BIRDS OF A FEATHER is a publication that gives an insight into the organisation and functioning of OpStap, a group-based program for people with drug addictions and people in recovery. The focus lays on the guests of OpStap, who are given a meaningful use of time and meaning through meetings, activities and voluntary work.
BIRDS OF A FEATHER is a collaboration between the organisation of OpStap, photographer Vincen Beeckman, writer Colin Pantall, designer Lien Van Leemput, publisher Art Paper Editions (APE) & the city of Ghent.
—
The project started with several workshops, hosted by Vincen Beeckman & Lien Van Leemput. They interacted with the guests at OpStap, and Beeckman also joined them on their weekly activities outdoors. Conversations took place where questions were posed about the dreams and memories of the guests, but also about their everyday concerns and their opinion about OpStap.
Colin Pantall acts as a moderator and questions the goal of the project, the way in which people are portrayed, and the role of each person involved. This results in a series of interviews that will be a part of the publication.
Besides this, doctor in pedagogical sciences Wouter Vanderplasschen and Aline Pouille, researcher at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences of UGent will contribute a text. Also Charlotte Colman, professor in drug & criminal policy, will give her vision on recovery and treatment.
Funds raised will be used for printing and creating the book.
—
PUBLICATION
size – 21 x 29,7 cm
amount of pages – 200 (estimate)
print – offset, full colour, otabind
language – English & Dutch
photography – Vincen Beeckman
texts – Colin Pantall, Wouter Vanderplasschen & Aline Pouille, Charlotte Colman, Lien Van Leemput
design – Lien Van Leemput
publisher – Art Paper Editions (APE)
support – Gert Ongenaet & city of Ghent
—
Vincen Beeckman
Brussels-based photographer Vincen Beeckman feeds off the universes that he roams and that move him in his practice. Collaborating intensely and as often as possible with the characters that fill his images, he can also become their model or form a storytelling duo with them. Immersed in the field, inside groups, he often positions himself as the guiding thread of a photographic collection under construction. His work focuses on the fragility of human life and the positive energy that can be decoded or injected into it.
Colin Pantall
Colin Pantall is a photographer, writer, and educator based in Bath, England. His work focusses on the domestic environment. He is interested in how environment, domestic space and family narratives overlap and interfere in our understanding of personal, visual, and political histories.
Lien Van Leemput
Lien Van Leemput is a graphic designer and writer based in Ghent, working for the publishing house APE. She has a strong focus on the social, the cultural and the everyday. With the
world as her terrain, she researches how we connect and communicate nowadays, what kind
of topics we are concerned with and how we deal with them.
Art Paper Editions (APE)
Art Paper Editions (APE) is an independent publishing platform founded in 2010 by Jurgen Maelfeyt in Ghent, Belgium. APE focusses on the book as an exhibition space and makes publications in close collaboration with artists, writers, institutions, galleries, and other cultural protagonists. Publications are crafted to the highest standard.
OpStap
OpStap is a group-based program in Ghent, Belgium, for people with drug addictions and people in recovery. Together, they create a safe haven where encounters, activities and volunteering take place. Opstap believes that small actions make small, but necessary differences in order to create a meaningful day and establish activation and meaning. Understanding and respect are important keywords. Opstap does not judge, gives opportunities and is patient and warm towards every guest of its centre.
Wouter Vanderplasschen & Aline Pouille
Wouter Vanderplasschen is Doctor in Pedagogical Sciences and senior lecturer in Orthopedagogy at Ghent University. His research focuses on addiction and recovery and on mechanisms that enable people to recover from addiction. Specific attention is given to people in vulnerable situations and the role of care services. Professor Vanderplasschen is the author of several book publications and articles in international scientific journals.
Aline Pouille is a researcher at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences of UGent, Department of Orthopedagogy. During her studies and own life trajectory she developed an interest in recovery from psychological problems and addiction. This interest translates into her PhD, in which she investigates people with a migrant background who are recovering from addiction. Besides this, she continues to deepen her knowledge of the theme by regularly talking to experts and by following a course in recovery-oriented mental healthcare.
Charlotte Colman
Charlotte Colman is professor in Criminology (Ghent University) and postdoctoral researcher (FWO). She teaches courses that focus on drug phenomena, drug policy and criminal policy. Her research focuses on, among other things, transformation processes in drug use and criminality, alternative treatment and transfer from justice to care, policy evaluation and aspects of drug supply.
—