Eens droegen mijn straten hier een naam (2021)

The expansion of the Antwerp harbour saw large rural areas transformed into industrial zones. The ‘polder’ villages of Lillo, Oosterweel, Wilmarsdonk and Oorderen were destroyed together with 3048 hectares of agricultural land to make way for the new docks. I live in Antwerp and grew up in Rotterdam, both harbour cities with heavy industries. I have seen the harbours and heard about they are good for the economy. But what is lost in the expansion? I come in contact with an old inhabitant of Lillo and get access to archival footage of the villages and their destruction. This archive is the starting point of the work which exists of a flag as protest and recognition of the lost villages, a sculpture showing vertical timelines and a video-poem listening to the land.

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