June 19th, 10am at the Osdorp library.
The SAMA crew gathered in the hall of the OBA Osdorplein, where the official presentation of "TechGrounds by MolenGeek" was held. MolenGeek is a Belgian entreprise founded in 2015, offering coworking spaces for young entrepreneurs and startups, as well as a "Coding school" for young people without educative background in the field, in order to bring all demographic groups to a job market. After the development of its first project in Italy, MolenGeek is now implanting itself in the Netherlands, therefore creating a new International collaboration between Brussels and Amsterdam, and especially between Molenbeek and Nieuw-West, as both districts face the same socio-economic challenges.
SAMA is part of this new project as it has been chosen to decorate the library where the « Coding School » will be located. In that sense, the SAMA crew organised a participatory intervention for this event, with the help of self-taught calligraffiti artist and inhabitant of Nieuw-West TeamBlazin. We collected keywords mentioned through the presentation on a symbolic scroll of paper, which was further enriched with participants dreams and wishes, and finally signed by stakeholders of the project, including Prins Constantijn van Orange. This project manifests of a new impulse in Nieuw-West, to which SAMA is very happy to take part in, as together with Nina QUAX Creative Studio and TeamBlazin we can translate the Dreams&Wishes list into the artwork that will be painted on the library’s walls.
It was a monumental moment, not only for the neighbourhood, but also for SAMA, as it marked its entering to the TechStage of our Collection Research Plan. Indeed, during the event, we shared our VR solution with Prins Constantijn van Orange, youths, municipality workers and tech companies investors, including MolenGeek founders.
Using Street Art as a medium of dialogue is SAMA’s main mission, and it was touching to see how Prins Constatijn bonded with the SAMA crew. Indeed, he asked us many questions after taking the SAMA VR mini-tour made during Heroes of Amsterdam project by Impact HUB's Heroes&Friends, therefore manifesting his interest in the creative link between Street Art and technology. As he shared with us a photo of his son in front of a Street Art mural in Aruba, our friendship was sealed by the high-five exchanged between the Prins and Dianne’s latest son, TDJayden.
As illustrated by the creative power of the European bond between Belgium and the Netherlands, we hope that SAMA’s art, as well as its innovative approach to its conservation, will continue to inspire the locals equally to the world-wide visitors. Participating in the « TechGrounds by MolenGeek » project manifests of our common passion for technology, our desire to share and learn from others, but most importantly to continue to grow together as glo-cal community regardless borders and backgrounds.