The art installation ‘Dag, oude stamppot’ was exhibited during the summer of 2020 in the center of Amsterdam.

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March, 2020. The streets are silent. Every day, the news announces the latest updates on the coronavirus  and its mortality rate. Discussing this with Leonardo Guidi, we agreed on how cold and inhumane the 'death rate' sounds. How could we add a more compassionate and tangible aspect to it, that would encourage people to empathize with each other, even if they hadn’t yet been directly affected by the virus?

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Our interactive art installation, shown at the window shop of gallery Hooffzaak on Haarlemmerdijk in Amsterdam, became our 

response. Dag, oude stamppot (Bye, old stew) provided a space for the public to share memories of people who were missed also as a temporary memorial site. Because smell and taste easily evoke memories, we called on Amsterdammers to submit a recipe that reminded them of someone they missed. Funny cooking habits, stories and photos of family diners were both publicly shared online and shredded in the installation. The growing mountain of paper visualed the mortality rate which left an imprint of the destructive nature of the virus. Every Friday, Leonardo and I ritually shredded new submissions in order to keep up with the rate. Some participants preferred to carry out this action themselves as a way of saying goodbye. 

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The collection of memories expanded naturally to flyers of canceled events, unused flight tickets, unpublished books and an unfilmed movie script, as dreams and experiences were also interrupted. All the memories, photos and stories were published on dagoudestamppot.nl in agreement with the participants.