Konsum Kaufhaus, Altenburg (2018)
In 2018, If Paradise Is Half As Nice #8 took place at the the former department store building of the Konsum Kaufhaus in Altenburg, Germany. The group was permitted access to the site after extensive discussions with the investment cooperation who held ownership of the building. An old, yet still very beautiful building, the old Kaufhaus department store consisted of four distinct sections: a warehouse, a bakery (factory), a butchery and a main store. There was ample space for the ten participating artists to work. For this edition two guest artists, Julien Fargeton, Inge Aanstoot were invited and Sander Schuurman was invited to document the project on video. They lived and worked together as a part of team for the duration of the project. On the final weekend, the project was opened to the city of Altenburg and was very well received attracting over three thousand visitors over the course of three days. Up to this point this was our largest attendance yet. Our project was warmly welcomed by by the mayor of Altenburg and his staff. Through him, the city of Alterburg supported us by securing much needed access to electrical power and equipment. In addition, the project was aided greatly by support from The Paul Gustavus House, a local artist initiative, who offered water access and much appreciated help on the final closing weekend.
Exhibition: August 24–26, 2018. Participants: Daan Botlek, Pim Palsgraaf, Willem Besselink, Ties Ten Bosch, Jordy Walker, Sybille Neumeyer, Michiel Jansen, Regina Kelaita, Toine Klaassen, Julien Fargetton, Inge Aanstoot, Janne Eraker + Sébastien Branche (artists), Guus Vreeburg (lectures), Sander Schuurman (documentary).
More works
Music- and filmmaker Sander Schuurman produced this beautiful documentary of If Paradise Is Half As Nice #8. Using sounds and images of the whole process, he captured the atmosphere, the process and the end results in a film that doesn’t get boring for one minute.
Screening in the framework of ‘If Paradise Is Half As Nice #12’. Geh8, Dresden, August 25, 2022.
Crowd funding event. Atelier, Rotterdam. January 12, 2019.
For the most part, ‘If Paradise Is Half As Nice’ is directly funded by a dedicated group of fans in the form of crowd funding.
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If Paradise Is Half As Nice