Art venue Dortyart part one_a life inspiration story

Last week we visited DordtYart for THE SQUID STORIES. 

Again, we managed to visit this intriguing art venue the last day before it’s (winter*) close. I know, not nice: for this season it is too late….That’s why this ‘closing report’ can come so handy. Check out our Dortyart experience and note a must-do-visit on your agenda for 2014.

Dortyart is a unique art park, which is located on an old cultural, industrial site in Dordrecht (the Biesboschhal), a former marine plant in the Stadswerven which will later be transformed to a residential area.

This makes DordtYart an extra-ordinary and temporary project for a period of eight years (until 2020).

DordtYart accommodates modern and contemporary artists who bring always an existing art work to the venue but also make one new one at the spot. 

The art projects are not only in the form of exhibitions but also in the form of productions. 

At Dortyart you can see expositions, video installations, and watercrafts. DordtYart not only offers it's visitors the possibility to view art, it also allows them to get involved with the creation of art, talk with the artists and get into a debat.

The work we first visited was a field ouside in some grass land. Loads of fog floated our way, and you just had to step in. 

Your sight diminished slowly and a foggy, weird soundscape took over your senses (and balance).

Edwin van der Heide installed this work, Fog Sound Environment, on the spit of DordtYart. Sun, rain and wind influence this installation, which he will finish this week. Edwin van der Heide is active in the field of sound, space and interaction as an artist, as well as a researcher. He stretches concepts as composition and musical language so they become spatial, interactive and include other disciplines. 
His work consists of installations, performances and environments. In the centre of his work, he places his public, so they can actively research and explore the work they are in.

Yi-Chun Lo (Taiwan) made a city above the water (See image above during the making of).

Her work is about the relationship among humans, land and the environment. She is concerned with how highly people regard the status of the urbanized environment that humans have created, and the looming crisis of reduced farmland. 

Her materials are also locally and organically sourced as she prefers using recycled and natural to create site-specific artwork. 

See het works as a new skyline, above the water. It was surreal and beautiful.

Before entering the docks, a warning sign indicated: " Enter at own risk. Good for you It's your choice!". Right and funny.

Some last tip. When you're in the environment of Dortyard, you find some weird indications on the way: The "Ark of Noach".

Do check it out, you can't miss it. Especially when you brought some kids, it's like a fata morgana in the middle of the Dutch fields. Look at these....  

Does this project reminds you of another art venue in Belgium where artists are invited also to make installations at the spot during their stay? 
The Verbeke Foundation works indeed in the same spirit, and as always: great minds think alike. Arie Jaap Warnaar, the guy behind Dortyart is a good friend and colleague of Geert Verbeke and his wife. Read more on The Squid Stories. 

DordtYart
Maasstraat 11
3313 CR Dordrecht
Telefoonnummer: +31 (0)78 632 1200
E-mail: info@dordtyart.nl

*Unfortunaltly the museum has no heating, so in winter it can be freezing cold. So, sad but true: DORDTYART IS closed from OcTOBER 6th 2013 Till MArch 2014.

©ALL photos by Kate Stockman & Ivan Missinne_THE SQUID STORIES