technicians.62 This video proves that the artists were free to choose their own lo
cation in the city to showcase their works, and if we may believe, these locations
were quite unique in comparison with the conventional way of exhibiting art in
white cube gallery spaces. However, this isolation from the artistic mainstream
like established museums and galleries, might have led to a demolishment of its
longevity.
Outside the institution
Another reason for Forum's non-existing memory might derive from the fact that
there has not been a process of precise and devoted documenting and archiv
ing. The Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam and The Zeelandic Library both own
some of the information and evaluation booklets, yet this is only a tip of the ice
berg. Forum's archival material is plentiful and consists of pictures, videos, letters,
sketches and scale models made by the artists, all waiting to be documented. A
more consistent and catalogued archive might result in a more deferential and
memorable aura of Forum.
Moreover, the manner of working and organising Forum plays an important
role in the lack of cultural or collective memory. One needs a united group, con
sisting of connected individuals who all represent the same social class. 'As soon
as a group is integrated in a (social) space, it develops a notion of its place in soci
ety, of the society itself and of what is required for its maintenance.'63 The creation
of a collective memory as a necessary prerequisite is not what happened during
Forum. On the contrary: participants, artists and interested onlookers travelled
down to Zeeland to experience a few days of artistic experiment and to escape the
pressure and fuss of the big city. Middelburg and Forum were spaces to escape to,
but not to settle in. In addition, with a few exceptions, Forum's list of participants
shows different people every year. There was no element of a coherent group
which identified with Forum, except for its organisers. As Antje von Graevenitz
expressed in her speech during the exhibition in 2015, the extent to which artists
and participants were caught up in their own artistic process and self-reflection
left little room to render a service to Middelburg. Instead, their individual partic
ipation provided them with impulses for the creation of new work.
240
The Art of Remembering Forum: the Local Memory
62 Documentary Forum The Artist and his Critic. Produced by C.D. D. Ghent, 1987. Private
collection of Maria-Rosa Boezem and Marinus Boezem.
63 Marcel and Mucchielli, Maurice Halbwachs's mémoire collective, 142.
