Short report of first meeting/brainstorm 22 April, Concordia

Museum's plans for 1 May and the longer term

Julia Zwijnenburg briefly presented the long-term plans that the museum has -- developing an online tool for determination of plateel (based on stamps and signatures at the back of the ceramics) and discussion / stories around it.

At the plateelkeuring, flyers will be handed out where people are asked for feedback about such a potential tool: what do they expect from it, what are they interested in?

Handing out these flyers will run in parallel with the actual "taxation" and determination of the ceramics that people bring. The Patchingzone intervention/action will also run in parallel.

Patchingzone intervention

Patchingzone wants to work with strong artistic focus.

Ideas that have been discussed:
- emotions
- family / history of a piece
- value in various aspects: financial, artistic ("beauty")
- alternative perspectives, aspects to draw information from ceramics: sound (record player analogy, tapping ceramics to determine if broken or not)
- final idea from brainstorm: generate sound from visual input, camera registers moving image from patterns on ceramics and this is converted to audio.


Approximation of the layout of the square in front of the museum:

Report of BAM workshop, 3 March

Report is in telegram style -- feel free to get in touch with me if you'd like further explanations about something! -- Fokky

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In the morning of the BAM (library, museum, archive consortium) workshop, the two separate working groups from all institutes presented their progress so far. The two groups are:
1. Buiten Spelen (Playing Outside): looking at possible questions and demands from outside their institutions, in the city. What would people want?
2. Collection 2.0 - looking inside out, how to do more participatory things with the existing collections.

Both groups have done interviews with people to check out their interests and networks. I will blank out the actual names of the people so that they don't become publicly available online...

Interesting remarks and observations that came in-between have been put in italics by me (SF).

Buiten Spelen

1. K... V.........: (man) "the sports guy" - group really wanted to interview him; he's a frequent archive visitor.
Was enthusiast about water dossier on Goudanet.
Made index to Goudse Krant himself: kind of an archiving hobbyist!
Printer as profession, interested in older Gouda printers, interested in doing something with this.
Wants to do something with sports, is interested in finding people in the various clubs in Gouda.
Interested in doing something with streets cfr. VPRO Plaats van Herinnering; his interest is in stories of people about the streets
Will be in VUT (retirement) soon and will be able to spend 40hrs / week on this, probably!

2. A... B... (man)
Sees the street as entry point as well - focusing on names of streets, and literature. Has already done a lot of work on this, has many CDs with audio material and studio materials.
Was spotted in the library as someone with lots of interesting questions.
Became more and more enthusiast as the discussion progressed.
Related to koornet (?) and many other organizations
His existing materials can already be used in an interesting way!
Not very much into digital technology.
Will retire / or has recently retired

-> we already have a very interesting entry point here: history and (existing) stories about it

3. N.... de B...... (woman)
Was council member in Gouda till a few years ago
Very much into volunteering
Organizer of "ontmoetingsmaaltijd" (meeting meals)
12 locations, 30 people from all backgrounds are invited to eat together, everyone brings their own dessert.
She's very much a spider in the network of Gouda.
Contact via Carolyt who saw her in a TV program.
Board member for a foundation for women with non-Dutch background (Dunya)
Not much digital background either
Board member of Green party . Groen-Links
Board member of music school

-> Important for us to make combination with Gouda Ontmoet (a project about meeting and getting to know people locally), who want to make a website but don't have a budget for that.
-> Need for digital news provision, people miss the former Goudse Krant (local newspaper)
-> emphasizes importance of role of library

Neighborhood newspapers have taken over the role of the Goudse Krant -- people put family news in there and read those frequently, apparently

Probably most (older) people listen to Radio West, which is more on regional level.
Gouwestad is on the rise, also quality-wise, but has a lack of volunteers (TV and radio)

Interesting entry points and points of inspiration from these interviews could be
- streets as interesting starting points
- filling in dossiers on Goudanet (now they have a different focus, supply-oriented rather than demand-oriented)
- many of these people lack digital/technical knowledge which may make them interesting for us; they would need targeted forms that suit their specific needs.

Some discussion about Goudanet and the digital dossiers follows - these should be improved, are difficult to work with, it's not clear for end users how much information is in there, not potentially inviting for external contributions

4. D... P.....
Archive visitor.
Interested in circus (in general)
Has own collection of affiches, miniature circus figures
Club van Circusvrienden = Dutch club with the same interests
Group was interested to see what kind of network he would have as a typical archive visitor; his network is very narrow and in-depth / specialized and mostly outside Gouda

5. G.. B...... from Schoonhoven
Has an extensive network in Schoonhoven
Teaches sculpture in Dordrecht
Initiator of HOP (Historisch OntmoetingsPunt / historical meeting point in the library) and Zilvermuseum (?), his museum is unsubsidized which makes collaboration more difficult (doesn't want to lose visitors)
HOP has presence in the library.
Interested in silver history.
Makes childrens' theater as well, inspired by historical stories, this may be interesting for the library.
Knows several people in Schoonhoven who have collections of material about history

6. A few younger people interviewed, for them the city with its historical center is a given, not so interesting
They mostly go outside the city for entertainment, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Amersfoort, for the music scene.
Not many connections with the city.

Difficult to address young people in relation to the city.
So What is a center for young people in Gouda, is considered too alternative.
-> apparently this situation has been the same since the last 25 years!

