Day 86: Strolling Through The Grass on The Other Side during WDE
By Griet Menschaert, Eindhoven, the Netherlands, 24 October 2017
The idea behind my Day of Learning is to help my visitors to meet themselves through the other and make him/her do the same. The meeting action is open to all, but it is one person at a time. I start by inviting a random guest to sit with me for 5 minutes: I ask where (s)he comes from, has been, thinks to belong, would like to be…, without judging the answers in any way. The dialogue may end up in a literal way or in a more metaphorical way. All is fine. At the end I invite this guest to take my place, so I can leave and a new conversation partner can be invited. All my conversation partners liked this idea, but so far (after performing in Ninove and Eindhoven) only a bunch of kids really dared to take over :-) !
I initiated this meeting action in Ninove (BE) as well as in Eindhoven. It is amazing how much personal information can be shared within 5 minutes! And how open people dare to be to someone they meet for the first time and moreover: in a public place. And how you can stimulate others’ as well as your own thoughts by simply accepting them to be there.
During the tens of conversations I had, people told me about their houses, their villages and cities, how they got there, how they moved through cities and countries to reach their current destination, how they lost a lot, how they fell in love and how that influenced their geographical positions, how it is impossible for them to travel due to physical, mental or financial problems, how they love cruises, how they prefer to stay at home, how they burnt all their black clothes after years of mourning, how they miss their deceased parents, how they wish the local swimming pool had bigger slides, how they are doubting if they should move into a social house, how they are hurt by the loss of their child… All this was of course immensely enriching for myself. Everybody that was willing to sit down — not knowing what would follow, seemed to love the attention I gave them. My interest in them came as a surprise: they were walking by on the street, I was sitting on the market or the street, or they curiously came to see me in the space of Baltan Laboratories in Eindhoven. Most of my guests left me gratefully. My personal conclusion is that that everyone deserves to fall in love with.
SOME EXAMPLES FROM THE EINDHOVEN TALKS
First person that came to ‘stroll through the grass’ in Eindhoven was a lady who was retired. She came from the South of the Netherlands and told me she had come to Eindhoven for 5 days of Dutch Design Week. I can not recall all that she told me, but our moment was very intense. She explained she was trying to find out what she could do with the spare time she now has. She wanted to be creative so she came to Dutch Design Week - to study what design is all about. She was very passionate about this. To me it was stimulating to hear that a lady that age can still be so lively and full of energy, and most of all: have such an open mind. At the end I proposed her to take my place and invite another person to sit with her, but she proposed we would simply swap chairs. So there I was: being questioned myself, about my roots, my longings, my beloved two countries Belgium and The Netherlands. She wrote down my name and intended to get in touch with me after this. At the end of her interview with me, she was even more enthusiastic, and surprised that also this action, of simply sitting here and having the time to talk about existential things, was part of Dutch Design Week!
Second lady that came to sit with me was working as an administrator for a physiotherapist. Her daughter was in her presence, but felt a bit ashamed. I asked the mother my questions: ‘where do you come from, do you like it there, do you sometimes wish you would be somewhere else…’ Now, this lady really was a happy one. She was completely happy with her life and with the place she was living in. She had a nice husband, nice kids, a nice job, she loved to travel to Switzerland… I asked her: is there nothing you feel you would like to change about your life? “Well, maybe yes… my kids are almost grown up now, they will soon leave the house…” I wanted to hug her while she was so brave to speak about this. I myself have no kids, I am a person that is always ‘after something’. The lady also started asking me some questions and left with an honest smile.
After these two ladies, I had conversations with two more people. One was a handsome French student in Eindhoven. He said he was happy to no longer have to live in Paris, he got quite emotional about that. He was very serious. He hoped to be able to stay in The Netherlands after his graduation. He was open about his use of soft drugs. He too proposed to switch roles, as we had the time and there were no other people around. So we talked openly to each other about being a Belgian/French foreigner in Eindhoven and our lives and views on where it could go with our artistic ambitions, a very pure conversation.
The last person that came to talk was someone from the organization of Age of Wonderland. She lives in Nijmegen and told me that during DDW, she seemed to have a double life: one in the super busy Eindhoven, the other in the rather quiet Nijmegen. She liked Nijmegen, but she was not sure she would stay there forever. She had been traveling quite a bit. I think she was a bright person. She asked me if the people I met through this action reacted differently in Belgium than in the Netherlands — good question! She was surprised to hear that I had the idea that the Belgians had been more sincere and honest with me, maybe because they can hear I am ‘one of them’? But also: the Dutch are good at acting — or really being ? — positive! But also: in Belgium I did the performance out there on the street, so I reached a more varied audience.
