The project focus is to give voice to the rich history of the Rotterdam Seaport through various communities, beginning with Heijplaat neighborhood that was displaced in the 1980’s by the laying off of over 1300 shipyard workers, tracing how the seaport has had an impact to the people through their stories of the place. Juxtaposed and mixed underneath the voices from Rotterdam, there will be sounds from the streets and under the water of the seaport presenting the voices onto a “sonic canvas” or ground from which the voices emanate from. Participants can affect the project by telling their story in particular sites chosen or in particular contexts, such as while cooking a meal, walking their dog in their favorite park, or on site where they work.

The project will be seeded with stories from a similar community found in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. Beginning June 10, 2009 stories recorded from Baltimore City will be transmitted into the Southern part of Rotterdam airwaves (site to be announced soon) using a series of small low power FM radio transmitters. Over time the Baltimore stories will be replaced by stories from the Heijplaat and Rotterdam Seaport. Mid-July, Bradley will begin to lead small group tours in and around different parts of Rotterdam while listening to the stories on small radios and learning more about Rotterdam as a place; rich with maritime history occupied by multiple cultures. Over a remaining weeks of the project, Bradley will lead tours of the place with small radios to listen to the stories and to discuss the history of the place (which Bradley will also record and add to the broadcast over time). Before I broadcast the stories from Rotterdam, he will begin with Baltimore stories to seed the stories I collect in Rotterdam – then over time the Rotterdam locals will replace the voices of Baltimore. When this project is complete, Bradley will return to Baltimore where he will broadcast both the Baltimore and Rotterdam voices together as though they are having a conversation about their mutual places.

artists / groups



cultural and historial