Will

1942 Amsterdam
My mother gave birth to a stillborn daughter, which she never got over. She would have preferred that I had been a boy. I never had a good relationship with my mother.
1944 Amsterdam
Born.
1945 Amsterdam
We came from Westerbork (concentration camp) to live in the Transvaal neighborhood, where I've lived ever since.
1968 Amsterdam
I gave swimming lessons for adults and children from the neighborhood.
1979 Amsterdam
I worked in the Transvaal tenants society and later the residents' committee, advising renovation and construction projects. As a token of appreciation for my work, I was commemorated with a portrait tile set into a building along the Hofmeyrstraat.
1979 Amsterdam
My daughter's knee surgery. At that moment my husband was also in the hospital, it was not easy to visit both of them while also working, providing food for my other daughter and for myself, but it all worked out.
1980 Amsterdam
I like to travel - I visited Cuba, Turkey, Italy, Andalusia, Portugal and Thailand.
1982 Amsterdam
I was a bone marrow donor for my brother, but unfortunately he died two days before his transplant.
1985 Amsterdam
25th wedding anniversary, which was a huge success. I was so joyful, the only member of my family who was able to experience this so far.
1999 Amsterdam
My husband Henk deceased.
Please note: all conversations will be assigned randomly

About
Ondergronds

Ondergronds is named for those exceptional conversations below the surface.

While travelling through Amsterdam on a daily basis, we pass by hundreds of strangers and rarely get a chance to connect. Ondergronds allows you to have a real conversation with one of those strangers – perhaps the connection will last, perhaps it may inspire other conversations on your daily travels.

About the team:

Julien Thomas developed urban interventions and creative civic engagement strategies in Vancouver, and graduated from the Sandberg Instituut in 2016.

Webdesign: Fabian Hijlkema

Photography: Coco Plooijer

Ondergronds is an initiative of the Knowledge Mile Coalition, a community of knowledge institutions, companies, organisations and residents working together along the Wibautstraat and Wesperstraat from Amstelplein to Nieuwmarkt.

Contact

Do you have questions, want to participate, or want to set up an Ondergronds project in your city? Feel free to contact us.

julienfthomas@gmail.com

We are
supported
by

  • Gemeente Amsterdam

  • Knowledge Mile Coalition

  • Amsterdam Boiling

  • GVB

  • Humans of Amsterdam