Work
Rowan van As

GIJ ZIJT KANALJE! with the help of Nada van Dalen and Denise Radijs

Fashion show organised with Jacco Weener at Attent Rotterdam on 22-12-’19

The exhibition is inspired by the book ‘Gij zijt kanalje heeft men ons verweten’ a book full of laborsongs, collected by Jaap van de Merwe. The items represent Rotterdam working class culture or white trash. The laboursongs are of historical value and remind us of the past when people had to struggle for an extra bread or an extra cent to their wages. Today, people are captured by populists, and they have forgotten their songs.

All photos by Florian Cramer except the last 3

Correct suit, Fashion show with Nada Van Dalen at Attent, 22 december 2019, Rotterdam – Florian Cramer made the picture and contributed the following text: ‘My photo of Rowan van As ‘s fashion show performance (using the logos of iconic white-trashy Dutch brands) at Attent Rotterdam is now a public billboard at train station Station Noord (Public Works). The tracksuit (designed in collaboration with Nada van Dalen) uses the logo and corporate identity of Rotterdam’s long-established, fallen-out-of-time consumer electronics store Correct – which happens to be in the immediate neighborhood of Noord station. Rowan performed the suit to Gil Scott Heron’s song “Angel Dust” – hence the match and the aluminium foil. (Shot the picture with an adapted, trashy manual focus zoom lens. When I took it to Attent, I didn’t know yet that its 1980s optical rendering would be perfect for this picture.)’

Go to the Collections page to see and even buy the items!