WD4X opened its doors to celebrate 5 years of existence and the completion of the building’s renovation. The cultural incubator, located in Moerwijk, gathers three artist initiatives: Instrument Inventors Initiative – usually known as iii, Locatie Z and SW2.
Created in 2017, with the support of the Municipality of The Hague and Stroom Den Haag, the location provides permanent work spaces for artists. Over the past five years, the artists of WD4X have been busy reshaping the interior of the building, while the Municipality has conducted major renovation work on its shell to bring it into line with environmental standards.
On 25th June, the all-day program included the opening of the new Vernacular Garden created in the public space around the building with the guidance of iii guest resident Yoeri Guépin. Music was provided by the bands Poison Lolly, Fine China Superbone, The Union Ares, Tiktaalik and Life Savings.
Instrument Inventors Initiative is an artist-run, community platform that acts as a breeding ground for artistic talent and organizes events, residencies and workshops at the intersection of technological innovation and theoretical reflection. Matteo Marangoni, the program coordinator of iii, explains that The Vernacular Garden has had a lot of hard work put into it in recent months under the direction of artist and researcher Yoeri Guépin.
Yoeri’s knowledge and experience in gardening, together with his interest in the cultural histories and ecosystems, have resulted in an array of ecological projects and often in the creation of gardens that act as a vessel and an entrance to marginal (hi)stories and non-western epistemologies. This Vernacular Garden is created using plant-related stories, seeds, recipes and memories collected from the neighbourhood surrounding Willem Dreespark in The Hague. Those working and living in and around the building, and those who are just interested in learning about gardening, are part of this process in a series of workshops.
With this action, the artist engages the community in creating a new home for unwanted seeds, concludes Marangoni, which can be paralleled to the artists’ initiatives of WD4X finding a home in this neighbourhood 5 years ago.The Vernacular Garden with its various plants and benches invites observation, smell, sense and the sharing of a common space in care. Elena Apostolovski, 25th June 2022
