DAM CARPET

IN CELEBRATION OF TOGETHERNESS, A GROUP OF OLD AND NEW AMSTERDAMMERS JOINED FORCES TO CREATE A 200+ m2 CARPET ON THE DAM SQUARE AS SEASONS GREETINGS TO THE CITY

On Sunday the 29th of December, right between Christmas and New Years Eve, United Painting rolled out a massive artwork (12×12) in the heart of Amsterdam, right in front of the royal palace.  In the so-called festive season, a period in which the differences in society become painfully visible, we decided to team up with a group of newcomers to create our own season’s greetings, in a time frame of no less than a week between idea and execution.

The idea for all of this was sparked during one of our recent projects; an artistic intervention in Italy at the request of the University of Florence. In collaboration with local newcomers, we made two carpets. Both the process and the outcome were received very well by the makers, the University and other residents.

Over the years, we have also built up a network in the Netherlands of newcomers, status holders and undocumented migrants involved in our projects, whenever they take part they are compensated, everyone else contributed on a voluntary basis. By doing this we set up our own end of year party, doing what we love to do: bringing people together, creating art and having a great time!

One of our designers developed a basic design which was logistically feasible in the short term, but without any aesthetic concessions. The carpet was made up of several smaller pieces of work; all different, all equal, symbolic for what we are aiming for. During the collective creation process everyone involved engaged in conversations, choosing patterns and colours and worked side by side towards a common goal. On day three, we picked up all the pieces and carried them to Dam Square for the world to see. An opportunity to collectively witness our creation, reflect on the past and concoct plans for the future.