'Symbolen: Schipperskaai' is a project commissioned by the street art festival 'Sorry, Not Sorry'.

The festival took place in the neighbourhood of the 'DOK', the old harbor of Ghent. In the coming years the city of Ghent plans to build a living complex with apartment buildings, school, sport hall, with easy access to public transport and with view on water.

I wanted this work to be made together with the only true inhabitants of the neighbourhood at the time of the festival. This are the shipmen.

I was visiting the quay regularly, introducing myself and explaining what I want to do. I asked what was missing on the quay. It turned out that the shipmen miss shadow on sunny days and greenery. That was a start point for the temporarily construction for the festival and for the thinking process around a bigger permanent construction with plants.

For the construction I only used recuperated materials, which was my reference to the life style of shipmen. They never throw away anything and they are very cautious about thrash.

The organisation 'Dé Kache Pot' provided me with plants. The mission of 'Dé Kache Pot' is to find new owners to the plants which are otherwise not needed.

I asked the shipmen to give me three objects: one old one, one blue one and one from a foreign country. This objects I used to decorate the construction. And it would be fair to say that these objects and their stories are actually the real core of this work.

Nepal flags

This kind of flags are from Nepal, where they are to find everywhere.

Ship paint

The best ship paint that only is there.

Blue wooden box and blue film box

Blue is my favourite colour. It is also the favourite colour of one of the shipman.

The other shipman (or, rather, shipwoman) is a photographer.

An object from a foreign country

Details unknown.

A vintage marine inclinometer

Comes from a ship. Guess what it is for. (Answer: when you load your ship with goods, this arrow shows if the weight is equally distributed.)

A multifunctional children chair

This is an old and very sophisticated object. One can use it for multiple purposes, such as doing peepee and kaka and learning maths at the same time.

A blue toy detail

It is a detail from the toy constructor of a little shipman's son.

A blue object

Blue deep bord. Also from foreign origin.

Old lobster

This lobster was owned by the aunt of one of the shipmen. Unfortunately, it disappeared after the festival. As a compensation I offered to the shipman to work for him or to buy a new lobster.

Two foreign objects

A zebra comes from a foreign country from one ship.

The round thing comes from a foreign country and from another ship. The owners bought it on the flee market and were not sure how it is really used. Their best guess was that it is a pad to put on the table under hot pots. When I was presenting the work, one of the visitors talked to me and said that in her home country (I think it was Kenia) similar circles are used to carry weights on heads.

An old and heavy object

Intended purpose unknown. The best guess is that it is a dummy weight for flags.

A blue brooch

Originated from a flee market.

An old crocodile

Originated from an African country. Was given to one of the shipmen as a present by some far relative. The crocodile has lost a part of its tale; it happened long time ago.

An old hook

Originated from the ship. Might be a hundred years old antic object. Was temporarily lost but now returned to the owner.

A blue object

Intended designation unknown. Supposedly, a pipe bender.

Blue headphones

This shipman firstly came to see my work in order to decide which objects to give. He is a musician but these headphones are needed for construction works.

A foreign book

When this shipman came to check out my construction he asked about the representation of different parts of the world among the 'foreign objects'. It turned out that I haven't had an object from Latin America.

He was in Latin America where he bought this book. While going down the river, his canoe turned over and the book was ruined. That happened a couple of years ago but he saved that book.

A old piece of rubber

Supposedly, it originates from a bicycle.

An old ship plate.

'Salle des machines'. An old metal bord from a machinery room on a French ship.

A foreign stone

Originally from Mongolia. Disappeared under unknown circumstances. I offered to work for the owner or to bring him a new Mongolian stone if I ever go there.

Blue working pants

During the festival modified to an improvised flag.

Another important aspect of this work is the communication with the shipmen. I haven't met all of them, nor was it physically possible to organise brain-storm meetings for all the shipmen within a short term of a month. I chose to spread printed letters and emails. This way, all (or most of) the shipmen were aware of the project and were invited to participate. By the time of the festival, I did meet almost all of the shipmen. After the festival, I proposed further collaboration in order to influence the development of the 'DOK' neighbourhood.