Makers van Noord

"Have you ever thought about what the city would be like without shoemakers, woodworkers and car mechanics?"

The European project Centrinno focuses on the value of craftsmanship in the city. Nine cities, including Amsterdam, are working together to come up with new strategies and practices around inclusive and sustainable area development in which makers have a clear place.

craftsmanship has always been an important element in the narrative of Amsterdam, but with globalization, Amsterdam - like most European cities - lost much of its production capacity and shifted to a knowledge and service economy. At the same time, to remain resilient in the face of challenges such as energy transition and the huge demand for housing, the city leans heavily on makers.

The Exhibition

The Makers of Noord exhibition at Museum Amsterdam Noord thus highlighted the craftsmanship of makers.

From large industries to small workshops, making has always been an important part of Amsterdam Noord. Scattered throughout the district you will find individual makers and collectives, artisans and creative entrepreneurs. Their future in the city, partly due to gentrification, is under pressure.

The exhibition officially opened at the Hout- en Meubileringscollege (HMC) in Amsterdam on September 29, 2022, being the second stop of the traveling exhibition.

For the exhibition, I developed the concept, captured the creators and handled the post-production of the photographs.

“Home” with the makers

For the exhibition I visited 10 artisan makers working in Amsterdam-North.

With the makers I recorded a diptych of which one side represents the maker as an individual (portrait) and the personal setbacks the maker experiences in a city that is constantly changing and seems to have less and less room for makers.

The other side of the diptych represents the maker in "flow." This is a state that any maker can possibly identify with, a state where time, space and all the maker's worries no longer exist and only the passion for making remains (poster).

In making the diptych, my intention was to create recognition among makers, but also among similar makers who are not captured for the exhibition and the community they make for, locally and within the European community.

Make space for the workplace

In addition to the exhibitions, several related programs were created such as the program "Maak plaats voor de werkplaats" in collaboration with Pakhuis de Zwijger. (in dutch)

During this program I gave more insight about the philosophy behind this series, my working method, what connects me to the "Makers van Noord" and finally new photographs were shown that were not included in the exhibition.

Besides myself, Marleen Dijkhof and others spoke about the new incubator policy for creative makers and the possibilities of offering makers with a social and sustainable function an affordable place in our city.

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