A new publication is available!

De Blinkerd Editions is proud to present its second realization: Dover and Calais to Dunkerque and Ramsgate (2021).

It was born out of a long-term research process completed by Hilde Van Gelder for her book Ground Sea: Photography and the Right to be Reborn (Leuven University Press, 2021), for which she created thirty-three doodles. Romy Delange and Othillia G——, with the assistance of Hendrike MR, jointly created a new framework for a selection from these doodles. They remixed them in the form of a nautical chart.

Hilde Van Gelder’s doodles will be gradually revealed here.

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DeBlinkerdAsked Romy Delange and Othillia G— some questions:

What is your favourite anchorage bay?

Othillia: My preferred anchorage bay is a classic among sailors: Cala Benirrás at Ibiza. It features a magical rock, called Es Cap Bernat. Once you are under its spell, you never want to lift the anchor anymore.

What are your influences?

We felt triggered by Hilde’s use of quotations in the way Walter Benjamin has proposed: to read them as thought fragments expressing the hope that something of their wisdom might impact the present. Benjamin famously called such quotations “robbers by the roadside,” which potentially can shake up deeply entrenched beliefs. We also looked at Chet Van Duzer’s fascinating Sea Monsters book, and at Ambrosius Holbein’s 1518 map of Utopia. ISSA Sailing Instructor André Deboeure’s instructive plotting schemes of the Strait of Dover also came in very handy, and we would like to express our heartfelt thanks to him!

Why did you opt for working with De Blinkerd?

Hilde Van Gelder’s invitation to freely select from her doodles was a unique offer that Romy and I couldn’t refuse. We realized that De Blinkerd could be a sanctuary for further creative work with these doodles and for poetically exploring some of the pressing political issues addressed in Hilde’s Ground Sea book.