I first bumped into Tim Rodermans in a back yard of Amsterdam West Taal school in a spring of this year, whilst collecting signatures for the design of our next mural on a building right next to it. Tim was painting a portrait of his son Djao. I liked the photorealistic moody execution and I admired that the work was completed pro-bono. We talked for a bit and exchanged the contact details.
A couple of months later, when the brief for #MooiMakers program was finalised and it became clear from the residents and Stichting WOON that Photorealistic artwork of the ships is an integral part of the project - I thought of Tim and that brief encounter in the back streets of Nieuw-West.
Just like with the Tjalkstraat production, we had to inform all of the residents about the project - from flyers to door-to-door visits, invite them to the workshops and talk to them during information tables about their wishes for the artwork and its fulfilment. Together we focused more on the history of Amsterdam North District and its communities, especially around the Klipper Street.
Amsterdam-Noord is the part of the Dutch municipality of Amsterdam that lies north of the IJ. The district had 99,238 inhabitants as of January 1, 2020 and has an area of 49.01 km². Since the dissolution of the city district council dating from 1981 in 2014, it has been governed by an administrative committee. After the opening of the North Sea Canal in 1876, the Amsterdam harbour became accessible for steamboats.
Klipperstraat in Amsterdam has 5 postcodes starting with the postcode number 1034. The street is located within the municipality of Amsterdam and in the province Noord-Holland. This street has the house number series 1 to 142. Klipperstraat is located in the neighborhood Banne Zuidwest and also belongs to the district Banne Buiksloot in the municipality of Amsterdam.
A Klipper is a fast sailing ship with a sharp bow and multiple masts, which was in use in the late 19th century and early 20th century. The Klipper is best known for the great speeds that the ships reached. Because of this, they were commonly used to trade food and other perishable goods. The high speeds were achieved because the ships were slender and relatively small, but had a very large sail area.
The artwork is located opposite of the Klipper Neighbourhood House, owned by Stadgenoot housing corporation and managed by locally residing youths from Vooruit project. In addition, the KlipperKamer has a function of the Voedselbank (a charity run by local resident Risma Soekhie, that hands our free food for lesser privileged households) and a workshop space for all other cultural activities.
The result is a magnificent dynamic artwork of the towering Klippership, breaking through the wall in what might look like a drop of water and surrounded by dolphins (the latter being Tim's personal passion).
Photos are made by Lance Bradbrook
