Marcel van Eeden De Cornelia Maersk | The ... - Maasvlakte 2

MARCEL VAN EEDENDE CORNELIA MAERSKTHE CORNELIA MAERSK

steered in wind and twilightbow and rig beyond the last city.’5

6Look carefully at this picture. Tell me what you see.Look carefully at the picture. What day could it be?

Is it morning, afternoon or evening?Look carefully at the7

8picture. Keep looking. I will count back from 10 to 1.At 10, your arms will start to feel heavier.

109. You are slowly travelling back in time.8. Look at the picture. —

7. It is a sunny day. It is warm.6. Look at the picture.11

124. CLOSE YOUR EYES

At 3 you will be in 1941.13

2 You are in the port of Rotterdam.It is June 1941.15

161 Two men are on a quay.They are speaking to each other.

18Matheus Boryna learned about it earlier that year.Someone brought him a letter

from London which stated something abouta voyage to Walvis Bay,19

20Namibia. In fact, the letter commissioned the voyage.Oswald Sollmann, archaeologist,

art connoisseur and director of the world’sdarkest museum, had also21

22received such a letter but wasmoreover aware of

the purpose of the voyage.On that quay in Rotterdam, however,23

24when they spoke to each other again for the first time since their lastmeeting in Kirkuk in 1927, he kept the purpose a secret.

Not far from the men lay the Cornelia Maersk, acargo ship of 281 feet and 1,892 tons on which25

26they would shortly depart.Everything had been arranged from

London. They must have had good contacts there.Later, on a dark night somewhere out at sea,27

28Sollmann, director of the world’s darkest museum,would say more about

the purpose of this curious undertaking.29

30‘At the helm that night stood theheart and took in the moon and forests

and sailing over reflectionsof all that it had suffered31

32steered in wind and twilightbow and rig beyond the last city.’

The world’s darkest museum mainly containeddrawings. Its rooms were always almost completely33

34dark, so that the few visitors who came had to let their eyesget accustomed to the place before they

could find their way. The exquisite collectionwas known only to a handful of initiates.35

36Many of the drawings were actually nodrawings at all but rather letters, strange documents

or diaries. Sollmann’s favourite was thecollection of letters and drawings by Gruenewald.37

38They were never exhibited.He now knew that, via the Dutch

East Indies and Australia, more had been brought toWalvis Bay and offered for sale.39

40The sky was almost black upon departure.It might have been

an omen.The vessel travelled alone. A convoy was not41

42necessary, since everything had been extremely well organised.On board was a ten-man crew, sufficient

food, not enough water,weapons, a43

44safe specially prepared for this voyageand a number of

COFFINS45

It is 1941. You are on a vessel that has left the portof Rotterdam. The sky is leaden,47

48almost black. You are afraid. The voyage is dangerous.En route, you constantly see vessels that have been fired upon, are in flames

or have partially sunk. The instructions areclear: do not rescue survivors. Do not take anyone on board.49

54In Walvis Bay, on the west coast of Africa, iron orewould be loaded – the officially specified cargo.When they had been underway for over a week,

on a sleepless night Sollmann spoke abouttheir purpose; about what had to be secured55

56for the collection of the world’sdarkest museum.

Vessels in flames, sinkingwrecks, floating corpses: the war57

58was overwhelmingly manifest at sea.It seemed as if they themselves were protected from

attacks of any kind whatsoever. They suspectedthat the client in London had something to do with it.59

60Day and night, the vessel was surrounded by ominousblack water.

62You are at sea, and for days and weeks on end see nothingbut sea and wrecks. Explosions.

Warships. Frigates hit by hostile fire. Emptylifeboats. Lifeboats containing the dead.63

64Lifeboats containing the dying. Sea.

Later, it was precisely those horrific images of warthat they remembered best. Theyspoke about very different things, however, when they65

66met again many years later in a coffee housein Vienna.

The director of the world’s darkest museumwas in command of the vessel.67

68ONE NIGHT,

as said, he disclosed more details. Importantmissing letters and drawings, the existence of which69

70almost no one suspected, had to besecured for the collection of his museum.

The iron ore was loaded in the port of Walvis Bay.An unknown individual brought73

74a number of packages on board. They were opened,and Sollmann and Boryna subjected the contents

to a careful examination. When they were satisfiedthat the papers were indeed authentic, payment was made and75

76everything was repacked. The packages were placedin the safe.

Following the return voyage, as soon as they were almost at the port ofRotterdam, a small boat would come77

78to take Sollmann and Boryna, together with the packages,to a safe place on land.

The Cornelia Maersk would then continue on her voyageto the port of79

80Rotterdam to unload the iron ore.That was the plan.

