What if we talk about free space?

“It appears that the challenge of this time is to make top-down governance receptive to bottom-up organization.”

- Roel Griffioen

The current Mayor and Executive Board of Amsterdam want to develop new policy in relation to ‘free space’. But what does ‘free’ mean in this context? Can such a thing even exist? And if so — where, how, and for whom? In the fall of 2019, at the invitation of the municipality of Amsterdam, TAAK investigated the possibility and impossibility of ‘free space’. The question is how the arts — in conversation with residents, government, and the market — can contribute to creating space for community and self-organization.

Besides a series of conversations, we worked with a special editorial board to create the publication What if we talk about ‘free space’. Using text and images, we critically assessed the current situation in Amsterdam. We made recommendations and proposals for plans that we would like to develop further in the future, in collaboration with others.

Click here for the publication