As well as a health crisis, the Covid pandemic of 2020 sparked a wave of creative and innovative art projects across Rotterdam: a drive-thru museum at Ahoy, an online living room concert by orchestra members, a drone artwork above the Maas, and a musical soundtrack for the city.
The living room concert went viral and has since been watched 3.1 million times on YouTube.
Alle Menschen werden Brüder
The Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra saw a tour of the United States go up in smoke because of the pandemic. Concert hall De Doelen was closed, so the orchestra teamed up with fellow Rotterdammer Floris Vervat from carer support organisation Senior Service to make the best of a difficult situation.
In March 2020, 17 orchestra members each recorded their part of the famous piece Alle Menschen werden Brüder from their own living rooms, using webcams. The individual recordings were edited together into a single online performance. The living room concert went viral and has since been watched 3.1 million times on YouTube.
Art from behind the wheel
For art lovers, August 2020 brought something truly special. Visitors could drive into a pop-up museum at Rotterdam Ahoy, where Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen exhibited 50 video works, installations, paintings, and sculptures.
All on a large enough scale to be seen clearly from inside a car, since getting out was not allowed. Completely Covid-proof. With nearly 22,000 visitors, it was sold out every single day
First-time electric drivers had to complete a test lap before heading in.
The temporary drive-thru museum was only accessible to electric cars. For those who didn’t own one, electric vehicles could be borrowed on the spot, provided by Rotterdam car dealer Breeman.
First-time electric drivers had to complete a test lap on a practice course near Ahoy before heading in. Visitors could view the works also from a public grandstand.
Three hundred illuminated drones
On 5 May 2020, Rotterdammers were treated to a spectacular sight: three hundred illuminated drones flew above the city, moving in formation to mimic a murmuration of starlings. With this symbol of freedom and hope, Studio DRIFT and Mothership offered a moment of solidarity during the crisis.
Residents across the city could watch the artwork Franchise Freedom together online and via a live broadcast on television, bringing people together on Liberation Day despite the lockdown.
Lonneke Gordijn, one half of artist duo Studio DRIFT: ‘The flying artwork consists of hundreds of illuminated drones moving through the air in a swarm. They mimic the flight patterns of a group of starlings, it’s like a ballet in the sky.’ Composer and pianist Joep Beving wrote the music for Franchise Freedom.
They mimic the flight patterns of a group of starlings, it’s like a ballet in the sky.
Rotterdam-based Mothership, which realises art projects in public spaces, managed to pull the whole thing together in just two weeks, with enthusiastic support from the City of Rotterdam. Jeroen Everaert of Mothership: ‘Rotterdam is known as a city that rolls up its sleeves. A lot is possible here. This project could not have been done anywhere other than Rotterdam.’
Soundtrack010
Rotterdam audio producer Tambr noticed that many musicians and composers were sitting idle at home during the pandemic. ‘And yet this is precisely the moment when they have something to offer, because music brings people together,’ says Niels de Jong of Tambr. Together with his colleague Willemijn van Hussen, he came up with Soundtrack010: Rotterdam’s DNA captured in a single composition, performed by more than thirty Rotterdam artists.
Rotterdam’s DNA in a single composition, performed by more than thirty Rotterdam artists.
Composer Alexander van Popta based the piece on sounds submitted from across the city, including the metro and pile-driving machinery. The result is a soundtrack of just under four minutes. It can be downloaded from the Rotterdam Branding Toolkit, making Rotterdam the first city in the world to wholeheartedly invest in musical city marketing. The music is free for anyone to use in promoting the city.
VR app nurses
The pandemic also sparked a surge of creativity at Erasmus MC. To train nurses quickly and efficiently in assessing and caring for Covid-19 patients, the medical centre developed a dedicated app at speed.
The app included virtual reality training films for nurses across the Netherlands, made in collaboration with Rotterdam businesses and organisations. The City of Rotterdam, Life Sciences & Health 010, VR Gorilla, Philogirl, and Cardboards all contributed their services free of charge.
As a leading treatment and knowledge centre, Rotterdam’s Erasmus MC played a key role in researching and combating the pandemic in the Netherlands. It hosts an Expertise Centre for Long-COVID, where one of the six Long-COVID outpatient clinics in the Netherlands is based.
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