It is 5th January 194283

84You are on a vessel. After a long voyage, it is approachingthe port of Rotterdam. Slowly.

The crew seems to be expecting something.85

86Aircrafts are approaching.

88There is agitation on board. The safe isopened.

90The aircraft flew low over the vessel anddropped bombs, two of which hit the

92stern. A tremendous shockwave passed through the vessel.A fire broke out.

94Sollman saw more small boats suddenlyappearing. Due to the chaos on board,

different packages perhaps ended up on the wrongboats or remained behind on the stricken Cornelia Maersk,95

which drifted away in flames before going under at N51°57’43 –E03°59’98.97

‘At the helm that night stood the heartand took in the moon and forests99

100and sailing over reflectionsof all that it had suffered

steered in wind and twilightbow and rig beyond the last city.’101

102

NawoordIn 2009 werd Marcel van Eeden (DenHaag, 1965) uitgenodigd om voor hetbeeldproject Maasvlakte 2 een werk temaken. Van Eeden staat internationaalbekend om zijn fraaie, verhalende seriestekeningen die hij maakt op basis vanfoto’s uit de tijd van vóór zijn geboorte.Deze beeldend kunstenaar bleek bij uitstekgeschikt om aan de slag te gaan meteen gebied ‘zonder geschiedenis’.Marcel van Eeden: ‘Het gebied vanMaasvlakte 2 heeft vrijwel geen geschiedenis,het is als een onbeschreven blad.Dat maakt het voor mij interessant. Ikneem het tot zinken brengen van deCornelia Maersk in 1942 als uitgangspuntvan een verhaal en geef het gebied als hetware zijn eigen historie of legende.’ DeAfterwordIn 2009, Marcel van Eeden (The Hague,1965) was invited to make a work for theImage Project Maasvlakte 2. Van Eeden isinternationally known for his attractive,narrative series of drawings, which arebased on photographs from the timebefore he was born. The artist proved eminentlysuited for setting to work on anarea ‘without a history’.Marcel van Eeden: ‘The Maasvlakte 2 areahas virtually no history; it’s like an emptypage. That makes it interesting to me. Itake the sinking of the Cornelia Maersk in1942 as a starting point for a story – givingthe area as it were its own history or legend’.The artist drew his story after extensivehistorical research. Together, thesedrawings form a narrative that is a person-104

kunstenaar tekende zijn verhaal na uitgebreidhistorisch onderzoek. Deze tekeningenvormen samen een vertelling die eenpersoonlijke interpretatie is van de gebeurtenissendie leidden tot ondergangvan het genoemde schip. Met elkaar vormendeze een spannend beeldverhaal datverwijst naar het ‘ouderwetse’ mediumvan de fotoroman. Van Eeden speelt hierineen spel met werkelijkheid, geschiedschrijvingen mythe – een spel waarin derol van het beeld in de collectieve herinneringcentraal staat.Van begin september 2009 tot 19 januari2010 maakte Van Eeden dagelijks eennieuwe tekening die meteen te zien wasop de website van de landuitbreidingMaasvlakte 2. Op de sitehttp://www.marcelvaneeden.nl/cm/ zijnalle tekeningen terug te vinden.al interpretation of the events that led tothe wreck of the vessel in question.Together they form an exciting strip cartoonthat refers to the ‘old-fashioned’medium of the photo novel. In this series,Van Eeden plays with reality, history andmyth – a game that focuses on the role ofimages in our collective memory.From early September 2009 to 19 January2010, Van Eeden made a new drawingevery day, which was immediately publishedon the website of the Maasvlakte 2land reclamation project. All drawingscan be found on the websitehttp://www.marcelvaneeden.nl/cm/.105

SS Cornelia MaerskOp 5 januari 1942 werd het stoomschipCornelia Maersk, op weg van Rotterdamnaar Kopenhagen, gebombardeerd. HetSS Cornelia MaerskOn 5 January 1942, the steamer CorneliaMaersk, en route to Copenhagen fromRotterdam, was bombed. It was hit by two106

