Public Art in Holland – Poetry on the Ijssel River
Doesburg is a small city in Holland that looks like a picture postcard from the 19th century. Its gable-fronted houses and cobbled streets are largely unspoilt and retain their original integrity. Many musicians, writers and artists live in the city and contribute to its cultural life.
For this public art in Holland, I worked closely with two very-talented local poets who’d written poems about the Ijssel River. The Ijssel runs along one side of Doesburg and gives the city much of is charm and character.It was a thrilling process. Three creative people in one room can make the sparks fly! Happily, they were productive sparks which improved the final designs.
The two pillars are placed at the two ends of a new promenade which runs alongside the river. This is part of a redevelopment of the riverfront which has brought badly-needed housing to the city and opened up the connection between the city and the river. Harmon’s poem compares the river to a bride’s veil, “dragging the heavens through the land.” Kees’s poem links the river to the elements; water, earth, air – and freedom. The pillars are four meters high and faced with black welsh slate.