Under Pressure

With Under Pressure, Catarina Garcia and Jim Du Pan, both artists with studios in the NDSM Loods, bring together the history and heritage of NDSM with new life in the form of planting and light. The work symbolizes the cycles of transformation of the NDSM Wharf, a site that has experienced moments of crisis and destruction as well as phases of revival and repurposing. With the title, the makers refer to the growing housing construction and area development in expanding districts like NDSM, putting valuable places such as this under pressure. Through its organic greening, the work evokes associations with environmental urgency, unsustainable urban expansion, and the forces of urban development in which free and green space often loses out. The work reveals the duality of NDSM: a place under pressure, but also a place full of possibilities.

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NDSM Open Call
With the annual NDSM Open Call, Stichting NDSM-werf and Stichting Kinetisch Noord support projects that arise from the creativity of the NDSM-community. The jury for this edition consisted of external assessors Louis Pirenne (former project leader for Art and Culture Amsterdam-Noord) and Tanja Karreman (former director of Nieuw Dakota, senior advisor for the Rijkscollectie Percentage Art). Representing Stichting NDSM-werf were curator Petra Heck and program maker Ewa Scheifes, with Mariska Middendorf representing Stichting Kinetisch Noord. The jury was unanimously positive about the winning entry: “The submission by Catarina Garcia and Jim Du Pan is a site-specific installation that uses the industrial heritage of NDSM to create a striking work. Their proposal to place a sphere on the crane that gradually becomes greener and is illuminated from within produces an exciting image, open to interpretation.”

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About Catarina Garcia (PT) and Jim Du Pan (BE)
Catarina Garcia moved to Amsterdam immediately after completing her BA in Fine Arts in Portugal, where she has now been working for nine years as a visual artist from her studio at NDSM. Her work is characterized by a sensitive and intuitive approach to material. Through various media, she focuses on themes such as cultural heritage, identity, and care. Jim Du Pan graduated from the Sint-Lucas Faculty of Architecture in Belgium and subsequently spent several years in northern France as an architect and builder. From his studio at NDSM, he now works as a maker and visual artist on a wide range of projects, from sculptures to bespoke interiors.

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About Stichting NDSM-werf
Stichting NDSM-werf programs and manages the monumental outdoor space of NDSM as a cultural wharf, with public accessibility, creative experimentation, and multiple voices at its core. The foundation develops and presents site-specific installations and artworks by and with artists, designers, and architects.

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About Stichting Kinetisch Noord
Stichting Kinetisch Noord (SKN) was founded in 2000 to redevelop the former NDSM shipbuilding warehouse into a center for art, culture, and crafts, among other things by establishing a cultural incubator. In addition, SKN aims for the shed to function as an event venue for public-oriented activities such as presentations, workshops, (dance) events, exhibitions, and fairs. More information can be found on the NDSM Loods website.

Under Pressure is made possible in part by the Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst and the Mondriaan Fonds.