A proposal to surround the village Geldrop with 'story signs': laser cut signs telling stories that connect the location of the sign with Geldrop. All together they show a network of stories.
Our modern life is not restricted to one village or city anymore. Fast travel and communication makes us very flexible and enables us to create our personal habitat. Borders are blurring. Comparing our lifeworld of today with the lifeworld of people living 100 or more years ago can be very interesting. What currently happens on a worldwide scale, happened in the past on a local scale in a similar way. Textile manufacturers from Haarlem in the North-West of Holland moved to the province Noord Brabant for cheap labor, nowadays dutch manufacturers move to China. Nuns from a convent in the village Schijndel brought health care and education for girls and elderly to many villages in Noord Brabant (Geldrop was the first one). These days we travel to Afrika to build schools and hospitals. I believe these kinds of stories can upgrade the beauty and understanding of our surroundings.
Villages like Geldrop are slowly absorbed by the neighboring cities, while they desperately wish to stay independent. They are afraid of losing their identities. The world has been changing and will never stop changing. However, stories can stay by telling. Being part of the endless story network, that's what it is about!
* a network of stories
* study model about 19th century trade routes around Geldrop