Six Degrees of Separation, 2019

project collaboration Non Linear Narrative

Six Degrees of Separation is a collaborative exhibition project between the Non Linear Narrative master programme of the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague, the Archaeology Department of the Municipality of The Hague and the ‘Rotterdamsebaan’ major road project. The project offered students direct access to archaeological remains found on the Rotterdamsebaan tunnel excavation site, in order to re-contextualize these human artefacts and link them to contemporary issues affecting the City of The Hague today.

The project resulted in a public exhibition at De Besturing in The Hague that explores new narratives of land speculation, property development, migration and endangered craftsmanship. Student outcomes involved extensive fieldwork in collaboration with business owners of the rapidly gentrifying Binckhorst area, in which the Rotterdamsebaan is situated today. By mapping research, the goal was to connect one chosen historical object in a maximum of six steps to contemporary debates and find matches between archaeological research methods and design-based investigations.

The exhibition was accompanied by a publication, check out the digital version here.

concept in collaboration with Lauren Alexander and Wineke van Muiswinkel; student participants: Cyan Bae, Giulia Faccin, Cristina Lavosi, Felix Meermann, Claude Nassar, Lila Steinkampf, Mauro Tosarelli, Kert Viiart and Hattie Wade; project supervision in collaboration with Lauren Alexander, Ruben Pater, Saskia van Stein and Wineke van Muiswinkel; exhibition design: Nanneke Boomgaard, Bianca Meilof and Judy Wetters

Student field trip to the archaeological site related to the Rotterdamsebaan tunnel. – Photos by Boel Backaert Students getting their hands dirty. Six Degrees of Separation student exhibition at De Besturing, October 2019. Free location maps with archaeological sites from the Binckhorst area. Cyan Bae, Amo Te Vita, video interviews and publications. Mauro Tosarelli and Hattie Wade, Tunnel Vision, floor projection. Giulia Faccin and Claude Nassar, Dust of the Binckhorst, two screen video installation. Exhibition overview. Lila Steinkampf, Rebuilding The Hague, video and performance. Exhibition overview. Presentation to the Rotterdamsebaan art commission. Felix Meermann, NIIMO Project, video and clay paving stones. Cristina Lavosi, And It Looks to Me Like the End of an Era, video projection.