Until We Meet Again Programme
In 1995 artist Jeanne van Heeswijk was commissioned to develop a project that centred on the redevelopment of the Westwijk area in the city of Vlaardingen near Rotterdam. Jeanne chose to invite several artists, architects and designers over a period of ten years to organise 'meetings' in active co-operation with the inhabitants, naming the programme Until We Meet Again. The artists created temporary sculptures, projects, installations and happenings, each aiming to contribute to the involvement of the inhabitants with the changes that take place within the redevelopment of Westwijk.

De Strip Project
Within this wider cultural programme the largest housing association in the area and landlords of 15 vacant shops at centre of Vlaardingen commissioned artist Jeanne can Heeswijk to consider a new use for this strip of disused shops. They asked Van Heeswijk to conceive of a new, temporary function for what had, until recently, been a supermarket, a bakery, a flower shop, a drugstore, and other local shops.

The new centre opened to residents in May 2002 for 18-months, delivering three main elements: an exhibition programme, the provision of artists’ workspaces, and a community programme along with a video-production facility. The inhabitants of Westwijk also programmed an ongoing series of activities in the museum cafe.

For the exhibitions programme, a branch of the internationally prestigious Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum, was established within three of the former shops to exhibit work from its collection of applied and modern art. A museum bookshop and café were also installed. In the former supermarket showroom, cultural collective Showroom MAMA organised a series of workshops and exhibitions on youth and street culture. Artist Peter Westernberg created Het Uit+Thuis video-magazine, a space and online TV-Channel for watching and making video.
Artists and craftsmen were offered studios and workspaces for a period of three months at a time. No rent was charged on the condition that the tenants opened their studios to the public twice a week and ran workshops for interested local residents.

Social Engagement
The De Strip initiative was devised as an exploration for new temporary cultural and communal functions within a community undergoing considerable change. By offering such a new range of spaces where residents could meet each other, it allowed them to join together in facing the changes around them. Also integral to the programme was providing an outlet and voice for the diverse cultural identities that make up the area.

A bi-monthly newsletter in the form of a comic strip not only updated residents on the programme’s agenda but also provided a forum for discussion of De Strip and the development of the Westwijk as a whole.

Methodology
Jeanne van Heeswijk develops cultural models for public spaces. The key concepts behind her work are ‘acting’, ‘meeting’ and ‘communicating’. She is concerned with the creation of spaces within which any person can speak and participate. Jeanne works with the local, the usual and unusual, language and subcultures to pose fundamental questions about how different identities and positions can be reconciled without losing the individuality of the separate elements.

The programme was extended for 6 more months until May 2004. The landlords and the local community are currently considering future uses for the shops.

In response to the fact the shopping centre was no longer used for direct economic production, the De Strip project demonstrates the great importance of cultural production to the maintenance of the local community and infrastructure. The resulting programme has transformed the precinct into a much-needed cultural sector for the Westwijk area.

www.destrip-westwijk.net (Dutch only)
www.worldwidewestwijk.nl (Dutch only)
www.jeanneworks.net