Farmers side

TENT presents Farmers side, a project by artist Wapke Feenstra with people from Rotterdam about rural culture. Her project is a criticism of the supposed contradiction between the countryside and the city, which dominates the popular image but also our planning and politics. City and countryside are intertwined in many ways, but the urban perspective dominates. We connect urbanization and urban culture with progress. From that point of view, the countryside and rural culture are always in the periphery and shadow of the city. Feenstra problematizes this image with projects on location. Her newest case is the 'Boerenzij' from Rotterdam.

The port city of Rotterdam was mainly built by people from elsewhere, often from the countryside. Feenstra went in search of them, to exchange farming knowledge and to recall memories, thereby revealing the rural mentality that is an inseparable part of urban space. The exhibition and film that resulted from this exchange form an invitation to provide our image of the city and the countryside with new dimensions.

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