werd getroffen door twee bommen. Eenreddingsoperatie mislukte. Onbevestigdebronnen uit die tijd meldden dat het schipnog zo’n vijf zeemijlen naar het zuidwestendreef voor het zonk in het gebied waar nuMaasvlakte 2 wordt aangelegd. Er vielengeen slachtoffers. De Cornelia Maerskvoerde de Deense vlag.Gedoopt in 1925 in Elbing, Duitsland(nu Elblag in Polen)TDW: 3.150Lengte: 85,34 meterBreedte: 12,19 meterVoorsteven: 6,51 meterIn het voorjaar of de zomer van 2011wordt de SS Cornelia Maersk gelicht omplaats te maken voor de aanleg van eenvan de havenbekkens van Maasvlakte 2.bombs. A salvage operation failed. Unconfirmedsources of the time reported thatthe ship drifted another five nautical milesto the southwest before it sunk in the areawhere at present Maasvlakte 2 is underconstruction. There were no casualties.The Cornelia Maersk sailed under theDanish flag.Christened in 1925 in Elbing, Germany(now Elblag in Poland)DTW: 3.150Length: 85,34 meterWidth: 12,19 meterProw: 6,51 meterIn the spring or summer of 2011, theSS Cornelia Maersk will be lifted to makeway for the construction of one of theMaasvlakte 2 docks.107

De uitbreiding van de Rotterdamse havenIn de Noordzee, ten westen van de havenvan Rotterdam, verrijst vanaf najaar 2008nieuw land uit het zilte water. Enerzijds isdit grote infrastructuurproject een logischestap in de uitbreiding van de haven.Anderzijds gaat het om een echt Nederlandsfenomeen: land winnen op hetwater. Maasvlakte 2 is in die zin een projectmet een historische, culturele dimensie.Zo’n project vraagt erom op de voetgevolgd te worden door beeldend kunstenaars.Marcel van Eeden (2009-2010) is naDorothée Meyer (2008) de tweede kunstenaardie voor het Beeldproject de komstvan Maasvlakte 2 volgt. In de komendejaren is werk van Erik Wesselo, Rosa Barbaen Lidwien van de Ven te verwachten. DeThe expansion of the Port of RotterdamIn the autumn of 2008, new land startedrising from the salty waters of the NorthSea, to the west of the Port of Rotterdam.On the one hand, this major infrastructureproject forms a logical next step in theexpansion of the port. On the other hand,it is a typically Dutch phenomenon: thereclaiming of land from the water. In thissense, the construction of Maasvlakte 2 isa project with a historical, cultural dimension.A project like this demands to beclosely tracked by visual artists.After Dorothée Meyer (2008), Marcel vanEeden (2009-2010) is the second artist torespond to the development of Maasvlakte2 for the Visual Project. Over thenext few years, we can expect furtherworks by Erik Wesselo, Rosa Barba and108

verschillende invalshoeken van de kunstenaarsleiden tot mooie, spannende enprikkelende beelden en beeldverhalen. Aldie verhalen samen vormen de uitkomstvan het Beeldproject Maasvlakte 2: deculturele dimensie van de fysieke landaanwinning.Lidwien van de Ven. The artists’ differentperspectives lead them to create attractive,exciting and stimulating images andvisual narratives. Together, all these storiesform the result of the Maasvlakte 2 VisualProject: the cultural dimension of thephysical land reclamation project.Beeldproject Maasvlakte 2Beeldproject Maasvlakte 2 is een initiatiefvan het Havenbedrijf Rotterdam N.V.(Projectorganisatie Maasvlakte 2), hetNederlands Fotomuseum en SKOR(Stichting Kunst en Openbare Ruimte). Hetproject loopt van 2007 tot en met 2013,het jaar waarin het eerste schip afmeert inhet nieuwe havengebied.Image Project Maasvlakte 2The Image Project Maasvlakte 2 is an initiativeof the Port of Rotterdam Authority(Project Organisation Maasvlakte 2), theNederlands Fotomuseum and SKOR(Foundation Art and Public Space). Theproject will run from 2007 to 2013, theyear in which the first ship will dock in thenew dock area.109

ColofonMet dank aan | Thanks to:Renée Erdin-SorensenMichiel HennusGerrit Jan de RookHinke SchreudersSilke StahlschmidtMichael ZinkProjectteam:Frits Gierstberg, Nederlands FotomuseumRia Haagsma, Port of Rotterdam Authority(Project Organisation Maasvlakte 2)Sjaak Poppe, Port of Rotterdam AuthorityTheo Tegelaers, SKOR (Art and PublicSpace Foundation)Courtesy Galerie Zink, Munich/BerlinUitgave | published by:Havenbedrijf Rotterdam N.V. | Port ofRotterdam Authority (Project OrganisationMaasvlakte 2)Oplage | Impression: 1,000Grafisch ontwerp | Graphic design:Marcel van Eeden and Michael SauerDruk | Printed: Format Offset, HamburgVertaling | Translation: Business TranslationServices B.V., RotterdamISBN: 978-90-801072-3-6© Marcel van Eedenwww.maasvlakte2.com www.skor.nl www.nederlandsfotomuseum.nl