# De WAR

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**De WAR** ([Dutch](/source/Dutch_language) for *mess, chaos, confusion*) is a [social centre](/source/Social_centre) for the [arts](/source/Arts) and [citizen science](/source/Citizen_science), including a [fab lab](/source/Fab_lab) at [Amersfoort](/source/Amersfoort), [the Netherlands](/source/The_Netherlands).[1][2][3] A fab lab (fabrication laboratory) is a small-scale workshop offering (personal) digital fabrication. De WAR is a [nonprofit](/source/Nonprofit_organization) [volunteer](/source/Volunteering) organisation outside of Dutch academia and [educational system](/source/Educational_system), and is part of the Dutch [maker](/source/Maker_culture) and [hacker culture](/source/Hacker_culture) scene. It organizes public events, exhibits and workshops connecting technology, [sustainability](/source/Sustainability), science and arts. FabLab Amersfoort opened within De WAR in 2010, as one of the first [grassroots](/source/Grassroots) fab labs.[1][2][4]

## History

De WAR dates back to 2002, when a group of performing artists, "De Spullenmannen" created a laboratory in an old factory complex in Amersfoort.[5] Leading artists of the "De Spullenmannen" (English: The Spullenmen; the Dutch "spullen" meaning "things" or "stuff") were Diana Wildschut and Harmen Zijp. They make visual theatre and theatrical installations, and work often with garbage from the [consumer society](/source/Consumer_society). The Spullenmen act on the interface of art and science.[6] The Spullen laboratory ("Spullenlab") was established in the abandoned factory of Warner-Jenkinson (part of [Sensient Technologies](/source/Sensient_Technologies)), where dyes were made.

Around 2007 the first steps in creating "De WAR" were taken. The idea was to create an open workspace for artists, (citizen) scientists, starting entrepreneurs etc. An important factor in the foundation of De WAR was the start of the so-called "festival Franje", ("Franje" meaning "fringe"), that continued as an autonomous [fringe festival](/source/Fringe_festival) in Amersfoort, [Arendal](/source/Arendal) (Norway) and [Potsdam](/source/Potsdam) (Germany) until 2017.[7]

## References

1. Smith et al. 2017.

1. Troxler 2014.

1. Wildschut 2017.

1. Zijp 2011.

1. ["De WAR"](https://www.vvvamersfoort.nl/nl/locaties/1442/de-war) (in Dutch). *VVV Amersfoort*. Retrieved 2024-10-27.

1. ["The Spullenmen : theatre, installations, visual art and purposeless contraptions"](https://www.spullenmannen.nl/en/info). *spullenmannen.nl*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20190218154815/https://www.spullenmannen.nl/en/info) 2019-02-18 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2024-10-27.

1. ["festival Franje (2007)"](http://www.franje.nu/old/index.php?lang=en&festival=2007_amersfoort) (in Dutch). *franje.nu*. Retrieved 2024-10-27. This gives the line-up of all the festivals from 2007 until 2017 in Amersfoort, Arendal and Potsdam.

## External links

- [Official website](https://dewar.nl)
- ["The Spullenmen"](https://www.spullenmannen.nl/en/info). *spullenmannen.nl*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20190218154815/https://www.spullenmannen.nl/en/info) 2019-02-18 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2024-10-27.
- ["FabLab Amersfoort, Heiligenbergerweg 34, Amersfoort, Utrecht, 3816AK, Netherlands"](https://www.fablabs.io/labs/fablabamersfoort). *fablabs.io*. The Fab Foundation. Retrieved 11 October 2024. Fablab Amersfoort is a bottom up grassroots Fablab. Four artists have decided to take matters into their own hands and not wait for funding, but start a Fablab in Amersfoort themselves.
- ["Welkom bij FabLab Amersfoort!"](https://www.fablabamersfoort.nl) [Welcome to FabLab Amersfoort!] (in Dutch). *fablabamersfoort.nl*. 2024. Retrieved 11 October 2024.

## Literature

- Smith A, Fressoli M, Abrol D, Arond E, Ely A (2017). [*Grassroots innovation movements*](https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/53011). Pathways to sustainability. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. pp. 113–115. ISBN 978-1-138-90122-3. [OCLC 912378783](https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/912378783) Full text download.
- Troxler, Peter (2014). ["Fab Labs forked: A grassroots insurgency inside the next industrial revolution"](http://peerproduction.net/issues/issue-5-shared-machine-shops/editorial-section/fab-labs-forked-a-grassroots-insurgency-inside-the-next-industrial-revolution/). *Journal of Peer production*. **5**: 1–3. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
- Wildschut, Diana (2017). ["The need for citizen science in the transition to a sustainable peer-to-peer-society"](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016328717300435). *Futures*. **91**: 46–52. [doi:10.1016/j.futures.2016.11.010](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.futures.2016.11.010)
- Zijp, H. (2011). ["The grass roots FabLab instructable or How to set up a Fab Lab in 7 days with 4 people and about EUR 5000."](http://www.fablabamersfoort.nl/downloads/fablab-instructable.pdf) (PDF). Fab Lab Amersfoort, the Netherlands. Retrieved 11 October 2024.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [De WAR](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_WAR) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_WAR?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.