The Kunsthal Rotterdam proudly presents a documentary report on the art project Polder Cup by Spanish artist Maider López. For the Polder Cup, López brought the Dutch passion for football and the typical Dutch landscape of water and polders together in a unique fashion.
She painted the lines of football pitches on pastureland in the polders near to Ottoland in the province of South Holland, irrespective of the obstacles such as ditches that cut right across the pitches forcing players to come up with new rules there and then. MaiderLópez recorded the matches and the Kunsthal is proud to present a photo and film overview of this exceptional game of ‘obstacle football'.
‘Poldering'
What López aimed to do with the Polder Cup was to bring into disorder the traditional function of the Dutch polder landscape (low-lying areas of land surrounded by dykes) in which the role of the general public in public spaces, and the relationship between the collective and individuals, is paramount. Through her projects in public spaces, López aims to break through traditions and by introducing new rules relate to people not only as individuals but also as part of a community. The polders are what inspired the term ‘polder model' and are as such a symbol of the Dutch culture of consensus decision-making. The footballers in the Polder Cup, however, did not make decisions by consensus. Once the players had fallen into the ditches a couple of times, the new rules of the game developed as a matter of course.
Maider López
Maider López was born in 1975 and lives and works in the Spanish town of San Sebastian. She intervenes in spaces, situations and architecture with her work. The viewer often becomes physically involved and is surprised by the playful adjustments that López makes to familiar environments. Various exhibitions of her work have been held in countries such as New Zealand, Shanghai, the United Arab Emirates, Spain, the Netherlands and France.
