In the Dutch pavilion, ‘We are the world’ is the title of a ‘confrontational
juxtaposition of installations by five artists of different cultural
origins, but all living and working in the Netherlands’. Thus, Mexican
Carlos Amorales shows a small shoe workshop where low cost items
are made for the American market. Over a 100 ceramic pairs of shoes
are somehow slotted in to this subtle parody of third world dependency.
Alicia Framis of Spain follows the theme of violence in her work
against (dark-skinned) women, and the show is composed of 23 dresses
produced appropriately to the context she chooses, in Twaron, a
bullet-resistant fabric. Meschac Gaba from Benin, has created a
‘Ginger Bar’ shaped like a small African boat, and serves ginger
drinks (minus vodka). Jeanne van Heeswijk (from the Netherlands)
develops her own game of enthralling though time-consuming complexity
but nobody much seemed to be playing. Perhaps she should try London
too? Erik van Lieshout, also from the Netherlands, offers a video
entitled ‘Respect’ about unworkable multi-cultural realities in
the south of Rotterdam. All in all, this multinational grouping
makes one postpone that trip to Belgium, but to question, too, such
composite multi-cultural obligatory stances. From the Ginger Bar
back to the Absolut off-licence was but a simple stroll, with only
half a dozen bridges to cross – quite manageable too. The gondolas
seem to lurk like crocodiles, oops…
