The video store in Assen no longer exists for a while. But from June 1 to 5, one is back for a while in the Mercurius shopping center. Titled: Remoria d’Amore.
‘Not so long ago we stored stories and our memories in large rectangular black objects’, writes Garage TDI, the house for youth and youth theater in Assen.
‘These objects were lent in shops for a fee, called: the video library. In 2004 the number of video stores in the Netherlands was still 1200. In Assen there were five. Nowadays they are almost all extinct and there is none left in Assen.’
With Remoria d’Amore, the video library is brought back to Assen for a while, ‘as an ode to memory’, says theater maker Karel Hermans. ‘Visitors can walk in again as usual and take a trip down memory lane during the theatrical experience that can be seen there’.
Is it still as you thought?
The video library was a place where you could easily spend hours and eventually rent a movie, says Hermans. ‘Or do you remember that one corner with a curtain that you were not allowed to enter as a child? With Remori d’Amore we want to bring the audience back to the video store. Is it still the way you thought it was? Or have you secretly made it more beautiful in your memory? Because actually we all do that, make our memories a little bit nicer than reality was.’
Part of Art of Wonder
Under the title Art of Entrepreneurship, makers (this year Hoge Fronten/Lieke Benders and Karel Hermans) are invited to let festival visitors experience the city through different eyes and ears, Garage TDI writes. ‘For example, we are investigating the role of the arts in the development of the city center of Asser. Remoria d’Amore is about memories and idealizing your past.’
The theatrical experience can be enjoyed several times a day from 1 to 5 June for visitors alone or in pairs. The experience is not suitable for those with claustrophobia or walking difficulties.