IAP 31 ~ Florian Braakman
“Important Artist Florian Braakman says “Here is my work, it is about Contact””
Summarize your work in one word?
Contact
What inspires you to continue making work?
To discover, the adventure, the endless curiosity. The fearless open look at the world around me. To think about the world around me, and express ideas and feelings about it through my work. And to share that. To share the love and fascination with a diverse audience as possible. We still have so much to learn from each other.
What are you currently working on at the moment?
After my graduation in 2013 from the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague, I moved to Rotterdam. I started living in Delfshaven, a vibrant and multi-cultural district in the west part of the city. I started photographing my direct environment, as a way to get a sense of the place. It started in a distant way, observing movements from my balcony around the trash container in front of my house.
Soon I realised that I wanted to make a closer contact with the people in my neighbourhood. I started making portraits, as I discovered the openness of my neighbours. Eventually this turned out in the work Broer, 2017 - present, where I photographed all the guys on the street that called me ‘broer’ (brother in Dutch). For me it’s a work about contact, migration, street culture, equality and the definition of a family. We all could be each others brothers.
The word ‘broer’ is used in migrant communities in Rotterdam to respectfully address another man. What I find fascinating is how people from a migrant background gave this originally Dutch word an interesting new interpretation and meaning. Currently I collected over 30 portraits of ‘broers’ and I’m experimenting in my studio with forms of presentation, both as an installation and publication.
Another ongoing project which has its roots in my neighbourhood is In Between Homes, 2017 - present. In this work I travel with my neighbours from Delfshaven to their countries of origin. In 2017 I went with Rino Alvarez to Curaçao (Dutch Caribbean) and in 2018 with Silas Khalipha to South Africa. It’s an amazing intimate experience to go to an unknown place with a neighbour as your guide. In this work I use photography and sound to create an audio-visual work, where we reflect on their lives in Rotterdam and their home country.
The work has a documentary starting point but it’s not limited to a ‘documentary’ practice. I take a lot of freedom to create a visual narrative, combining metaphorical images together in sequences that initially don’t have anything to do with each other. Working with sound and projections are new ways for me to give shape to my works and this is super exciting.
Another thing I’m working on at the moment is making ‘new pictures’ from my archive of images from Delfshaven. This playful process started in the lockdown period as way to give a new meaning to my archive. Juxtapositioning images, to create new meanings around content and form. I think it has potential to serve as a publication.
Who inspires you most to push your work further?
My girlfriend Sarah Rose, who is an artist herself. She knows me well, she knows my work. She gives my honest and straight forward critique and always encourages me to go for it. I do the same with her.
If you could say anything to your former self, regarding your art practice, that would help you progress what would it be?
It sounds so corny now I’m writing it here. But always follow the gut feelings. If you really believe in the work you’re making, it will get there no matter what. Stay close to yourself. Keep loyal to your ideas, intuition and principals.
Installation of Broer at the Stedelijk Museum Schiedam
