Katja Verheul (1988, NL) is a filmmaker, visual artist and researcher based in Amsterdam. Her research and film projects evolves around performative realities, post-war and power structures. As a self-described information junkie, her works range from dealing with information scarcity during her residency in Azerbaijan to engaging in discourse on the future of young people in Kosovo. While she covers serious topics, it is always intertwined with a fictional storyline.
Katja lived in London from 2013 to 2018, during which Great Britain was the victim of eleven terrorist incidents. Three of the incidents were in London, and all in the span of one year: The London Bridge attack, the Finsbury Park attack, and the Parsons Green bombing.
“In a few years’ time, there were a lot more rules, more police, and more private companies with men with huge weapons.”
The streets changed visually too. Known as hostile vehicle mitigations and (hostile) vehicle security barriers, street furniture was placed around e.g. banks, government buildings, and palaces, as well as on bridges and in open squares.
“If you walk around and pay attention, there are reinforced concrete benches that are three meters underground, kept in place with concrete. It looks very peaceful, but it is not [peaceful] at all, [it is] a kind of camouflage.”
Reading “Savage Ecology” by Jairus Victor Grove inspired Katja to dive into IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices). She describes in her online publication under the same name that: “Every abandoned object I came across became suspicious. I did realize that I was not living in a warzone, but the idea that random objects could have a different function fascinated me and scared me at the same time.”
She goes on to give the basic recipe, found on the dark web, and made from inconspicuous materials at home. Katja includes possible combinations like a “cool bag, toy car, card, battery, iPhone” or “salt, cream of tartar, sand, photographic fixer, tennis ball”.
“It is such a deadly object. It is very cheap to make. Everyone can make it with objects in home. So basically, anyone could very easily be a terrorist, but is not. On the one hand, you have the huge amounts of money America invests in it. On the other, DIYers who work for a terrorism group and develop [explosives] themselves. I find that contrast interesting.”
In her 2021 film “Improvised Objects” an American soldier, an IED-maker, and a philosopher describe their relationship towards these explosives. Katja questions what these devices are when they can have almost any shape, form, and content.
Is conflict a reoccurring theme in your work?
“Conflict is an important theme in my work, especially the period after. What stays behind after a war? And what are the consequences of these remains for people and nature? With my projects I want to make complex (often) invisible social, political, and economical issues visual.”
Do you include your opinion?
“As a maker, I find it interesting if you let the viewer draw their own conclusion. I research a lot and information is very important to me. But I always try to filter what I do show in the film, and what the audience has to find out for themselves.”
What do you want the viewer to take away from your work?
“It differs per work, but I want that people learn about the world they live in. By making it cinematic, I want to make it more accessible for the viewer. To make you look at regular everyday things differently.”
Her current film project ties into this (post-)war theme as well. In 1946, the Minister of Public Works and Reconstruction gave permission to Defence to dump abandoned ammunition into the North Sea.
“Over the years, [the ammunition] floated away. Some [explosives] started to leak. Now that the North Sea is getting busier due to wind farms, and gas and oil drillings, it has to be cleared. That causes a lot of noise pollution. If I am not mistaken, there is a dump site of three hundred million tons near Zeeland, halfway in a nature reserve. These sites are in the sea all around Europe. Very often, no one has any idea where its exact location is. It drifts away, of course. As a fisher, officially you have to notify [the Coast Guard] when you find [explosives]. In many cases, they just throw it back into the sea, and then it ends up somewhere else.”
The controlled detonation of bombs is a major source of disruptive and destructive sound (Duarte et al 2021, in Times 2021). Toxins leaking from explosives affect the marine flora and fauna.
“Also, the industry produces a lot of noise. For example, when boats turn on their engine, air bubbles appear. When those explode, they produce loud noises underwater. Sound travels faster through water than through air. So, it can do a lot of damage at a much greater distance.”
In short, noise pollution prevents marine animals from hearing their prey and predators, finding their way, and connecting with mates, groups members or their young. Ocean noise damages biodiversity and the marine ecosystem.
It is an interesting subject and we are very curious to see what Katja’s take on it will be.
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