The profession of bridge operator has slowly disappeared from the streets of Rotterdam due to modernisation. With its disappearance, more than a thousand bridge operator\u2019s houses across the Netherlands fell silent: once lookout posts on daily lives, passing by. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In\u202fOverbruggen (Bridging)<\/em>, an audio project by sound artist and journalist Bart Huijser (30), audience is invited to step into the operator\u2019s house on the Koninginnebrug and listen to stories from local residents. As the iconic Rotterdam panorama unfolds before you, headphones guide you through their everyday lives. At times, you follow their stories from a distance, and sometimes you bridge that distance and feel as if you are sitting in someone\u2019s\u202fliving room. <\/p>\n\n\n\n You hear stories about favorite walking routes with the dog, kitchen-table conversations about music, or even about billionaire Jeff Bezos wanting to dismantle the beloved Hefbrug for his superyacht. Meanwhile, the city rumbles on, unbothered. Through the audio, which directs your gaze and attention, the bridge operator\u2019s house becomes once again a window onto the city and everyday life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Bart\u00a0Huijser | Audio | Offsite location\u00a0| Netherlands<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The profession of bridge operator has slowly disappeared from the streets of Rotterdam due to modernisation. With its disappearance, more than a thousand bridge operator\u2019s houses across the Netherlands fell silent: once lookout posts on daily lives, passing by. In\u202fOverbruggen (Bridging), an audio project by sound artist and journalist Bart Huijser (30), audience is invited to step into the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":3134,"template":"","topic":[],"editions":[606],"festival_production_types":[613],"class_list":["post-3132","production","type-production","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","edition-606","festival_production_type-participatory-activity"],"acf":{"makers":[{"ID":6158,"post_author":"2","post_date":"2025-11-10 09:19:40","post_date_gmt":"2025-11-10 08:19:40","post_content":"\n With a background in theatre-making and further studies in journalism, Bart Huijser<\/strong> combines creative dramaturgy with journalistic craftsmanship. His work focuses on telling stories from his own neighborhood, Feijenoord<\/strong> in Rotterdam, a place where many regional and national developments intersect in everyday life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As a journalist and audio maker, Bart documents the lives and experiences of residents whose voices are often overlooked. In 2026<\/strong>, Bart will create a podwalk<\/strong> to mark the 200th anniversary of Feijenoord<\/strong> \u2014 an audio walk featuring personal stories from both long-time and new residents. Through this participatory project, he explores themes such as gentrification, heritage preservation, economic inequality, and community identity<\/strong>, while preserving the neighborhood\u2019s collective memory amid rapid transformation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","post_title":"Bart Huijser","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"bart-huijser","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-02-06 10:51:11","post_modified_gmt":"2026-02-06 09:51:11","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/icafrotterdam.com\/?post_type=maker&p=6158","menu_order":0,"post_type":"maker","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"edition":606,"makers_involved":"","also_interesting":""},"programmes":[],"days":[],"makers":{"6158":"Bart Huijser"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/icafrotterdam.com\/festival\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/productions\/3132","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/icafrotterdam.com\/festival\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/productions"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/icafrotterdam.com\/festival\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/production"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/icafrotterdam.com\/festival\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/productions\/3132\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3826,"href":"https:\/\/icafrotterdam.com\/festival\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/productions\/3132\/revisions\/3826"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icafrotterdam.com\/festival\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/icafrotterdam.com\/festival\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icafrotterdam.com\/festival\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=3132"},{"taxonomy":"edition","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icafrotterdam.com\/festival\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/editions?post=3132"},{"taxonomy":"festival_production_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icafrotterdam.com\/festival\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/festival_production_types?post=3132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}