From the local artistic group, there seems to be a quite positive attitude towards
Forum. In a letter written by Ben Sleeuwenhoek, originally from Middelburg and
at that time working in Middelburg, Forum is presented and praised for its attrac
tive force for the creative community. He points out that 'provincial mediocrity' is
bypassed and that Zeeland houses people who are looking for quality again. The
role of Forum is unmistakable in this phenomenon, which makes repetition and
expansion important and necessary for the creative development in Zeeland and
elsewhere.45
The local appreciation of Forum is also expressed and documented in several
articles that appeared in the PZC. Especially regarding the first edition in 1977, the
media attention is remarkably pronounced. The event is announced several times
as 'a meeting about actual artistic expressions, which could be an incentive for
the creative functioning of the human being.'46 In the years that followed, Andreas
Oosthoek wrote extensive and in depth features in which he highlighted a few of
the practices by the participating artists.
The local memory in the 21st century
Forum's current local memory is arguably the most interesting topic of discus
sion. As argued by Halbwachs, the 'space' of the memory plays an important fac
tor in remembering. The lack of local memory is astonishing, especially when
we take into account that the city was quite involved with regard to the locations
that the artists chose to manufacture their work: Gilberto Zorio's sculpture at the
Muntplein, Lothar Baumgarten's flags on the towers of the Abbey and Dorothee
von Windheim's work at the Korte Geere and the Vleeshal. Pierre Nora specifies
the importance of space and place in his theory on lieux de mémoire, sites of
memory. To Nora, these are places where the memory of a specific event is crys
tallized. This place now 'embodies' the sense of historical continuity.47 However,
the places where Forum occurred - the Kuiperspoort, the Abbey and the Vleeshal
- do not materially embody the historical sensation or memory of Forum, which
is of course quite problematic for the process of remembering. Whereas other
Eva Langerak
235
45 Letter from Ben Sleeuwenhoek to Forum organisation, private archive Maria-Rosa Boezem
and Marinus Boezem.
46 Creatief Functioneren van de Mens: Forum 77 over actuele kunst in Middelburg. PZC, March
18, 1977.
47 Pierra Nora, Between Memory and History: Les Lieux de Mémoire. In: Representations, Vol 26
(1989), 7.
