(Un)monumenting: Not Forever

What should or can a monument be today, for whom, and who decides this? In 2021, the NDSM-werf Foundation invited artists for their (Un) Monumenting programme series to reflect on these questions by creating a work on site. For (Un) Monumenting #2, visual artist became Sijben Rosa asked to make her vision of monuments at the NDSM shipyard visible. On June 25, she presented her work Not Forever at the NDSM shipyard.

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In an interview, we asked Sijben Rosa to tell us more about her work and her vision of monuments in combination with art in public spaces. Read the entire conversation in the Digital Depot - Online Magazine.

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'The monument becomes visible only when it is removed' - Sasha Pevak

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For (Un) Monumenting #2, Sijben Rosa created a temporary and performative monument; terms that contained a strong contradiction, something she was fully aware of. Was it still from this time to make a monument to eternity? Or did we have to look for other ways, perspectives, stories and forms that gave space to change?

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Sijben Rosa made objects and created a (performative) situation around them. These objects seemed to be of practical use, but did not reveal exactly what their function was. While they infiltrated the logic of everyday life, they broke with the everyday pursuit of efficiency. Sijben strived for an art practice that investigated the ambiguous relationships and interactions between object and humanity — a practice that made us aware of our own position in relation to other people and other objects.

Not Forever was an ode to what NDSM was, is, and the future implementation that was under pressure from temporality, a changing city and climate change. The object, which was reminiscent of a large boulder, was made up of the remains of the recently demolished Sociëteit Sexyland building, previously known as the Baanderij, the (temporary) makeshift canteen and society for shipyard workers. The shell consisted of biodegradable material that was only water resistant to a limited extent. This emphasized the changeable nature of the NDSM shipyard and Sijben's view of the need for continuous care and more fluid monuments that could change with the times and context.

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With this work, the artist tried to capture the multi-headed and multi-layered soul of NDSM, a soul that was different for everyone. For two months, the boulder wandered around the shipyard, always under the care of another NDSM user and signifier. The relay made jointly shaping, caring for and nurturing the soul of the NDSM site into something tangible and essential. Visitors were able to see how each guardian approached this in a different way and had a conversation with them, for example about the practical and symbolic consequences of the care task they had taken on.

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The global discussion about monuments meant that the NDSM-werf Foundation used this moment to bring the shipyard's history more to the surface. What could a memorial be, mean, and who had a say in it? Who deserved to be present in the public space and who felt represented (and who didn't)? Based on the wish of the NDSM-werf Foundation for a polyphonic public space, the foundation commissioned several artists to give their views on this on the shipyard.

Continuation of (Un) monumenting

The (Un) Monumenting project consisted of several episodes: for each edition, the foundation invited artists to reflect on the theme of monuments of the future. At that time, (Un) Monumenting #1, consisting of the work Breathing the City by the Frerara collective, featured on the NDSM Billboards. Work was also carried out on (Un) Monumenting #3, a video work by Turkish-Dutch artist Belit Sağ, in which she highlighted the invisible history of the NDSM shipyard. In the video, a collaboration with the Institute for Sound and Vision, Sağ investigated the role of female Turkish migrant workers at the shipyard using archival material.