Lang Leve…! is an artistic action research project by Academie voor Beeldvorming about the framing of aging in ‘s-Hertogenbosch. Does the city dare to frame itself as a place where it is nice to grow old? How do workers view pensioners? What happens when cultural institutions see their programming as a tool for positive health?
We build a framework where artists, social workers, old people and professionals working from different departments within the municipality could learn how to collaborate and use each other’s strengths. This is a challenging task, because of the difference in language, habits and power dynamics.
We were involved in different stages of the process. In the beginning mainly as a writer. We wrote about the manifestation in Bank van Lening, the manifestation in the library, about a public conversation on getting old in the city, did an interview with dance collective Dansnest and another text about photographers Nenah Gorissen, Imke Panhuijzen and John van Hamond who worked on series about the depiction of elderly people in ‘s-Hertogenbosch.
In 2020, when we became more involved with the Academie voor Beeldvorming, we also participated in organising the manifestations. In ‘s-Hertogenbosch Zuid we curated a corona-proof window exhibition in a street and supermarket. In collaboration with residents of the Pettelaarseweg we made sure the photography was visible from the outside. Next to that we organised an interactive talk with local residents.
After the manifestation we implemented these ideas in the next manifestation in ‘s-Hertogenbosch West. We also installed there the exhibition of Lang Leve…!, but now with the help of business owners in a shopping strip, like a hairdresser, supermarket, restaurant, and flower- and GSM store. Margo Koehorst helped with the installment and wrote a beautiful article about the process of organizing, communication and doing what you say you do. You can read the text here (Dutch).
After each manifestation we organised an expert meeting with everyone involved: the elderly, professionals, artists, residents, enterpreneurs. Read all about the manifestation in Zuid and about the manifestation in West.
The full documentation of Lang Leve…! is also visible on www.langlevedenbosch.nl.