Artists dig deeper: What lies beneath our feet?
It wasn’t always like this. A greater contrast is hardly imaginable. Where busy traffic now rushes by, nature reigned hundreds of years ago. Beneath the asphalt lie various layers of clay, sand, and peat. The Rhine River once flowed through this area, with its banks nearby. There was even a time without people when temperatures could drop to -40 degrees, and mammoths roamed the land. The artists of Take a Detour find it inspiring how this place has evolved over time. Therefore, they want to literally bring the ground beneath our feet to the surface. Because the ground beneath us is ultimately what connects us all. They plan to do this with a drill. The layers of peat, sand, plants, Rhine remnants, and the culture of the people of Lombok will serve as inspiration for a large tapestry/rug they want to create.

Grondstof: A tapestry full of culture and nature
The rug will be a convergence of culture and nature, a poetic translation of clay, sand, peat, and the people of today's Lombok. The rug will be tufted, a technique where many strands of wool together form the tapestry/rug. All these strands together create a new piece of ground: Grondstof. The rug is meant to be a place to sit, to meet each other, and, for example, to eat or picnic together. The artists hope that it becomes a rug of the neighborhood. A rug that helps us remember the culture and history of nature. A rug that helps us (both literally and figuratively) slow down at this busy part of Westplein.

Along with the rug, there will be a booklet about the ground of today: what does the ground that supports you mean to you? What makes your soil, your home? What is important to you for the future of Lombokplein? What color would you give your ground? The booklet features stories from local residents and insights from a soil expert about the ground beneath our feet. Together, the rug and the booklet form the artwork Grond-stof.

What does the ground mean to you? Share your story
Would you like to participate in the process, learn tufting, or share what’s important to you for the future of Lombokplein? Or would you like to donate wool for the rug? Come by! The rug will be created between August 26 and September 24 in the wagon at Perron West, which will be turned into an art workshop. Anyone who wants to can come and help make the rug. The artists will use the tufting technique, where wool loops are shot through a piece of stretched fabric with a tufting gun or hand tufting tool.

Join the creative process: learn tufting at Perron West
Fun and connection are central. No experience is needed. The artists will also regularly be in the neighborhood, talking with residents about what the ground means to them.

Grondstof will be presented on September 27, along with the other artworks. It may also move to other locations afterward.