Niets is voor de eeuwigheid

Nowadays, tourists can find carefully composed ‘cultural routes’ all over Europe that focus on industrial heritage. Around 1990, interest in this aspect of our cultural history was undeveloped. Buildings and infrastructure that had lost their original purpose were abandoned at best; only occasionally re-used or preserved, more often they were simply demolished. NIETS IS VOOR DE EEUWIGHEID starts as another quality television documentary made to enlighten the viewer. A classic Dutch television voiceover provided by Eveline de Mooij introduces historical information. We see heritage from different ages, such as the railway bridge in Rotterdam, Frisian dairy factory Freia or one of just three remaining gasometers, located in Dedemsvaart. Critics at the time agreed that this was all very interesting but were somehow wrongfooted by where the film ended up, not expecting Digna Sinke’s delightful experimental turn that introduces a different voiceover—her own of course. It transforms the film into a personal lament about the meaning of all this human industriousness: nothing lasts forever. But it is this balancing act, effectively combining two different forms of documenting and documentary, that gives the film its enduring quality. (Gerwin Tamsma)

In the presence of Digna Sinke and Gerwin Tamsma (Curator).
With ALLE DAGEN EVEN MOOI and AFSCHEID.

Digna Sinke (selection): GROETEN UIT ZONNEMAIRE (1972), DE STILLE OCEAAN (1984), BELLE VAN ZUYLEN (1993), Tiengemeten Project (2001–2006), WEEMOED EN WILDERNIS (2010), AFTER THE TONE (2014), UNDER THE SURFACE (2016), BEWAREN / KEEPING & SAVING (2018), ZOET & ZOUT (2019), GRENZEN (2020), HEMELSLEUTEL (2024)