Schijf - Is it alive?

What is this supposed to be?

The Zundert Corso Academy welcomes anyone with design or building ambitions, whether you’re sixteen or eighty-six. De Kwet from Schijf falls into the latter category and is now a welcome intern with the designers of the Schijf hamlet.

To find inspiration for this year’s float, the designers headed to several museums in Rotterdam. Seeing the work of Tanja Smeets only deepened their curiosity about textiles. They plucked up their courage and approached the textile artist. They very nearly managed to talk her into joining them, but in the end she was too busy. So now they’re doing it themselves. The designers wanted to step outside their own comfort zone. Sander: “We didn’t really want a big human figure or an animal. We were looking for a different kind of challenge. How do you do something artistic?” Huub adds: “It would be great if we could send an organism walking through the streets of Zundert.” Inspired by Tanja’s work, they arrived at ‘Is it alive?’ And soon spectators will find themselves wondering: is it a flower? Is it an animal? Are they wilted dahlias? Or are they sea anemones?

One thing is certain: ‘it’ moves, and the technical crew has its work cut out. But the moment they saw the design, they were completely won over. The designers from Schijf are looking forward to working with them.

And once everything comes together, when the float — coloured in soft pastel tones — glides calmly through Zundert with a gentle but suspenseful sound trailing behind it, we’ll all be thinking the same thing: ‘Is it alive?’

—

Huub van Caam (53) is a coaching and advisory trainer; Maikel van de Korput (39) works as a construction site supervisor; Sander van Hooydonk (32) is an interior architect; De Kwet (67) is a designer in training.

Original Dutch Text: Ton Biemans
Translation: Saskia Molema
Photo: Paul Ranft 

Hamlet Schijf
www.buurtschapschijf.nl

This article is brought to you by Corsief. An independent magazine about corsos in general and the Zundert flower parade in particular. The magazine is produced entirely by volunteers, who are all more or less active in the Zundert flower parade world. Corsief is entirely full-colour and appears four times a year.