De Kleurrijken/The Colorfuls is a community art project. We created an artistic film, but we also covered social goals as we focused on community building.
‘Holtenbroek’ is known as a problem area with a lot of poverty, crime and unsafety. A completely different story emerged from conversations with residents, however. They feel safe here and are proud of their neighborhood. One of the goals of this project is therefore: change the ‘aura’ of Holtenbroek by showing a positive image of this place.
Another goal is to let a diverse group of people (the residents of this large apartment building) come into contact with each other in an unbiased way. We were captivated by the realization that all these people live together under one roof. What stories could they tell? And why was there hardly any contact between the residents? Maybe because of fear, shyness, or the simple fact that they don’t understand each other’s language. Instead, we focused on similarities and not on differences. We are all human, right?
A final goal is to provide a platform for people who normally will not get one. We believe that every story deserves to be heard. Somehow coincidentally, we took the time to get to know these stories and tell them through an art form. And these stories already existed, they have been hiding in that apartment building all this time…
In short, if you take the time to get to know each other’s story, you will find out that you are more alike than you ever thought.