HOCKETSE – derived from the gesture hocken (eng.: to crouch)
is a critical exploration of closeness and the tensions between tradition and transformation. As the daughter of a Swabian mother and a Dutch father whose family survived the German bombardment of Venlo during World War II, I have long approached my German heritage with hesitation. The Swabian - a gathering where people crouch together - inspired me to examine the contradictions of crouching and how it can become a counter-gesture to isolation, division, and fear of the other in today’s fragmented social climate. A former local patriotic tradition that arrived in the present as a place of plurality, which marginalised groups like the LGBTQI community are redefining. The installation weaves together the Swabian tradition of rye straw roofing with the Dutch materiality of thatched roofs, connecting my dual heritage through regional craftsmanship. A space filled with a polyphony of voices, where conversations with my Swabian family members are embedded, reflecting on what means to them. The installation invites to reimagine physical closeness and dialogue in a time of growing social distance and whether we are willing to embrace proximity as a courageous gesture of openness.
