Landjuweel in Ruigoord

Landjuweel in Ruigoord, a creative
village in the industrial freeport of
Amsterdam.
This weekend – a long one since
Wednesday really, has been strangely
strange. Even by my standards! Following
a train journey from Scotland and a bit of
sleep, I made the Channel tunnel trip by
coach from Victoria in London through the
migrant blockades to France. Thought I’d
be saving money if not time. Calais looks
under siege. Coach gets later, and later. We’ve heard that two migrants have been injured on the
rail tracks in Chunnel. I was en route to Amsterdam Noord, but jumped ship or bus at Utrecht.
Fast train to A’dam Central. Then ferry and just under an hour midnight walk to my friend Marjo’s
garden house in the Noord – the gateway to the extensive polders that are the Waterland.
But my destination is the squatted arts community of Ruigoord. It’s a virtual Island with its own
kerk – church/community centre; a sore artistic thumb for the authorities, stuck in the heartland of
the Amsterdam port. Its existence dates back over 40 years to the Provos – provocateurs of
Amsterdam’s squatter/anarchist past and the Amsterdam Balloon Company. It’s Landjuweel
time. The annual summer full moon festival for a big congregation of international ‘fools’, seeking
fun, frolics, mayhem, music of many kinds, art, theatre, spirituality – and their own community. I
arrive by bicycle with camping gear and join many old friends and quickly make new ones.
My ‘home’ for five days
is my tent at the back of
the ateliers of Barbara,
Rita and Aja. A tight
space but a friendly one.
And out front, the Rebel
Stage with lots of quirky
performers. As it is my
home base with its own
small bar, it is a good
place to chill out and
make friends. Respect
to especially Barbara
and Paul, Hattie, Alain
and more….I never got
to know everyone’s
names.
Anyway, five days passed. Everyone there has had their own personal festival. Everyone is a
performer, with or without costumes and instruments. ‘We are Landjuweel’. Much weed has been
smoked in a community of legalised
tolerance.
Here I will let the pictures tell some of those
stories. A focal point is the Beeldenroute – torch
light procession around the whole poldered village.
A special time for all participants and performers.
Ruigoord's present is very different from some of
its pasts. Or is it? It is certainly evolving.
Landjuweel has become far more commercial.
Lots more young punters wanting the constant
boom-boom of electronic dance music. Many
know nothing of its radical history. But it's still a
laboratory for what early resident Hans Plomp
(who along with Hans Kup and Aja, invited me to participate) calls 'homo ludens' - playful human
beings. It's a festival that
offers a gateway to 'other'
lives for many. A portal to
alternative ways of living.
There are many creative
people that live for much
of the year at Ruigoord
and facilitate the festivals, happenings and open-atelier events. Bold dreamers, all. People like
Theo, Herman and the White Ape.
And the pleasant smiling people,
musical and artistic variety on
offer, cheap good food are only occasionally marred by a lack of facilities like water points and
loos in camping and entertainment areas. And a few lost souls for whom the volunteer job of
cleaning is really ‘too much’.
I’ve spent a lot of my festival-time taking photos and was
cameraman with friend
Hans Kup at Fantuzzi’s closing gig.
Afterwards I snuck down to the
DAF World’s End area to see if I
could get into their theatre
performance: Theatrebeleving; diep in het doorp. This is a complex of enclosed spaces,
walkways, labyrinths. They’ve been transformed into a new society based on obedience, duty
and hard-work. As you enter, along with seven other new migrants you are processed for
citizenship. You undergo training. You visit their dissenters bar…meet the burgermeister – a
living god and devil. Unfortunately, my visit was cut short, but I took a few pics. A memorable
experience in immersive theatre.
But, the dreams lived on at
Landjuweel 2015. Most of the
time...