Sunday 7 November 2010

You Have To Be Crafty To Get Into Jail Round Here

Sonata:
Blokhuispoort dates from the 17th century and , until recently , housed the prison .

Now it has been turned into a Culture Center , each cell providing a studio for artists , performers , writers , alternative therapists .....

And yesterday , as part of Leeuwarden's Open Studio weekend , they threw open the doors and we could all wander about and admire their work .
And on every landing , behind every blue door


there were potters , sculptors , painters , photographers , jewellery makers and a glass blower but also a poet , a couple of interior decorators ( "See how I can restyle a cell . Just think what I can achieve in your home !") , even a woman who can get rid of your whiskers in an environmentally-friendly fashion .

And in another wing , for the ladies , there was Holy Stitch , a craft fair . Girlie heaven . Pink checks and spots , bunting , woolly hats , cunning bags , candles , cookies and vintage clothes . Ads for a two-day Make Your Own Teapot And Teacosy workshop , lunch included .


There was even a Decorate Your Own Cupcake workshop , very popular with small girls who were reverently bearing their glittery creations home for tea


All great fun . And I had only one uneasy moment


Does this make anyone else think of the Inquisition ?

22 comments:

rachel said...

Nice try at converting a miserable place into something more nurturing to the soul, but really it all reminded me of a prison......

And yes, the Inquisition too.

molly said...

Poor kitties! Wonder what they did to deserve such torture? Nice teapot too!

English Rider said...

Maybe a serial killer with a ballerina fetish. Shiver!
If using a prison makes artists' studios more attractive to visitors, only good can come of it.

Kate on Clinton said...

Fascinating, but it still looks a bit claustrophobic for me. And yes, those hanging kitties should be displayed more humanely.

Marcheline said...

HAHAHAHAHHHH!!

Tattieweasle said...

I want to make the tea pot! What a brillinat idea although like you I was a tad unerved by the kitties...!!!

Elizabeth Musgrave said...

Well I love it. What a great use for a prison. Those cats were doing yoga stretches, no need to worry!

Lesley said...

Hope they'll eventually overcome the prison atmosphere - sounds like a fantastic way to recycle a sad old building.
I wonder if those kitties told everything?

Rattling On said...

Nice that you have a spare prison, we're short on space over here! Or maybe it's not good enough for the criminal of today... but is for artisans. Perhaps when all the makeovers are complete the prisoners can move back in!

Marja said...

CLose to my work they have a backpacker in a prison but this sounds like fun too. I love the teapot. I once made a flowerpot and it wasn't an easy thing to do.

Tania said...

You just wouldn't want to be the last one left to lock up though, would you?

colleen said...

Oh dear - a touch of the old hangman there. So why did I laugh so much?

Liz Hinds said...

What a fantastic use of the prison. Do they not have enough criminals over there any more?!

Carolina said...

It does! It does remind me of the Inquisition haha (nothing to laugh about, but still...). I'm doing a Photoshop course in a crafts centre in Groningen every Tuesday. Not a former prison, but buzzing with creative people and activity. A special atmosphere and nice to be part of. Better than being in prison me thinks.

SmitoniusAndSonata said...

Carolina_ In the Stadswerkplaats ?I'm jealous . I think I'd live in that building given the chance . Then I might actually master carpentry , screenprinting and bike maintenance instead of just talking about it !

Carolina said...

Not in the Stadswerkplaats, but in het Kunstencentrum
http://www.bk050.nl/home/home

Not nearly as beautiful a building as the Stadswerkplaats. But a fun building inside.

I'm glad they didn't just demolish the prison, but made it a fun place to be. Unless you are a puppet hanging from a door that is.

GUGAW said...

what a fab idea! and yes, plushy inquisition :S

Friko said...

A crafty place like that would probably bring out claustrophobia. Too much craft in one place does that to me.

I'd probably be hanging some of the crafties on hooks.

Planet Penny said...

It's great to have such a a large space dedicated to creativity, but personally I'd find the atmostphere would drain any creativity out of me! Especially the tortured cats!

Jinksy said...

Ouch! :)

My Farmhouse Kitchen said...

looks like everyone is keeping busy...cute teapot....love it

happy to visit here today..i've been away too long, my friend


kary
xxx

Deborah said...

Fabulous! I want the teapot, and I'd never drag my 25-yr-old daughter away from the supcake table. Why is it, S&S, that I don't live where you do? It sounds like quite a lot of fun.