjaar te wensen: “Daarvoor heb je de leeuw, een krop sla, een rode envelop en vuurwerk nodig, meer niet. Dat is uitgebreid naar een evenement in het wijkpark, georganiseerd door een professionele partij. Daarmee is het kostbaar geworden, dat kunnen de ondernemers alleen niet meer opbrengen.”

Een citaat uit de notitie Schatten van Rotterdam: “We koesteren onze tradities en proberen onze verhalen zoveel mogelijk te bewaren. Culturele feesten als Sinterklaas, Holi Phagwa, het Suikerfeest en het Chinees Nieuwjaar zijn inmiddels nauw verweven met onze stad. Wij zijn geen eigenaar van die tradities maar voelen ons er wel medeverantwoordelijk voor dat ze in stand kunnen blijven, onder andere via financiële ondersteuning en door er ruimte voor te maken in de stad. Verhalen over onze geschiedenis leggen we zoveel mogelijk vast opdat ook komende generaties kunnen kennisnemen van wat onze stad heeft gevormd of gewoon van het dagelijks leven van de oude en de nieuwe Rotterdammers, hun ambachten, hun muziek, hun eetcultuur enz. Immers, we leren van het verleden om onze toekomst mede vorm te geven en we hebben die kennis nodig om elkaar te kunnen begrijpen, respecteren en met elkaar te kunnen leven.” (“//”)

Interactive ways to present our research

PLAYING A GAME :) *kahoot soundtrack playing on the background*

Guess which team lives or is extremely familiar in Kruiskade!!!

1. Everyone gets a card with a number and a colour.
2. You have to write down your name. Hand in the notes.
3. If your name gets called, you will be formed in a group of three.
4. There are two similar maps in front of the teams.
5. They will get to see video footage to freshen up their brainssss (and to help the team who is not from this neighbourhood).
6. They answer the questions by pinning the right location, drawing the correct route mentioned, circling the most known shops, supermarket, restaurants, butcher, liquor store, etc., sticking the right answer with the right street.

They can ask for help 1x by either asking the classmates (whoever knows the answer), or by asking for a hint (this will be an illustration).

One team is not from this area. The other team is.
The class decided which one does. If they get it right, they will be given a present.
If they don’t get it right, the winners will get a present.

The winners will have enough ‘presents’ to give to the people who did not win. Will they still share it?

Questions:
- What are two monuments in Kruiskade that did not get bombed during the second World War?
Answer: Luxor & Hotel Central

- What is the most exotic drink people from Kruiskade are purchasing in Gall & Gall Kruiskade?
Answer: WE HAVE TO ASK THEM !!!
LET’S ALL HAVE A SHOT OF THIS DRINK ????

- GUESS!! Match the product (on the illustrations) with the word.
OUR FINDS IN THE ASIAN TOKO AT KRUISKADE
1. Daikon
2. Bittermelon ?
3. Leaves (japanese ones?)

- Name 5 festivals that are yearly held in Kruiskade!
Extra points!!! If you can explain all 5 of them with one sentence.

NEW TEAMS !!!

- What is the most popular item that people from Kruiskade purchase at Slagerij Schell?
Answer:
Hint: describe the taste?
Let’s taste it??????

- What are the most common street words (straattaal) used in Kruiskade?
Answer: WE HAVE TO LISTEN TO THE PEOPLE IN KRUISKADE!!! Or ask them?

- How many different nationalities are currently living in Kruiskade?
Answer: 160-170 ??????
Bonus points; Which nationality is the most dominant in comparison to the other nationalities within this area?

- Draw the route
You start at ____ , there is a bakery where you grab a ____ for on the go, when you step outside, turn left, and walk straight, there is a park with a statue of _____, who is _______.
etc………

- KulturuShop
- Holy Smoke
- Ilya
- Space 010
- Toko 51

CHOSEN LOCATION: WEST-KRUISKADE

Becuase we all bring different experiences, and have different living locations and interests, it was very difficult to find one space that we all had a connection to. In the end, because both Bibi and Ioana had a connection to West-Kruiskade I decided to compensate, and discover my relationship to it during our visiting.

PRELIMINARY RESEARCH BEFORE VISIT:

REFLECTIONS AFTER FIRST VISIT:

As we all come for quite different places, all three of us have different spaces we feel comforted and connected too. As West-kruiskade and the “china town” is an area at least two of us brought up, we decided to go with this street just so we could get going. After meeting up a couple of times, and visiting the area today we feel very lost with how to approach making something that is supposed to represent/speak for the area (and is representative of all three of us).

The idea of doing interviews had been brought up, but we feel like interviewing someone based on the expectation that we would share an experience feels off. If we end up having interviews with people whose experience doesn’t reflect ours, it would be difficult to present this in a way that wouldn’t feel extractive. We were wondering how closely the project needs to be related to the colonial history. The immediate connection I made while seeing the area was how the people had turned it into a place that reminded them of home (this being something that I for instance emphasized when decorating my apartment, which is the space I spend most of my time). We also noticed that a handful of smaller stores had gone bankrupt, and that bigger brands such as KFC and high-end clothing stores were taking their spaces. Would it be applicable to the project if we talked about creating this sense of home, and how gentrification in addition to other factors slowly are chiseling away at this space?

