A new initiative called Het Recht-Op Eindhoven (Right to Eindhoven): Circuit of Commons, with the support of VAM (Van Abbemuseum) is gaining momentum here. This is part of a global “commons” movement which pushes for community spaces in the centre of cities.
Het Recht-op Eindhoven: Circuit of Commons is a network of solidarity, founded by activist-artist duo Libia Castro and Ólafur Ólaffson in collaboration with researcher-curator Gemma Medina Estupiñan.
It has come together in response to the increasing disappearance of free common spaces, the housing crisis and challenges faced by grassroots (community-led) initiatives in Eindhoven.
In defiance of the displacement of art and culture spaces from the city centre, they aim to unite like-minded individuals, nurture community hubs in the city centre and surrounding neighbourhoods and propose a plan of action for the future of the city of Eindhoven.
Call to action
The Circuit meets biweekly at De Fabriek Eindhoven art space and is currently formulating a Protocol of Intentions that presents context, objectives and demands to be negotiated with the city. It is an open group, welcoming individuals and communities who align themselves with its aims. The meetings are made up of people, organisations and self-organised initiatives united under the Circuit of Commons. The initiative is calling for backing from influential individuals within the Gemeente (city hall) to support free spaces that bring soul and community to displaced citizens.
There is equal concern for nature-inclusive solutions to urban life, especially in regard to fast-growing urban environments that endure constant reduction of wild areas. The aim is to improve the situation of the Commons in the city, opening a constructive and transformative conversation. To tune into what this conversation is all about, listen here. If you would like to join the next meeting of The Circuit of Commons Eindhoven or get some more information, don’t hesitate to get in touch with Gemma via email (gmedina@vanabbe.nl).
‘Art is a Verb: Positions No. 8’ at Van Abbemuseum
Het Recht-op Eindhoven is the title of an art project by the artist duo Libia Castro and Ólafur Ólafsson. It builds on their own work as well as an exciting new community-driven initiative called Recht-op Eindhoven! Circuit of Commons, in collaboration with curator and researcher Gemma Medina Estupiñan. The project extends to other cities, including “The Right to Groningen – Circuit of Commons” (25th October to 20th December), beginning with a celebration and demonstration on the 27th of September 2025 that starts from Ossenmarkt at 14:00 hrs.
The Useful Art Project was exhibited during a solo exhibition at Van Abbemuseum (December 2024 – April 2025) called Positions #8: Art is a Verb, where the work of 4 solo-artists and collectives was exhibited in parallel.
The exhibition, curated by Charles Esche, takes a proactive stance. Art is not only a critical reflector, but a tool to transform. To be a viewer of art is an active position, not only passive consumption. The work highlights that political choices including tourism, gentrification, and the growing tech sector can easily come at the expense of citizen collectives and creatives. The cost is loss of soul and liveliness.
Video shows performance activism artwork titled In Search of Magic, and is a Proposal for a New Constitution for the Republic of Iceland by L&Ó and Töfrateymið.
The in-progress work “The Rehabilitation of the Invisible House – Chapter 1″ by Castro and Ólafsson, in collaboration with their friends in Málaga, was also shown during Art is a Verb. La Casa Invisible, a community-run cultural centre, is an example of the urban commons movement. Since 2007, renewed life is flourishing in the once-abandoned historical building in the heart of Málaga. Its renovation has brought a vibrant, safe and welcoming community around it, emphasising the importance of restoring such environments in cities around the world.
La Casa Invisible, source Tripadvisor.
The Right to the City
In November 2024, Eindhoven city council adopted Omgevingsvisie 2024’ (Ambient Vision), laying out its ambitions and visions for the kind of community it wants the city to be, and what kind of policies are needed to achieve that. The goals are oriented towards a viable and lively environment for its Dutch and foreign residents alike. However the city consistently makes choices and policies which break apart the community.
Through actions such as demolition of cultural spaces and out-pricing artists from their workshops, replacing them with soulless, economy-driven alternatives.
By contrast, a new Cultural Plan has been adopted in Tilburg, introducing regulation-free spaces. Tilburg wants to be a city where cultural institutions and activities are able to flourish. Such spaces previously relied on subsidies, where the organisation would have to explain in detail what they are going to do with the funding. Tilburg’s new policy will allow citizens, especially young people, to fill in the gaps of their community needs in an organic, autonomous fashion.
Het Recht-op Eindhoven (the right to Eindhoven) builds on Henri Lefebvre’s philosophy which talks about the right to the city and responds to privatisation of public spaces that is backed by large-scale corporate investors in Eindhoven. The effects of capitalism are that public spaces become a place that many are excluded from. Access and participation become a commodity that not all can afford. Lefebvre states in his 1968 book Le Droit à la Ville that:
“public spaces should be shaped and governed by the citizens who inhabit them”.
Today, the movement exists as a call to action; it’s only as impactful as its drivers of change allow. All citizens, individuals and communities are invited to join forces in nurturing common spaces.
***********
See more about EIndhoven here in Dispatches’ archives
Co-CEO of Dispatches Europe. A former military reporter, I'm a serial expat who has lived in France, Turkey, Germany and the Netherlands.
