Betonplaat, Rotterdam (2020)
In collaboration with the CBK Rotterdam (Centre for visual arts Rotterdam), If Paradise Is Half As Nice #10 took place at an abandoned concrete factory in Rotterdam. For this year’s event instead of a building, the selected site was not much more than a bare concrete slab with a small lake of rain water at it’s centre. Located in the home city of many of the artists, this year presented a fresh and exciting challenge. In addition, Leslie Nagel joined the group as this year’s guest artist. At the site the group built a base camp, consisting out of a few containers and two old army tents to provide the necessary shade in a super hot summer. In contrast to previous sites, the concrete wasteland was a sparse and empty terrain. This challenged the group to be inventive in making use of anything that was available, resulting in surprising and innovative artworks. Following the mandated health guidelines for the Corona virus, during the opening weekend all visitors were safely guided around the Betonplaat to see the completed artworks. In spite of the difficult health circumstances, twelve hundred people attended the final event to see the artists’ creations made during If Paradise Is Half As Nice #10.
Exhibition: August 21–23, 2020. Participants: Daan Botlek, Pim Palsgraaf, Willem Besselink, Ties Ten Bosch, Jordy Walker, Michiel Jansen, Regina Kelaita, Toine Klaassen, Esther Kokmeijer, Leslie Nagel (artists), Guus Vreeburg (lecture), Marieke van der Lippe (documentary).
More works
Rotterdam based film maker Marieke van der Lippe was invited to document If Paradise Is Half As Nice #10. Moving beyond a focus of separate individual processes, she chose to portray view of the project as a whole. Official world première at International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR). January 26–February 6, 2022.
Screening in the framework of ‘Off Screen’, CBK R'dam at WORM, Rotterdam, February 2, 2022. Screening in the framework of Regina Kelaita’s solo exhibition ‘Fugue State’. Raum für drastische Maßnahmen, Berlin, November 25, 2021. Screening in the framework of Esther Kokmeijer’s residency at Frei.Raum.Direkt. GEH8, Dresden, August 19, 2021.
Crowd funding event. Goethe Institut, Rotterdam. July 11, 2021.
For the most part, ‘If Paradise Is Half As Nice’ is directly funded by a dedicated group of fans in the form of crowd funding.
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If Paradise Is Half As Nice