Erik en Ronald Rietveld - RAAAF

‘Our spatial interventions cut across past and present in search of new meaning in the future. They invite reflection and question practices, conventions and habits that people take for granted. Many of our works articulate emptiness, creating space for reflection by removing things. In a world full of stuff and images, a “poetry of emptiness” is crucial,’ says RAAAF.  

One telling example is when RAAAF sliced open a seemingly indestructible municipal monument, Bunker 599 (2010), in an unorthodox attempt to challenge the cultural heritage policy of both the Netherlands and UNESCO. Paradoxically, after slicing the monument open, it was placed on the national list of historic monuments and was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List as part of the Dutch Water Defence Lines UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Rietveld and Rietveld have extensive experience as teachers at visual arts academies and academic institutions, including Harvard University and UC Berkeley. They have won various international awards, publish in international journals and train young talents in their own practice in the visual arts, architecture and philosophy.