Christine Salfeld Talascoop (2021)

In 2021, Rotterdam artist Christine Saalfeld won a design commission from the Municipality of Rotterdam (an initiative of then-alderman Judith Bokhove) for an artwork that draws attention to low literacy in Rotterdam, in the year that a city-wide campaign was launched for this purpose. Talascope is a metal, polygonal container with glass windows containing 90.000 red pencils: the same number as the number of Rotterdam residents who struggle with reading and writing. The title is a combination of language and telescope, because language takes you further in life. The pencils were used in the Dutch parliamentary elections on Wednesday, March 17, 2021, and would otherwise have been thrown away. Thus, it combines the emancipation of people with low literacy skills and sustainability through recycling. Talascope was installed in the redesigned square near the IJsselmonde library, near the Keizerswaard shopping center and the IJsselmonde municipal offices. Unfortunately, the work was damaged several times by vandalism; the glass windows were smashed several times. After several restorations, it was decided to remove the work. Talascope to be moved. It is located in the courtyard of the creative incubator Het Archief on Robert Fruinstraat.