We live here, who cares?

The city, its various social dynamics and the way in which people create and use their living environment in specific places, form the starting point of all their initiatives. They always work in the same way. They are present. They return to the same location day after day, week after week. Their performances start from there and can last a few days, 5 weeks or a year. They meet the same people every day and become part of their routines and landscape. They work with artists, curators, shopkeepers, stay-at-home mothers, scientists, homeless people, cleaners, social workers, nurses, etc. During their process, small conversations, drinking tea, babysitting, cleaning the kitchen and more political and conceptual discussions form the inspiration for their public results. One says that the revolution starts with cleaning the dishes. They say that art is reinvented while washing dishes. Through their projects they create connections between the art field and other disciplines.

As part of the project ‘We live Here, Who Cares?’, a joint collaboration between Woonpunt, Cultuurmakers Maastricht, Via Zuid, SOAP and MOHA, the artist collective lived and worked for a year and a half in the Pottenberg district in an apartment that is expected to end at the end of the year. 2023 to be demolished. From this place they explored the theme of care in relation to topics such as the housing crisis, ‘neighborhood’ and creating a home.

During their stay they developed an intervention in public space called ‘De Pottenberger: golf course, spa and more’, a mobile interactive space that moves through the streets of the neighborhood. The space is expected to be open every second Sunday for several months or even longer. What happens in space evolves over time, not only because of the seasonal changes that go from warm to cold, but also because of the interaction with the environment: who is paying attention and why? Who uses this temporary space and why? Are there collective desires about what this place could become? We do not yet know how this place will function during Winter Night because it is constantly changing, but the public is nevertheless invited to participate in this process. Will they be participants? Observers? Artists? Helpers? Documenters? ‘The Pottenberger, golf course, spa and more’ decides.