Kunstroute, Leiden.

On the 22nd and 23rd of September, Leiden hosts ‘Kunstroute’ – an initiative to exhibit the city’s art through opening many galleries and artist’s spaces for free. All participating artists are printed, along with a short biography, in a handy little book complete with a map of Leiden, allowing you to potter around and have a look at whatever you fancy.

In my previous post, I was a little disparaging about Leiden’s art scene. While I stand by a lot of what I said, I began to see today that several of my qualms sprung from my own ignorance and stubborn refusal to accommodate an artistic environment that I couldn’t immediately identify with. A beautiful discovery I made today was that of the Kunstcentrum at Haagweg 4 – a building (previously a school) full of beautifully light and spacious artists’ studios, exhibiting all manners of work. Here I felt the energy that I’d been looking for in Leiden, and although the current wasn’t the strongest I’ve felt (hellooo, Kunsthaus Tacheles Berlin), it was definitely there. The building was so beautiful in its stripped down state, and provided the perfect host to the range of art on display. My favourite artist was the lovely Bunny Soeters (see pictures of her work below).

Her work was unusual and beautiful, achieved through using a mixture of water and wallpaper paste as a preparation for the paper before freely painting with watercolours. She encouraged me to try it, and to ‘have fun doing it’, which I loved.

In regards to what I said above about my flawed attitude to Leiden’s art scene, this became clear when we stumbled upon a little gallery on the way home from Haagweg. Our attention initially drawn by the red carpet laid out on the street and the group of people accumulating outside the gallery, my friend and I decided to have a look what was going on. We found an artist, Simone de Jong, and her exhibition ‘Het Loket’. Loket is Dutch for ‘ticket window’, and Simone was sitting in her version of a ticket window, dispensing art, ideas and ‘Golden Tips’ (Goudentips) to the public, based on their preferences and requirements. We all had to fill in a form, answering several questions on our artistic preferences, what we might like to see (including a choice of 4 categories of photographs from her life – I chose her dog), what ‘golden tip’ we wanted from her, and a ‘golden tip’ we could offer in return.

When we reached the window, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but left about 45 minutes later aglow. Simone’s outlook on life and her work was so positive, affirming, and ultimately infectious, it completely eclipsed the work itself (which is in no way a negative reflection on her work, but rather, a credit to her outlook). She explained that her aim is to encourage positive interactions between people, be it through an exchange of these ‘golden tips’, a kind word, or, as she had recently done, a grateful letter to someone who had been particularly helpful in a local shop. She introduced us to her friend Molly Ackerman, who is also a local artist, and whose attitude seemed to encompass many of the same attributes as Simone’s. I realised, when talking to these two women, that while some (most) of the art in Leiden is ‘passive’ and ‘rather boring’ as I said below, I saw today that a different kind of beauty can spring up in this environment – the sort of beauty that maybe doesn’t exhibit itself in an exceptional way in art, but rather in the artists. Both of these women had lived in Leiden for a long time, and it was obvious how at-home they felt in this cosy city. Being able to sit down and talk with them about their work in such a relaxed environment was something I’ve never been able to experience with an artist before, and something which I think came from, or at least was encouraged by, being in such a safe and calm environment as Leiden.

What I hoped for today was for Leiden to produce something that I could appreciate, which it definitely did. But even better, I *think* it might have taught me how to appreciate a lot of the other stuff it produces too.

Today’s philosophies (one from myself and one from Simone) :

Changing perspectives.

Upon moving to Leiden, I couldn’t work out what it was that made me slightly uncomfortable about the place. I knew it was something to do with its almost sickeningly picturesque postcard scenes; the canals, the flowers, the fact that there’s even a bloody windmill in the city centre…these elements combine to make the city very twee, and very Dutch. Yet why would this make me uncomfortable? I originally thought that perhaps, through having a Dutch mother and having visited Holland many times before, I was merely somewhat desensitised and disillusioned towards these rather predictable, although undeniably lovely, Dutch scenes. Although I could objectively identify that what I was seeing was pretty, and appreciate it for what it was, the only feeling it actually provoked in me was one of mild frustration, and as mentioned above, uncomfortableness.

The reason for this feeling became clear upon my returning on Sunday from a day in Rotterdam. The night before, I had been searching for cultural and creative events happening that weekend in the Netherlands. So many things were happening, but unfortunately none of note in Leiden. Finally I decided on a bike tour conducted in Rotterdam by a local artist, bringing us around the places in the city that had inspired him. Feeling that this would be the perfect way to gain a perspective on a new city that played to my interests, and something that I wouldn’t be able to get on many of the more conventional day tours being offered, my bike and I set off for Rotterdam.

The bike tour was pleasant and interesting. It wasn’t in anyway life changing. I’m not even sure if I’ll remember it in years to come. But what I will remember, is the sudden realisation upon arriving back in Leiden, about what it was that made me uncomfortable about the place – the fact that it is, undeniably, an environment of artistic complacency.

Rotterdam is a big, ugly, industrial city. It is also a city full of energy, creativity and ideas; seen in the street art, the clothes of the people who lived there, the artists residences, the artist-run independent shops. The somewhat aesthetically sterile backdrop provides the inspiration and motivation for expressive creativity to spring forth and change the face of the city, and it is this electrically-charged relationship that Leiden lacks. The art galleries in Leiden, although undeniably plentiful, exhibit much the same thing – aesthetically pleasing, inoffensive, and ultimately rather boring art. This is the art Leiden produces because it, as a city, embodies many of the same characteristics, and there is no reactionary element displayed in the creativity that arises from it. Don’t get me wrong – I very much like Leiden, and enjoy living here. But the exhibition of passivity seen in the artistic environment here is frustrating to say the least. Ultimately, though, this realisation has been a positive one – personally it’s ignited a whole new kind of creative energy and motivation.

Perhaps I have been too harsh on Leiden’s art scene. Kunstroute this weekend will be a good way to find out.

Montevideo, Uruguay

By Pablo and David.