Portriat of a wet country II.
The birthday party
When I first arrived in Holland and was walking through a neighbourhood, I came across a birthday celebration at someone's home that was visible from the street. When I saw another and another I began to notice and consciously register a familiar pattern of colours, shapes and impressions. This acted as a psychological key enabling me to recognise and form a sense of another culture as an outsider.
Birthday parties illustrate on a cultural level one's own associations with the self and relationships. It is an annual ritual reminding us of our connection to each other through the passage of time. In my native Spain, birthday parties are a thing of childhood and the event as celebration diminishes as one gets older. However in Holland the celebration continues into adulthood, yet carries with it the adult weight of social obligation.
With the collaboration of Karin Spaink and Boris Gerrets