HOW TO AVOID MAKING AN EXTRACTIVIST WORK?

OBSERVATIONS:

A handful of stores had recently been closed and stood empty, or had been replaced by bigger /higher end brands such as KFC and some "nicer" clothing stores, especially towards the west end of the street. Gentrification or corona?

A good number of plaques that discussed the history of the street, but none that mentioned or adressed the people currently living there. They were all focused on the white history prior to the 1920s (ish)

Street-art generally seemed to reflect the people that lived there well. Was clearly an investment made towards this

Advertisements had way better and diverse represenattionhere than I otherwise have observed in the city. Suggests that the local community actually come here too, not only tourists

FINDING MY CONNECTION:

Although I didn't have a connection before visiting the area, only having passed through a handful of times, I was immediately taken by how the immigrants and thsoe who had moved there had made it their own.

ALthough the street itself isn't soemthing that reminds me of home, the act of "nesting" and actively making a space turn into a home when it didn't before, is something I can relate strongly to. I have moved 12 times throughout my life, and 3 times within Rotterdam since I started studying here. Regardless of how long I expect to stay somewhere, I always make an active effort to make my space feel like home: by emphasizing and collecting the small and big things that remind me of home. This is something I imemdiately could recognize in the people who moved here and established the diverse culture in West-Kruiskade.

I went back by myself to get a feel for the small details that reminded me off this mindset. There are the more obvious things like the chinese style architectual elements that have been implemented into the dutch architecture, as well as the decorations such as the lantern in the trees, or the lucky cats or bamboo in the windows. However the small details are what really spoke to me: the handwritten notes in chinese nect to the dutch sign, the old lady who immediately swapped to her indoorshoes as she entered the building, and the woman who brought her son to the bakery to share some food and culture that she recognized as familial.

This is the connection I wanted to speak to in my work.

OVERALL PROCESS & IOANA'S REFLECTION

ELEMENTS OF "HOME" I PHOTOGRAPHED ON MY SECOND VISIT TO THE STREET:

MAKING MY CONTRIBUTION:

With everyone interested in making a physical publication for our final work, as we all wonted to draw, write or take pictures, we decided that we would make some for of publication that could show off our three different perspectives. ALthough our ecperiences and thoughts on the space would be different, the visual language of one zine/poster/video would connect them to eachother, and the map.

RESEARCH MIGRATING BIRDS AS A METAPHOR FOR MY CONNECTION

When thinking about the fleeting nature of my stay here, I realized that I always have a need to build a home regrdless of how long I plan on staying somewhere. Similarly, migratory birds build a nest, knowing they most likely will fly back south within a few months. I also think this speaks to the experience of a lot of immigrants generally. The stay in a new country might not always be given, but should that dictate if you make it a home or not?

https://www.nioz.nl/en/expertise/wadden-delta-research-centre/expertise-wadden/birds/how-do-migratory-birds-find-their-way

https://www.britannica.com/explore/savingearth/bird-migration-and-migrations-an-encyclopaedic-primer

http://www.birdsnetherlands.nl/Rotterdam%20birding%20tours.htm

https://www.visdief.nl/birdwatching-in-the-netherlands/

Along with the remaining white-stork populations west for Germany, the population in the Netherlands migrate along the western migration route over the strait of Gibraltar. The journey can stretch as long as 200km, although this western path tends to be shorter. Regardless of route, the journey taken towards Africa in august and September takes around 26 days. They congregate in large flocks in Kenya and Uganda, from where some diverge westwards into western Sudan, Chad, and Nigeria. Come the spring, between February and April, the journey back to the breeding grounds initiates. The journey back to Europe takes an average of 49 days, due to the scarcity in food and tailwinds.

WHY I CHOSE THE STORK AS THE SUBJECT:

THE TEXT I WROTE + MY ILLUSTRATION:

As the winds brought the showers in spring, we flew North. Northwards across the Alboran Sea in search of a place to settle down. A place to build our nests, somewhere to call home. Between the baroque church towers and brick foundations, our search felt futile. We crossed expansive plains and recouped in familiar trees, but never settled. They didn’t feel like our plains, creak like our trees. We came to an understanding that home would be something we would have to create, something we found within ourselves.

As the nights grow longer, we await the weeping trees to announce our return south. We are conjected to leave all we’ve built behind and return to the places we used to call home. Although our existence here may be fleeting, it doesn’t have to be a desolate one. We refuse to embrace the anticipation of change as an excuse to disregard the need to belong. With every meticulously placed branch, we strived for that feeling. The search of the familial, the reassuring embrace of belonging. We kept our eyes open for all the small things that grounded us: some we kept as mementos, others we shared or passed on.

What if the time to return never comes? I’d rather spend a lifetime seeking than one longing for something I lost.

