Robert Hengeveld is an installation and media artist who lives in Corner Brook, NL where he teaches sculpture at Grenfell Campus, Memorial University. His work explores the boundaries between reality and fiction and how we fit into that relationship. This often takes shape through the manipulation of something familiar. His work has been showcased around the world such as the Art Athina in Greece and the Mercer Union. The passing where to project entails creating a 3-dimensional outline of a historical house fabricated in square aluminum tubing. Over the full duration of the project, the house will be located in various sites where resettled community in and around Gros Morne National Park had once existed. The structure was placed in Cow Head during the fall of 2020 and is installed at Woody Cove near the Lighthouse at Lobster Cove Head in Spring 2021. This project reimagines Robert’s work from the initial installation of passing where to during the Bonavista Biennale in 2019.
Robert’s Connecting through Culture project responds to the history of resettlement within the province, with a particular focus on abandoned communities within the Gros Morne region. This work builds on a legacy of creative responses to the varied stories of resettlement, predominately found within song. Passing where to expands on such works through collaboration, bringing a diversity of perspectives which mirror the multifaceted complexity of resettlement history. The project focuses on two resettled communities within Gros Morne. The work explores histories of resettlement, concepts of ‘home’ and ‘place’ and builds on the cultural histories of the province. The installation at Lobster Cove Head near Rocky Harbour will be available for viewing as of June 18, 2021. A video recording at this side will be used in the creation of a separate video project that will be developed over the fall of 2021.
To learn more about Robert Hengeveld, visit his website, or follow him on Instagram.