Biography

The works by Henri van Noordenburg focus on the notion of story telling entwining visual language with performance.

The stories explore elements of past and present, home and home country with poetic documentation and humorous narrative.

Henri’s first performance was at the age of 19, a story telling piece inspired by his own social environment of a white middle class family in the Netherlands.

Henri’s life took a turn when he migrated away from his family ties to investigate new possibilities in Australia. It took three full years before his new country inspired him in new artistic ways, this time through the use of photography followed by creative writing and theatre. Henri lived and documented the lifestyle of a Jackeroo and fishermen ('Workers Hands' series) , fascinated by their individual stories and drive for survival.

In 2002 Henri turned his camera on himself by documenting his own house and searching through his own family photo albums and writing about his findings. The end result was "Two Roads in Green Pasture Landscape" a one man theatre production about his own life and a photographic exhibition under the same title.

This research project was the stepping stone for his ‘Home’ project, a project which encompasses visual, oral and written stories from people of cross cultural background.

Henri’s most recent body of work is a documentation of the Estonian culture "while I was fascinated by what people go through, when their country changes from communism to a western democracy, I was more interested to capture a cultural knowledge, a knowledge and lifestyle passed on by generations".

The images of streetscapes and homes are a nostalgic poetic documentation of a country and its people in dual national identity.

Henri’s own cultural heritage cannot go unnoticed as the influence of the Dutch Masters is reflected in his work. The use of natural light, the fascination with domestic life and events which reveal cultural and historical meaning, Henri’s works are a visual anthropology of our lives today and an inspiration to look at and value our own life and life stories.