My idea to start a collaboration from within this organization does not succeed due to the short timeframe in which the BNA-BBOT project is situated. Building a relationship of trust takes more time, especially when the turnover of people visiting Pigment is high. The precarious situation in which each person, mainly single men, find themselves teaches me how almost all of them are psychologically isolated by a daily survival mode. It is therefore impossible to bring a group of individuals into a confidential collaboration in a short time where they, as experiential experts, can develop their story. Nevertheless, volunteering is for me as a curator/artist/person an important part of my research and development within the BNA-BBOT project. It shows me the urgency in society to make stories from the precarious experiential mode audible.

On March 8, 2023, I have my first conversation with Elli Vassalou, a member of The Post Collective, following my further search to bring together a group of people without legal residency. A group of experiential experts willing to develop a critical perspective through their stories within the BNA-BBOT project.

maarten De Vrieze