The places where people live are rapidly changing, partly because cities are in a constant state of development and flux. But this process of change doesn’t always take account of the different views, ideas, experiences and histories of people, animals and plants. That means some people no longer feel at home in their street, their neighbourhood, their city and that there’s no room for them anymore. In west Utrecht you can see many changes like these.

Art and culture have a key role to play in the city where we live together. That’s why we’re examining how art in Utrecht can create a greater sense of community. Gemene Grond – Common Ground – is about the place where people find each other. We are here for the city, by the city, with the city, in the city. Together we need to discover what’s important and what we want to do about it – and to find that out we need more dialogue. Gemene Grond believes in a city where different groups of people – from neighbours to artists and from entrepreneurs to local authorities – work together on our shared space.

We stand for all kinds of innovative art, whether that’s a temporary exhibition or a mural that brings years of joy to a community. An installation, a performance or a video: it can be anything. The key issue is that art is a communal thing, that communities get to decide and that everyone gets heard. But how do we do that and what is it we want to achieve together? In exploring these questions together, we literally give artists the space to make the neighbourhood a place where people feel at home.

We are Gemene Grond.