○ Project, 2017
○ in collaboration with Hester van Hasselt, Tabo Goudswaard,  Domenique Himmelsbach De Vries, Pieter Kusters and Silvia Russel

Out of a desire to mean something to lonely people while still alive, Bianca Sistermans, Hester van Hasselt and Tabo Goudswaard started Here is where I exist | Artists portray loneliness. The project makes visible how loneliness lives in our midst, and does not only seem to be something linked to specific individuals but also says something about present-day society. The project is a continuation of the book Here is where I exist | Died completely alone.

For three months, five artists each established a connection with a lonely person living in Amsterdam. During this collaboration period, they discussed such important issues as mortality, the search for meaning and for human relations. On the basis of these meetings, the artists made portraits of these lonely Amsterdam-dwellers. Drawings, paintings, photographs, a story. The portraits are of a permanent nature and function as confirmation at an existentialist level: I can really see you, see that you exist, here and now.

This first cycle of Here is where I exist | artists portray loneliness was part of a larger initiative Tackle Loneliness, by means of which the city of Amsterdam wishes to contribute to removing the taboo about loneliness. The artists are at present busy on the continuation of the project.

The link-up with the lonely Amsterdam-dwellers took place under the guidance of Anne Jacobse, community worker Combiwel/De Pijp. www.hierbestaik.com