Title: The memory of Parijschh
2005
photos by: Observatorium en Sjaak Langenberg
Project commissioned by CV Parijsch.
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CULEMBORG – In 2005, 13.000 copies of a special edition of the Culemborgse Courant were placed in storage in an attic in the new housing estate, Parijsch. The attic has been locked and will only be opened on the 18th of December 2025 when the newspapers will be distributed throughout the Dutch town of Culemborg. The contents of the newspaper will have remained secret for 20 years. The special edition is the first historiography of the new estate, Parijsch. With this housing estate, Culemburg is expanding further westwards to the extent of 1200 houses. The attic and the newspapers are elements in the artproject, ‘The memory of Parijsch’, which has been developed by Sjaak Langenberg and Observatorium. As a marker for the entrance to the Parijsch shopping centre, the artists built a roofed-over structure that is reminiscent of the traditional barns which once stood here. In the attic of this ‘barn’, the big wooden boxes in which the special edition of the Culemborgse Courant are stored, have been piled up. The newspaper was produced and edited by the artists in 2005.
The second element in this art-project deals with the subject of a meeting-place around the roadblock which, to the great annoyance of the inhabitants, has been erected across the major through road in Parijsch. On either side of the roadblock, numerous wooden duckboards with seating units have been built which now surround this ‘stumbling block’. The makeshift feature has thus been transformed into a pleasant meeting point. If the roadblock should ever be removed then all the barriers and traffic-lights will be stored inside the wooden seating units in remembrance.
© Sjaak Langenberg & Observatorium
