rivier, boot, stad
Edward Clydesdale Thomson has been commissioned by the Dordrecht’s Museum to develop an artwork connecting the streets and squares of the Hofkwartier.
The Hofkwartier is known as the heart of Dordrecht’s cultural history. The Dordrecht’s Museum, the Hof van Nederland, and the Regional Archives here, work hard linking the region’s history, art, and knowledge. The architecture of the neighborhood merges old with new. The vistas and alleyways, characteristic of old Dutch city centers, have been preserved in the newer buildings.
With this project visitors will be encouraged to get to know the neighborhood by wandering between the different museums, cultural centers and meeting places.
Dordrecht’s history is intertwined with that of shipping; as trade center and harbor, it owes much of its prosperity to the ships that visited it. It is probable that Dordrecht was once known as Thuredrith: the city between the peatbogs along the river Thure, which connected the larger rivers, the Dubbel and Merewede. At this spot the river was wadable, meaning that it was low enough to walk across. At the same time this provided a problem for the sailors: the ships had to be pulled through the shallow waters.
This origin story of the city is the point of departure of the project Thuredrith. In the summer of 2020, together with group of students and volunteers, Edward will build an 18th century ship in a shipyard in Dordrecht. Various events and programs invite the public to follow the construction and journey of this historic tjalk and witness the unfolding of a new chapter of Dordrecht’s history.