‘Burning the Man’ by Frans de Winter - held at Neck of the Woods: an independent contemporary artspace / gallery & art community.

Written By Benne van der Velde

And burn it did!

Last Saturday I was asked to say a few words at ‘Burning the Man’, an event to celebrate the end of another great season for the independent contemporary artspace / gallery & art community ‘Neck of the Woods’, a passion project of artist Johannes Steendam, based in my hometown of Vlaardingen. Seeing as the event would basically consist of (the burning of) an art piece by my mate Frans de Winter, I happily obliged.

Yours truly reading a poem by Sander Groen written for this very occasion :)

Thank you, Sander Groen, for the poem! I’d never been? Very pleasantly surprised though! Apart from the piece that gave this event its name, they had taken the time and effort to showcase more of my mate’s pieces than just this one. For you who read our magazine (thanks!) it’s no secret that we’re huge fans? So here’s some pics of his/those other works:

I mean, come on! Right? Why’s this guy not selling like crazy already! The turnout was good as well? All things considered (no promotion on any socials for it being guerrilla ‘cause the burning itself was deliciously illegal AND held at dinner time which we dutch are religiously rigid about). Another impression:

The resident curator Leo de Bie serving refeshments!

Good food, good company, people happy, my buddy Frans happy! The piece set on fire yesterday is called ‘Contrapasso’ and consisted of a wooden base covered with welded plate steel with a humanoid shape. The burning of said piece to remove the wooden core is very much a part of the concept behind it. The literary term Contrapasso originates from ‘Dante’s hell’ (Dante Alighieri) and refers to the notion that the punishment should fit the crime. This way the artist hopes that this work invites the viewer to indentify with it and maybe even come to terms with stuff not yet dealt with…

Frans setting fire to this art piece AND Frans filming it (go modern times:)

Thank you, Johannes and Leo, thanks to all of you who enjoyed this evening with us and thank you Frans! Another beaut, my friend. Another beaut.

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Benne van der Velde

After thoroughly enjoying the Dutch slam poetry scene in the early and mid 2000s (with wins in 7 cities and eventually a place in the Nationals of 2012) and performances at the Lowlands-, Uitmarkt- and Parade festivals a/o, Benne successfully made the transition from the stage to paper by signing his first publishing deal in 2005. Since then 4 publishing houses (kleine Uil, Douane, Nadorst and Stanza) released volumes of his poetry. For a 5th (Passage) he co-edited an anthology of satirical/pamphlet poetry with fellow poets Daniel Dee and Alexis de Roode.

As a member of the artist movement ‘Het Ongeboren Idee’ he helped to organize (and was part of/presented) cultural lo-fi festivals, exhibitions, making a movie, monthly poetry stages in his hometown of Vlaardingen (Poezie in De Steeg), Rotterdam (De Poetsclub) and Nijmegen (Late Letteren Live) + a talent show for bands.

In 2002 and 2003 he studied ‘writing for performance’ at the vocational university of the Arts in the city of Utrecht (HKU) and as a result saw 3 of his theater plays make it to a stage. Writer Hiekelien van den Herik and he co-wrote a knight spectacle play complete with real choreographed sword fights, men in heavy plate armor and more great stuff like that. Theater-/enactment group Ridderspoor performed said play in 2004 and 2005 at Het Archeon, during De Kasteeldagen and at an Elfia-fantasy fair. He also gave numerous poetry and rap workshops at schools and other institutions. There were a lot of collabs too, for example voice-over work for a Rock Opera, a monumental art project for which he partnered up with the artist Erwin Adema and thrice alongside the R.J.S.O (The Rotterdam Youth Symphony Orchestra).

Benne has been an editor for several literary magazines (Krakatau, Renaissance and Op Ruwe Planken), at one time he and his wife owned a secondhand bookstore, he’s been the official poet laureate for his hometown of Vlaardingen and released his first and only Dutch rap-EP in 2011. In 2012 he rapped his way into the finals of Art Rocks. An EP with songs in English followed in 2021. A year later he started translating Dutch musical and lyrical classics from Dutch into English, and vice versa. Some of his short sci-fi and fantasy stories have found their way to medium related websites, magazines and anthology’s.

According to the poet himself rewriting his own poetry, lyrics and prose in English somehow feels like the next logical step in his career, a way to open up to the world at large. Which is both exhilarating and terrifying. So far several of these translations have been published in Bebarbar, Hare’s paw, Festivalforpoetry, Punt Volat, The Dewdrop, The Dillydoun Review and Months to Years a/o.

In everyday (some claim real) life he worked as an industrial tank cleaner, in pest control, on a garbage truck, driving a forklift, in a chemical waste facility, on a Ferry and 10 years as a bartender in a cannabis bar. At the time of writing this resume he can be found at home or in the hospital battling throat cancer. He’s been off the Herb since 2008, has a wife, 2 dogs, mild anxiety issues and likes to read every sci-fi and fantasy classic he can find.

www.linkedin.com/in/benne-van-der-velde-8b17a7296

The poet/lyricist and author Rob Chrispijn: ‘Benne writes sentences that stick; clean, dark and intense. This way a poem lasts!’

The poet Philip Hoorne on the website Poetry rapport: ‘There’s a genius hiding in Benne van der Velde, those are the Good Tidings of today. Amen.’

https://www.doubledutchmagazine.com
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‘Mimesis’, a feature by Onno Maat on Double Dutch magazine