Several people in their 30s were glad that there came more (cultural) events in the streets and that these seemed more coordinated.
Several watched Gouwestad TV. Information about local events from newspapers; but information is not extensive there.
There is a need for a separate cultural agenda. Not only with large events, but weekly.
Event newspapers / event website.
Idea to make Goudanet also focused on todays' information.

Links and related initiatives:
Goudalokaal
De Uitloper (long paper flyer with cultural agenda, apparently a commercial initiative)

7. Researcher / Jewish history of Gouda
Organization: Akevoth www.dutchjewry.org
Interest comes from his own family background.
Interested in making exhibition of Gouda's Jewish history.
Contacts: Joods Historisch Museum, Westerbork, NIOD

Archive used to have a "studienetwerk" (study network) where people could find others interested in the same topic. Had a database for a long time where people could enter information about the research they were working on.
Stopped, because it was not popular.

-> archive attracts solistic researchers, often one-issue, hobbies
Many of them are at some point interested in exposure, though.

www.hyperboek.com / Hyperboek, traditional publication that also has a web presence and can be extended by users.


Collectie 2.0

www.waterwolfmedia.nl/portaal - results of interviews can also be found here
Focus was on people who have worked in the plateel factories (ceramics).
First two people interviewed were family (aunts) of people from museum and archive.

1. Mrs H........ (woman)
Has worked in a specific plateel (ceramics) factory.
85 years old.
Speaks about pelican figurine - was a gift from the factory to the female workers
Miss H...... did all kinds of tasks in the factory.
Not many people left who can still speak about plateel factories from their own experience.
It's difficult to find more people who have worked in this factory, especially earlier (1930s).

2. T.... E...-M... (woman)
Also worked in plateel factory. since 1937 till 1947 approx.
Workers didn't see what happened in other depts of the factory, only knew about their own work!
50 hours per work week
no production => no wages! (they were paid according to the number of items they actually made)
she actually had a rather decent wage, but working conditions were often not really great.

There are reunions for the plateel factory workers.
Old people's houses have many people who have worked in these factories.
Most people in Gouda have second-quality (not prime-quality) ceramics in their houses -- they got it from the factories.

3. W. H.....
Worked in factory after the war.
Proud of specific products "Delfts Wit"

Interesting: museum finds other pieces interesting than the former workers
- for museum: art historical interest; artist contributions are put in the spotlight
- according former workers: contributing artists didn't really know about ceramics, they didn't know about the internals of the process and the factory (they were seen as intruders, maybe, or at least as not very knowledgeable; I see similarities with e.g. team dynamics in the production of electronic art, software, digital design here! --SF)

Willem-Jan is mapping out all the former smaller ceramics factories in Google Maps.

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Presentation by Gert-Jan about supply- vs demand-oriented working methods

Gert-Jan's background: agoge (social work?)

3 institutes & professionals have the tendency to think in the direction of the people. This is how the earlier portraits/stories have emerged

Research to create a platform, eventually, is very much directed by BAM's supply.

RAAK: part of core business of BAM institutes to be taken away, in order to attain cultural dynamics that are demand-oriented; activating and facilitating people/participants.


What is a platform? generally a result / process
Process is started, where the result is not clear / a question mark. Process of collaboration is the most important.
Expertise of BAM professionals
Expertise of people / burgers
Zelf-regisserend / self-directing proces, initiated together.
Core activities are placed with people/participants

Methodics of demand-orientation

Library and archive professionals are generalists, museum more specialistic about content

Museum asks itself if it has done things wrong ! In the case of plateel, must take a lot of initiative itself. Maybe find other perspectives on the topic / important to find out how the topic of plateel still lives today.

What are criteria for finding interesting people to initiate things?


Something can only be called a service if the "recipients" perceive it as such - what if your audience becomes more knowledgeable and more verbal?

Example projects / best practice
The approach presented by Gert-Jan is often applied in projects with young people on a local level.
Other example project: from Mali to Memphis -> about music cultures (Bamako, Berlin, Memphis, Tokio, ...)
Else, Web in de Wijk
Molukken-project

Potential types / characteristics of people to involve
- solists can play a role for solistic activities, not so much for networking
- a networker / someone who actively networks; a link in a network is only valuable if the connection is useful in both directions
Both types will be motivated differently.

Goudologie - putting people around the table who have followed a course about Gouda's history earlier (the course contains of 12 lessons and has attracted more than 200 people so far!).
Historical platform - trying to create a pool of people who can become really active in Gouda's history (e.g. writing)

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How both groups will continue

1. Organizing three small "laboratory" / "prototype" public events together with us, Patchingzoners.
See email.
Agreed dates are:
- Market day: 27 March
- Opening of Library Bloemendaal: 16 April
- Plateelkeuring: 1 May

2. Buiten Spelen cont'd

1. K.. V.... from interview above will be contacted again, with focus on sports in Gouda. His network will be activated. How can it be meaningful for the participants?
2. Conditions to be discussed with Patchingzone students
3. Tool / format to be devised / designed
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4. Writing notes / methodology: from outside to inside / inside only
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5. Research possible meaningful link with Goudologists

3. Collectie 2.0 cont'd

1. Interviews will be finished
2. Preparation of public day with PZ "more unexpected results wanted!"
3. Calls in "the media"/ plans for recruiting people
4. Writing notes / methodology