GETTING READY THE PUBLICATION

As a way of making the works work better cohesively, we decided that we would be inspire by a riso-look, with one or two colours. Here are some inspirations for colour palettes we were thinking of.

In the end, we decided that we aat least wanted to include red, as this felt representative of how we experieneced the street. Not only does it make us think of chine, but it also is a warm and loving colour, which reflects how we percieve "home" - which ended up being a red thread through all of our connections to the street.

Because none of us directly used the map in our final inclusions, we also decided to make it a focal point of the zine design. Not only to "place or perspetcives on the map", but also to visually ground the works in what inspire them.

TESTING DIFFERENT COLOUR COMBINATIONS:

RECLAIMING THE CITY PLAQUES TO REFLECT THE CITY TODAY

AS WE OBSERVED DURING OUR VISIT, THE PLAQUES DON'T REFLECT THE CITY TODAY. FOR THIS REASON, I CREATED A PLAQUE TO (PROPERLY) INTRODUCE WEST-KRUISKADE IN OUR ZINE

ALMOST FINAL FOLDED-OUT SPREAD IN ZINE (NO COLOUR)

The zine will be printed on wednesday the 7th December

FINAL REFLECTIONS - NICHOLAS

Overall, it turned out to be a pretty stressful collabortion and assignment. There were multiple factors at play, but most significantly was the limited amount of time to work on the project, pressures from other assignments, and things going on personally.

The fact that we didn't get into groups more than two weeks before the presentation, meant that communication became very difficult with people coming from different majors and having various work schedules. With one week remaining, we had decided on the location, but felt very up in the air with what to do for it. I specifically really struggled connecting to the space, and to make something that I felt was respectful and non-extractive. As someone who hasn't really connected with the city besides a very limited amount of spaces, I had to compensate when it came to picking a space.

The teamwork generally worked well, but because Bibi wasn't present in class when Ioana and I came up with the main aspects of the final work, we had some miscommunication. This was definately also my fault, as we should have double checked that everyone actually was in the same boat. With only the weekend to produce our part, we all started working on our respective approaches individually, to be ready by monday evening. However, not everyone was finsihed. When we met up on tuesday to print, we realized that not everyone had the same understanding /agreement for what we were actually making, and printing would have to be postponed to wednesday. Thankfully, this meeting gave us an opportunity to get a bit more alligned, and consider how we could make the presentation component more interactive. Because the riso needs a bit more time to dry, we have decided to simply print the zine using an inkjet, and simply immitate the feeling the print would have had.

I generally really struggle with perfectionism when it comes to my work, which means that i start focusing on the details rather than the big picture of what everyone in the group is doing. In hindsight, this is something I could do better. I also need to get better at allowing others take over tasks, as I again made myself responsible of compilling the zine and printing in addition to the part I already was contributing. Tasks could proabbly have been distributed better (and earlier)

Nevertheless, I really enjoyed getting to know a new part of the city. In both this assignment, and the smaller observation homework we did after the first class, I have been surpised by what connections you can make (and find) to spaces if you only are willing to open up, listen and experience.

Reflection (Bibi)

I worked together with two students from illustration; Nicholas and Loana. They came up with the concept, and did the production work for the end result. Even though our majors differ, the end result shows that we experimented with two mediums; illustration and photography.

We met up and discussed the possibilities of collaboration and we kept in touch through whatsapp and teams. We brainstormed about the area we feel closest to and even though Nicholas did not really have an specific neighbourhood in Rotterdam where he connects with, he was flexible by making it work anyways. We decided to select Kruiskade.

Our process started with a small tour through Kruiskade and we took pictures, talked about ideas, and had some food at a bakery in the neighbourhood as we walked. After our trip, we each did our own research about the area. We came to realize that the area holds a lot of history of the people who had lived there because they even had their own board with names and all. They were all Dutch. We talked about the misrepresentation of all the other nationalities that were also present during that period. There were also quite some stores that were closed for a long time and we quiestioned what might have happened to them. And we talked about how dangerous this neighbourhood used to be in the past and how much it has changed. There was this double standard concerning the similar problems that Rotterdam-South is facing as well as Kruiskade but no one talks in the same manner about both different districts.

Since they already had finalised their concept which was making a zine of a map of the area and with illustrations, I struggled with how I could implement my major within their format. But they helped me with coming up with ideas and gave me advice and tips on how to make it fit which was really sweet of them. At the end, Nicholas did most of the work by designing the zine, assembling our works, editing, and printing copies. Everyone did their own research and were responsible of delivering the context and content of your own connection to Kruiskade. Loana made the front and back pages of the zine and helped Nicholas with choosing the colours for the publication.

It was great working with Nicholas and Loana since they are both extremely motivated, they are good at what they are doing, and they like what they are studying. We have such a different style and method of working and I couldn’t really express my artistic skills within this project because I was not motivated enough. But this is something that I have to improve in and work on. Overall, I did enjoy exploring that area with them and learning more about Rotterdam in general.