mariëlle: 51 Personae: Tarwewijk

51 Personae: Tarwewijk is a trilingual (Dutch, Chinese, English) booklet of writing and images, based on solitary walks through a small neighborhood. It originated from Chen Yun’s visit to ook_ in August 2019. ook_ is a space opened up by mariëlle verdijk and reinaart vanhoe in their home and community in Rotterdam. After this 24-hour stay by Chen Yun, mariëlle became deeply interested in the 51 Personae project and suggested doing something together.

In the autumn and winter of 2019, mariëlle began emailing Chen Yun small notes about her neighbourhood, Tarwewijk, where she had moved a year earlier. She wrote about all the small things she observed such as people, facilities, plants, houses, and public spaces, as she walked around the neighbourhood and surrounding areas. These emails continued until the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. One day, Chen Yun suggested compiling these notes into a booklet as a gift to the residents of Tarwewijk and as a reference for anyone looking to find a sense of "home" when moving to a new place. This book is not intended as a guide to the Tarwewijk, but it may encourage you to walk more in your own neighborhood. Indeed, these walks mostly stay within the realm of daily life; they deliberately take detours, engage in accidental conversations with strangers, and ask "superfluous" questions. They are not only about discovering the external environment and its seemingly mundane history, but also about uncovering the anomalies in ordinary urban corners and linking these anomalies to personal experiences, ultimately exploring and questioning the foundations of what constitutes a 'home'.

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