Mon, Jun 18 2012
Entrance to Kelmis-La Calamine. Trying to match today with the archive material included in the publication.
"The International Office for Travelling Merchants (‘Senpaga Internacia Oficejo por Komerco-Vojagxistoj’) was located in the Bergerhoff Hotel." (Hotel Bergerhoff was located on Luikerstraat, formerly Hasardstraat, in the place which today accommodates the ‘Select’ Café in Kelmis.)" in Ryszard Żelichowski, "Neutral Moresnet and Amikejo – The Forgotten Children of the Congress of Vienna", one of the texts in 'Amikejo' (Mousse Publishing, 2012. Edited by Latitudes).
"There were as many as 135 registered Esperantists in a population then numbering four thousand. The Esperantists enjoyed the right to have two free Esperanto lessons in a primary school on Kerkstraat, which was a present to the city from the Vieille Montagne mining company. [Mr Charles] Schriever gave four lessons of Esperanto a week for children in his house on Kapelstraat, where there was a book shop with literature in Esperanto. The house also functioned as an office for the local Esperanto group and the venue for its meetings. The Esperantists’ guest houses were marked with a green star on their facades and the caption ‘Esperanta Gasttablo’; some of them survive to this day.
What is now Park Hotel in Kelmis, built in 1843, was once the Vieille Montagne Director’s villa. Situated in a beautiful private park and with a huge ball-room, it was presented to the Esperantists by Charles Timmerhaus, the penultimate Director of the company, in 1907." in Ryszard Żelichowski, "Neutral Moresnet and Amikejo – The Forgotten Children of the Congress of Vienna", one of the texts in 'Amikejo' (Mousse Publishing, 2012. Edited by Latitudes).
Finding our way around Kelmis-La Calamine.
Welcome to Kelmis–La Calamine.
Façade of the Geuldalmuseum, Göhltalmuseum or Musée de la Vallée de la Gueule (how confusing) on Maxst. 9, Kelmis/Neu-Moresnet, Belgium. Info here. A copy of the publication 'Amikejo' (Mousse Publishing, 2012. Edited by Latitudes) was donated to the museum's archive on our visit.
Detail of the topological map of the area. In red the Drielandenpunt, towards Aachen, where we'd be going after visiting the museum.
Map of the triangular-shapped territory of Neutral Moresnet (Amikejo) in yellow and green.
First floor: Introduction to Neutral Moresnet, the first Esperanto state. Those who spoke Esperanto wore a green star (verda stelo). In the picture avid Esperantists Dr. Wilhelm Molly and french professor Gustave Roy, who in 1908 founded the first esperanto state (Amikejo, place of friendship in Esperanto) in Neutral-Moresnet. Summary of its history here.
Wonderful panels explaining the history of Amikejo, its streets,
founders, borders, flag, postcards, maps, stamps, coins, certificates, letters, lyrics of the anthem, coat of arms...
One of the original border markers.
Views of Kelmis–La Calamine and its surroundings.
Flora and fauna of the mining area.
All sorts of graphics and mineral samples of the Limburg mining area.
Stone and mineral samples displayed on pink silk, on yellow and baby blue.
Driving towards Vaals and the Drielandenpunt and going under the viaduct.
Arrived. "The Vaalserberg is also the location of the tripoint between Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands and its summit is therefore referred to as Drielandenpunt ("Three-Country Point") in Dutch, or Dreiländereck ("Three-Country Corner") in German, or Trois Frontières ("Three Borders") in French." (from Wikipedia).
The Drielandenpunt today.
Visitors reading about the drienlandenpunt's history and geographical situation.
Tower from where one can observe Germany, The
Netherlands and Belgium from on high.
Behind the publication the land where Amikejo was. This might be better understood here.
The 'Amikejo' book resting on the Drielandenpunt (the apex of the triangle-shaped borders of what was Amikejo). The green lines mark the borders of Germany (whole top), The
Netherlands (triangle to the left) and Belgium (to the right).
2012, Amikejo, belgium, Border, collaboration, Germany, Geuldalmuseum, latitudes, Mousse Publishing, Neutral Moresnet, Publication, The Netherlands, tour
Wed, Mar 28 2012
Pages 44-45, with the section "Art, Research, Ecology".
Robert Smithson's seminal Land Art work Broken Circle/Spiral Hill (Emmen, The Netherlands, 1971) is treated as a case study that opens up to a
number of topics, still relevant in contemporary art: 'Models of
Spectatorship', 'Art, Research, Ecology', 'Documentation', 'Museum,
Media, Society' and 'The Cinematic'."
Above: pages with Max Andrews' essay "A Dark Spot of Exasperation: From Smithson to the Spime".
Max Andrews' essay "A Dark Spot of Exasperation: From Smithson to the Spime".
In his text, Andrews stresses that Smithson's innovations in terms of post-studio practice are not about "the question where, or what is the work of art?", but about investigating the structure of the multiple elements which constitute the form of an art project and its place in the world. According to Andrews, the essential feature of Smithson's kinship to post-studio practice is not so much his institutional critique, but a move away from the museum and the curator as existing power structures to a "curatorial function which incorporates a social ecology: a new meaning- and value-generating system in and around art." In his essay, Andrews traces the points of congruence between Smithson and the practices of contemporary artists like Lara Almarcegui, Jorge Satorre and Cyprien Gaillard.
Documentation pages, clippings from 1987.
Pages 150-151, Section "A Living Archive – Film"
Page 194-195, Section "A Living Archive"
Pages 208-209, Section "A Living Archive"
The 240-page monograph publication will be launched on 30 March 2012 in The Hague during the symposia Rethinking Robert Smithson organised by the publishers in cooperation with Leiden University Institute for Cultural Disciplines.
Initiator and publisher: Alauda Publications
Edited by: Ingrid Commandeur and Trudy van Riemsdijk-Zandee
Authors: Max Andrews, Eric C.H. de Bruyn, Stefan Heidenreich, Sven Lütticken, Anja Novak, Vivian van Saaze
Design: Esther Krop
ISBN: 9789081531481
2012, Alauda Publications, Cyprien Gaillard, Jorge Satorre, Land Art, Lara Almarcegui, Max Andrews, Robert Smithson, SKOR, The Netherlands
Thu, Nov 17 2011
The Netherlands is the guest 'Focus' country of
ARCOmadrid 2012, 15–19 February 2012. Within this context,
Latitudes has been invited to curate the
representation of Dutch art institutions. Hosted within a specially-commissioned structure in Hall 10,
'The Dutch Assembly'/ 'Asamblea de los Países Bajos' will consist of the accumulation of hourly talks, readings, statements, performances and screenings from approximately
thirty art spaces,
research initiatives and
individuals which will form a series of documented 'depositions' and analyses of cultural practice and policy from the Dutch perspective, as well as reflections of the
artistic links between Spain and the Netherlands.
Follow
#NLAssembly on
Twitter for updates!
ARCOmadrid 2012
15–19 February 2012
Halls 8 and 10 Feria de Madrid
Photo: Latitudes, 2010 | www.lttds.org 2012, ARCO, latitudes, madrid, Mondriaan Foundation, The Netherlands, Xander Karskens