EXHIBITION: WHAT MUST NOT DISAPPEAR
EXHIBITION: WHAT MUST NOT DISAPPEAR
14 places in Amsterdam-Noord under pressure from urban redevelopment.
Exhibition: September 6 – Sunday, October 19, 2025 (12:00 – 18:00)
Opening: September 4, 2025 (for invites only) (17:00 – 19:00)
Where? PEXPO | Van Der Pekstraat 49 | Amsterdam Noord (see map)
www.watnietmagwijken.nl
With a projected population growth of 50% between 2020 and 2050, urban densification and redevelopment in Amsterdam-Noord is moving at lightning speed. Many places that give the district its character are at risk. Photographer Coen Dijkstra and cultural organizer Bart Verbunt document 14 of these places in photos and spoken interviews. WHAT MUST NOT DISAPPEAR shows their resilience and social value and reveals what is on the verge of vanishing. By giving these places of and for residents a face, WHAT MUST NOT DISAPPEAR draws attention to a broader social issue: how do you ensure that, in the midst of the largest building task in recent history, the already existing social and cultural capital is not pushed aside?
In Amsterdam-Noord, open spaces, industrial sites, and fringes are rapidly turning into new residential neighborhoods. Many new projects are still on the way, further reducing the space for cultural or social initiatives. The fourteen threatened places that have been documented form a cross-section of Noord’s social and cultural capital: from second-hand design to experimental music, makerspaces in the cracks of the city, bottom-up community centers, urban agriculture squeezed between the city and the A10, a free food market, hospitality with a social heart, a music studio with international allure, an exhibition space for everyone, a sustainable creative hub, and a community hub for the neighborhood.
What they have in common is that they were created by residents and/or are run by them. During the interviews, the comparison with what is called weeds often came up: unwanted for those who want their garden or park completely planted, but for others local natural beauty that cannot be tamed and finds its way through every cracked tile. And precisely these plants are so valuable for biodiversity. With WHAT MUST NOT DISAPPEAR, initiators Coen Dijkstra and Bart Verbunt advocate for redevelopment that preserves existing places with social value — and even makes space for new initiatives from residents. Without detracting from the necessity of new housing, they want to show that a city is much more than a collection of houses.
Program:
In September and October, a photo exhibition will take place at Pexpo, one of the 14 threatened places. Also, the free newspaper of WHAT MUST NOT DISAPPEAR, featuring photos, interviews, and a map with a cycling route along the places, will be distributed throughout the district.
Together with residents, What Must Not Disappear-signs will be made during the neighborhood festival “Alles is Noord” on August 31. With these, places in Noord that are at risk will be marked in public space. The programming starts on Saturday, September 6 during the event “24 uur Noord.”
This event is organized by the municipality to show what is happening in Noord. A perfect moment not only to show the beauty of the district, but also what is on the verge of disappearing.
THE PLACES
- Exhibition space PEXPO: www.pexpo.nl
- Community center De Bol: www.buurthuisdebol.nl
- Café and creative hub De Ceuvel: www.deceuvel.nl
- Helen’s Free Food Market: www.freefoodmarket.nl
- The Places:
- Social restaurant De VerbroederIJ: www.deverbroederij.nl
- Creative hub De Rietwijker: www.facebook.com/rietwijker/
- Urban farming project NoordOogst: www.noordoogst.org
- Makerspace De Vliegtuin: www.facebook.com/vliegtuin/
- Thrift store De Lokatie: www.delokatie.org
- Het Groene Veld Amsterdam / ADM Noord: www.hetgroeneveld.amsterdam
- Rewind Music Studio: www.rewindmusicstudio.nl
- Modestraat: www.modestraat.org
- Neef Louis Design Amsterdam: www.neeflouis.nl
- De Ruimte: www.cafederuimte.nl
About the initiators
Coen Dijkstra has been a Noord resident again since 2022. When he moved back to the district he loves, he was struck by the major changes. He decided to use his skills as a documentary photographer to highlight the other side of the rapid (re)development.
Bart Verbunt has lived in Noord for over ten years and has organized many diverse cultural and social events throughout the city, but especially in Noord. As one of the initiators of the now-disappeared venue De Ruimte, also documented for WHAT MUST NOT DISAPPEAR, he knows the pressure of temporariness like no one else.
