From Sunday 21 til Monday 29 March a small settlement of paper huts inhabited by four artists and their hostess, Mariëlle Videler, took up residence in the middle of the rear space of W139. Selected from 59 hopefuls responding to an international Open Call, none of the guests had been to Amsterdam before. They were picked up from the airport, blindfolded, and taken to the Warmoesstraat where, for the full 8 days of BLINDED TOURIST, they did not leave the building. Viewers could observe and visit them during opening hours. Marielle Videler gave her four guests an environment largely designed and created by herself. They learned about Amsterdam by conversation with Videler, five reporters, the visitors and the experts she had selected for the travel program (see below).

TRAVEL PROGRAM

The sequence of days was devoted to different aspects of the city: its history, inhabitants, biology and spatial structures. Mariëlle Videler created a ‘travel program’ around five topics FOOD, HISTORY, PEOPLE, ART & NATURE. The program consisted of two parts: a day and an evening program. During the day we had contact with five reporters, our ears and eyes of the outside world. The reporters were on hand to help the residents and carried out the research tasks they had been given. The second part was an evening program, a series small scale and personal meetings with different experts. The evening program was, with personal exchange in mind, limited open for visitors.

FOOD > Welcome diner for the residents.

HISTORY > Lecture by Gabri Tussenbroek (urban construction historian of Amsterdam and writer of the book ‘Amsterdam in 1957’) about Warmoesstraat and Amsterdam in 1597. Leon Deben (urban sociologist) spoke about people living and working in and around the Warmoesstraat, with special attention for the homeless.

PEOPLE > Guests for this evening were people who work and or live around W139. Thanks to: Stock Exchange Amsterdam, Prostitution Information Centre, ‘de Bakkerswinkel’, ‘de Condomerie’ and ‘de Oude Kerk Gemeente’.

NATURE > Lecture by Remco Daalder (urban ecologist of Amsterdam and writer of the book ‘Urban Animals’) about animals living in the city, especially rats. Grieta Spannenburg (meteorologist and co-writer of the book ‘Dutch cloudy skies’) spoke about Dutch skies and the shapes of our clouds.

ART > Lecture by Ad de Jong (artists and founder of W139) about the creative and chaotic times in begin period of W139 at the Warmoesstraat. Gijs Frieling (artist and director of W139) gave a lecture about his work as the director of W139. Frank Koolen (artist), Els van de Meersch (artist) and Eric von Robertson (artist) finished the evening with a presentation of the work they exhibited in W139.

JOURNAL > Travel journals & reports presentation.
The blinded tourists were asked to create a work, a visual journal, during their stay in the installation.
They worked with different disciplines like performance, drawing, photography and video.

Supported by : W139, 'de Bakkerswinkel'.

Thanks to: Gijs Frieling, the people from W139, Gabri Tussenbroek, Leon Deben, Remco Daalder, Grieta Spannenburg, Ad de Jong, Els van de Meersch, Eric von Robertson, Frank Koolen, Eddy Reefhuis, Suze Westerveld, Michel Damman, Mariska Majoor, Duco Wildeboer, Maurice van Tilburg, Mirjam Oosterbaan, Elly Videler, reporters; Lisbel Gavara, Daniel Jacques, Dieuwertje Tromp, Vera West, Jorien Boerefijn and the artists who helped to build the installation.

Reviews & newspaper:
Metropolis M / Kunstbeeld / BLEND / Parool / Text Gijs Frieling