abstract_van_der_lee.pdf
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… way. The artist, Ida van der Lee, has discovered over the years that common everyday activities and objects can be used to develop rituals, which, if properly designed, help people break out of their shells and relate their stories from deep within. One of her first projects, “Wasgoed is goed” (1998) used the daily ritual of hanging laundry to strengthen the sense of community and shared cultural experience for residents of the then run-down Vrolikstraat neighborhood (Amsterdam). Since then, Van der Lee has continued experimenting with the use of art to open two-way communication. She has designed a broad spectrum of rituals with ingredients that are linked to the particular individuals in a community; the participants are the source of her art projects. A ritual is a structured …