Pusher Palace

Mister Brunselaar visits the city of Delft since he was a boy, together with his parents who were also working at the Fun fair. He considers Delft a little bit as ‘his’ city, and, if possible, he likes to subscribe there every year.

'When I was young I knew a very old couple who were the owners of a bar here on the Marketplace. We could always use their toilet. Now the enterpreneurs of the Marketplace also help us, I know most of them but I can imagine that they don’t like us to be here, certainly not with this beautiful waether. They miss the revenues because we tahek the space of their terraces'.

Mister Brunselaar and his familiy live in Apeldoorn, where many people working on fun fairs live. There has always been a lot of space, which is very useful for keeping the big ‘attraction trucks’ on their own terrains.  His father and grandfather used to own fun fair attractions, his grandfather far before the second worldwar; a carrousell and a wooden wave on which you had to stand and try not to fall of.

During the summers he and his wife travel with an attraction with push-arms called ‘Pusher Palace’ and a car where they sell Churros.  Their daughter sells pizza, also on fun fairs. They also own a Balco Rotor and a Lucky Duck stand. In the winter they sell ‘oliebollen’ in front of the entrance of the Intratuin in Els. That does not generate a lot of income,  but it does not cost much, because the oliebollen car only comes out two months a year.  It can be used for years to come.

The last few years the income of the fun fairs deminished obviously: the youth is not willing to spend a lot on the fun fairs. Mr Brunselaar  blames it on the iPhone; they spend their money on that.  Before, children made appointments in school to meet again at the fun fair. Now they app each other first eight times before they actually meet. It also became illegal to offer fake articles, so the cuddly toys and other awards became more expensive.

‘My cash register is full of awards. From the outside it is hard to see me, but you should know how much I see through all the holes and windows. Unfortunately also bad things like people steeling…..'

A special condition for us to register here in Delft applies: we must be leaving within 24 hours in case a member of the royal familiy dies and will be buried in the New Church at this Market Square. We will manage, because we, the people of the fun fairs, are very flexible. We are used to pack our bags and leave….  

Ronny

Last week met a painter, his name is Ronny. He was painting the courtyard houses in the place where I was photographing. He asked me what I was doing and I told him I was making portraits of widows living in the courtyard. ‘Why?’ he asked me. I told him my first husband also died. Then he told me his mother became a widow when she was twenty five. My focus was on photographing one of the ladies so I had to stop my conversation with him.

When I was back home I thought about him: ‘What did he want to tell me about his late mother?’ Today I met him again, still painting the houses white. He does it very secure and concentrated, so at first I did not dare to disturb him. My curiosity won and I asked him about his mother.

Four days before Ronny’s third birthday his father died, age thirty two. He died of a heart attack in the gym.

Ronny has got a five year older sister. Although he was very young he still keeps like six memories of his father. Ronny thinks of him every single day, not in sadness, because over forty years have passed, but for example when he hears an old song from before his father died: he thinks, ‘Yes this song he has known, and hearing a newer song: no he has not known it… ‘

In 1972, the year in which Ronny's father died, his mother used to work in a restaurant. Her parents took care of the children in the evening, and when his sister was older, she was Ronny’s babysitter. Twenty years later, when Ronny was serving in the army, she started a new relation and remarried two years later. Ronny liked his mothers’ new husband. Unfortunately, not long after they got married, he died because of an illness. She is sixty eight years old now and has got a lot of friends, but still Ronny thinks it is hard for her to be single.

Ronny is very proud of his mother. Everything he has got he owes to her: his education and his manners. He is proud he and his sister became good human beings thanks to their mother. Now he is a father of two himself, he has got a son of ten years old, partly named after his father: Hendricus Hermanus Levie,  and a daughter named Stéphanie, sixteen years old. Ronny decided a while ago to quit smoking, because he does not want this to be the reason to die from a heart attack as well.

Last Sunday August 17^th, one day before his fathers’ birthday, Ronny visited his fathers’ grave, close by his house. He cleaned it an put plants on it. ‘It is he best taken care of  grave of all the graves surrounding his grave,’ Ronny said proudly. Sometimes Ronny repaints the golden letters on the tombstone, to make them shine again beautifully.

Thank you Ronny for telling me your touching story!

