Looking back on Bread Art in the Molenwijk

Broodkunst in de Molenwijk. Foto: © Ben Yau / Framer Framed

Looking back on Bread Art in the Molenwijk

From March to December 2025, design anthropologist Tina Lenz and Framer Framed organised the programme Bread Art in the Molenwijk, as a part of Lenz’ residency at Werkplaats Molenwijk and as a gift for Amsterdam’s 750^th birthday. Time to look back on nine months filled with creative workshops and activities centred around bread.

In the months leading up to Bread Art in the Molenwijk, neighbourhood residents built an oven on wheels together with artist and baker Peik Suyling from Bakkerij de Eenvoud, SPIN (Diereneiland), DOCK and Framer Framed. The initiative for the BuurOven was taken by Freek, an involved resident, with the aim of bringing people in the neighbourhood together through a local mobile bakery. The necessary knowledge on burning and baking was transferred to the residents by Peik; the ownership of the local oven is now shared by the Molenwijk residents. During Bread Art in the Molenwijk, the oven travelled through the neighborhood to support their learning and experimentation process.

De eerste stook van de BuurOven Molenwijk, januari 2025. Foto: Framer Framed / Werkplaats Molenwijk

During the first month of the programme, Lenz sowed two kinds of ancient wheat: 7000-year-old Emmer and twelve-centuries-old Einkorn. These were made available by theologist Elsa Eikema and were to be harvested by the end of August. On the first day of spring, the sprouting process began: this is when Lenz celebrated the start of the Persian New Year Noroez together with neighbourhood residents by sharing the sprouts of wheatgrass (Sabzeh) with them. The name of the Persian ceremony translates to ‘new day’; Sabzeh accordingly symbolises rebirth.

The activities and workshops that followed were guided by different artists and collectives with a practice relating to bread. Among these was artist Anita Kluge, who organised the first participatory activity on 11 May. Together with residents, she carried out the Indian Rangoli welcome ritual, during which participants created drawings using coloured flour and learned from Kluge about Hindu traditions surrounding hospitality.

During the first workshop, led by artists Suzanne Bernhardt and Lenn Cox, residents of the Molenwijk milled grains, animating conversations about family recipes and bread related memories. Two weeks later, Suzanne and Lenn held their second workshop at Bakkerij Solinger on the NDSM shipyard. Together with the artists, participants reflected on individual and collective forms of care.

During the two day programme that followed, artists in residence Anna Celda and Saja Amro from the collective project Common Ground guided neighbourhood residents in making flatbreads. Together, participants explored the tactile connections between the body and dough and reflected on the political role of bread.

Workshop meel tekenen bij Werkplaats Molenwijk. Foto: © Marlise Steeman / Framer Framed

In the course of these weeks, Werkplaats Molenwijk slowly transformed into a Bread Atelier. Artists Anita Kluge en Peik Suyling worked together on building a tandoor, a traditional clay oven often used in India, Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan.

The students participating in the track Zelf gemaakt! were also involved in the Bread Art in the Molenwijk programme. From March through June, they participated in various workshops, exchanging personal stories on themes such as protection, family and tradition. These stories served as the creative inspiration for their artworks – when creating bread amulets under the guidance of Diede Visser, Savitri Bergraaf and Tina Lenz, for instance. The results of these workshops were showed in the exhibition Broodnodig, on display at Werkplaats Molenwijk from 18 June through 2 July.

In October, Bread Art in the Molenwijk was brought to an end with the creation of a participatory bread artwork and a final exhibition. From 7 through 11 October, neighbourhood residents were invited to build a large-scale bread sculpture together with the artists of Studio CoPain. Over the course of five days, participants kneaded, decorated and baked their own contribution to the sculpture, which was revealed during the exhibition opening on 11 October.

During this festive opening, visitors not only added their last decorations to the sculpture, but also collectively reflected on the encounters that took place in the past few months, decorated their own bread bag, tasted fresh bread from the BuurOven and shared their bread rituals with one another. Tina Lenz also revealed the Breadpapers, a free poster publication featuring descriptions of the bread stories and -rituals she had collected in the neighbourhood over the past weeks.

As a concluding activity, visitors and residents gave new form to the bread sculpture during a pain perdu workshop on 24 October, guided by Studio CoPain. Pain perdu – literally translating to ‘lost bread’ – is a French dish which, similar to French toast, brings old bread to life using milk, sugar, eggs, dried fruit, vanilla and other spices. The participants enjoyed their pain perdu during a collective breakfast the next day.

Lichtinstallatie Broodkunst in de Molenwijk. Foto: © Ben Yau / Framer Framed

The final part of Broodkunst in de Molenwijk was a light installation that was projected onto the apartment building facing Werkplaats Molenwijk during the first two weeks of December, made by Tina Lenz, Claire van Meekel and Beamsystems. Residents were surprised with a projection on their building featuring the bread artworks created by their neighbours – a reminder of the months filled with connection and the sharing of bread.

Bread Art in the Molenwijk is made possible by Amsterdam 750; Amsterdam Fund for the Arts; the Alliance; Municipality of Amsterdam / North District; and the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. The BuurOven is made possible in part by DOCK neighbourhood work, Stichting SPIN, and OBA Molenwijk.

Werkplaats Molenwijk is made possible by the Alliance; Municipality of Amsterdam / North District; Amsterdam Fund for the Arts; and the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science.