Interviews met de Weduwen van Rawagede en de heer Saih bin Sakam

Via de volgende link zijn mijn persoonlijke interviews met de Weduwen van Rawagede en de heer Saih bin Sakam te lezen in een preview van mijn eigen Blurb boekje: De weduwen van Rawagede en de heer Saih bin Sakam

Expositie Kermis in de Kunstkop

Persbericht: “Kermis in de Kunstkop”

Fotograaf Suzanne Liem en beeldend kunstenaar René Jacobs organiseren op zondag 21 april in Galerie de Kunstkop een bijzondere duo expositie. Al geruime tijd zijn Suzanne en René gefascineerd en geïnspireerd door de kermis. Gewapend met de camera hebben zij in 2012 gezamenlijk enkele kermissen in de omgeving van Delft bezocht. Tijdens de expositie “Kermis in de Kunstkop” zullen enkele foto’s van Suzanne en schilderijen van René Jacobs getoond worden die geïnspireerd zijn op het vrolijke en typisch Nederlandse fenomeen Kermis.

De belangstelling voor het werk van Suzanne Liem (1965) groeit in snel tempo. Na het afronden van de Fotoacademie Amsterdam is haar werk in diverse kranten, waaronder NRC, Volkskrant, AD en Trouw geplaatst. Suzanne heeft een scherp oog voor de details die een ogenschijnlijk vrolijk tafereel op de helling kunnen zetten en weet met subtiele humor het beslissende duwtje te geven. Met perfectionisme, een verfijnd gevoel voor compositie en oprechte liefde voor haar medemens weet ze door te dringen tot in de ziel van de geportretteerde. De kermisfoto’s van Suzanne laten zich typeren als portretten van alledaagse mensen in een niet alledaagse omgeving. Daarbij vraagt zij zich daadwerkelijk af hoe het is om de hele dag in een verlichte paddenstoel te zitten. Het werk van beeldend kunstenaar René jacobs (1969) en eigenaar van Galerie de Kunstkop sluit daar uitstekend op aan. René heeft zijn werk in het verleden vaak omschreven als de woordenloze verhalen van kleine mensen die zich groot proberen te houden. In de kleurrijke, absurde omgeving van de kermis moeten zij tot het uiterste gaan om zichzelf staande te houden. De humorvolle mixed media kunstwerken getuigen van hun moedige strijd. René heeft voor deze expositie driftig geëxperimenteerd met diverse materialen, waaronder buttons, medailles, LED verlichting en zelfs een volledig gedemonteerde televisie uit de jaren zeventig. Tijdens de expositie zal duidelijk worden dat humor, menselijkheid en de fascinatie voor het zwarte randje het werk van René en Suzanne binden. De kermis biedt letterlijk en figuurlijk voor iedereen lichtjes in de duisternis.

Geheel in stijl zal er tijdens de opening van de expositie een suikerspinautomaat staan om de kleine en grote bezoekers te voorzien van deze voor de kermis zo kenmerkende lekkernij. Niet toevallig zal vanaf 26 april de Delftse Koninginnekermis haar vleugels uitslaan op de Paardenmarkt. In de galerie zijn kortingsbonnen beschikbaar voor alle bezoekers. Beide kunstenaars zullen tijdens de opening aanwezig zijn. Meer dan voldoende redenen om op zondag 21 april vanaf 14:00 de expositie “Kermis in de Kunstkop” te bezoeken in Galerie de Kunstkop op de Nieuwe Langendijk 10 in Delft. De expositie duurt tot en met zaterdag 11 mei. Meer informatie is te vinden op www.galeriedekunstkop.nl of www.suzanneliem.com.

 ************** EINDE PERSBERICHT *********************

 

CONTACT GEGEVENS

René Jacobs / Suzanne Liem

Galerie de Kunstkop

Nieuwe Langendijk 10

2611 VK in Delft

Tel: 06-46478874 / 06-22999679

Info@galeriedekunstkop.nl / suzanneliem@hotmail.com

Www.galeriedekunstkop.nl / www.suzanneliem.com

Galerie de Kunstkop is geopend van donderdag tot vrijdag van 10:30 tot 17:30 en op zaterdag van 11:00 tot 17:00. Maandag en dinsdag tevens geopend op afspraak.