Her work had originally been on another facade under Rotterdam's Hofbogen. But when muralist Hedy Tjin was finished, the new owner of the owner-occupied house opposite expressed her dissatisfaction. ‘Too ethnic,’ the occupant called it - she didn't want to overlook that. Tjin decided to remove her mural. Fortunately, she found a solution

Trijn Rembrands is the heroine of the Siege of Alkmaar of 1573. To defend the city, as a sixteen-year-old girl she fought bravely against the Spaniards. Since 1861, this Alkmaar Relief has been commemorated and celebrated around October 8. In 2023, an anniversary year, writer Simone van der Vlugt delivered the Ontzetrede (Liberation Speech), in which she pleaded...

For twenty years they were stored in crates in the ‘attic’ of the artwork The Memory of Parijsch: 13,000 printed copies of a special edition of the Culemborgse Courant compiled and written by Sjaak Langenberg and André Dekker (Observatorium). The contents of the newspaper were kept secret for twenty years and contain the first historiography of the Culemborg new housing estate....

In November 2025, an artwork by artist Q.S. Serafijn and architect Jan Willem Terlouw was unveiled in the Palenstein neighborhood of Zoetermeer. What is special about this is that Q.S. has since passed away. He worked on the sketch design from his hospital bed, but never knew that the artwork would actually be realized. Esther Didden went into conversation ...

In Papendrecht is Artwork Vondelpark by Carel Visser. Mari Andriessen made Man before the firing squad for Haarlem and Jan Wolkers made the glass artwork Women in resistance for Oegstgeest. These are examples of sculptors who made a work for their place of birth. Recently, a work of art by Marinus Boezem can be admired in Leerdam, where he...

Sigrid Calon realized an extraordinary work of art in the spire of a Tilburg church tower. Esther Didden spoke with the artist.

The new university library of the University of Amsterdam (UvA) on the site of the former hospital Het Binnengasthuis will open Sept. 1, 2025. Lynne Leegte provided an artwork there.

On the future of mediating art in Amsterdam's public spaces.

Arnhem hospital Rijnstate recently added two works of art to their art collection. Both works were commissioned: Maria Barnas created a work of art for the atrium and Jannemarein Renout for the main entrance. Rijnstate's art coordinator is visual artist Jeroen Glas. Esther Didden talked with him about the art collection and viewed the new...

Photo↑: work by Annelies Dijkman. © Joep Jacobs In April, Museum De Lakenhal opened the exhibition Floris Verster - At Home in Green. For the first time, the museum combines work by Verster with contemporary art. Artists Seet van Hout, Esther Hoogendijk and Annelies Dijkman created new work inspired by Verster. The museum is also organizing...

Esther Didden in conversation with Gabi Prechtl, director of Arts and Business

In the early 1960s, artist Ad Dekkers (1938-1974) gained fame for his thorough investigation of the plane, form and line. His name is still associated with the avant-garde art of the 1960s and 1970s. Fifty years after his death, a work by...

This series of articles is about commissioning and public space. A situation is always sketched from the perspective of the narrator. This may be an artist and/or a commissioner. Anything can be discussed. With the articles and the conversations we have with both artists and clients, we want to paint a picture...

About the creation of The Phoenix, a recent work by Giny Vos on the A28, north of Zwolle.

There is a lot going on in the world. There are countless conflicts, a climate disaster is looming, and inequality between people is only increasing. More and more artists are trying to shape a future on a different, sustainable basis. Marga Rotteveel, affiliated with the professorship Economy in Common, is one...

De Dreijen is the former campus of Wageningen University. On this site stood the first environmental artwork by Pieter Blaauboer since 1971. The artwork was owned by the university, but when they moved to another part of the city, it turned out that they did not want to keep or relocate the artwork. Foundation for Culture in Wageningen was the...

On Sept. 28, 2023, a dramatic event took place at Erasmus MC, Rotterdam. A teacher was shot to death by a student, and then he set fire to the teaching center, causing severe damage to part of it. To repair the damage, construction scaffolding was installed. The Property Directorate and the Erasmus MC Art Committee took the initiative....

In late March, Tamar Frank's artwork Gebroken Lijn was unveiled in Breda. Frank was asked to create a work for a square on a viaduct that both refers to the writer Marga Minco and makes a visual connection between Oud-Breda and Ginniken, where Minco was born. A complex and beautiful task, initiated by...

It can be tough, the process that precedes realizing art projects in public spaces. You don't build much credit for it either, because much of it remains invisible to the public. Works of art appear out of nowhere, as it were. It is therefore perhaps logical that the number of professionals involved in this is relatively small...

Twenty years ago, Véronique Baar founded QKunst. Until then, she was curator of a corporate collection. She noticed that employees were curious about the collection and wanted to know more about it but that contemporary art was also far removed from their world of experience. Through QKunst (a playful reference to the q in her...

"Want to get moving for the climate but don't know how? You don't have to come up with it all by yourself! We help you on your way through How to start a movement: an adventurous post project by artist Merel Smitt, in collaboration with collective the Weeds & Humanist Alliance." When Esther Didden mentioned this in the newsletter...

Gemene Grond is an art program in public space that will develop west of Utrecht's old city center through 2030. A major goal of Common Ground is to contribute through art to a public space in which all people, animals and plants are well represented. The program proposes...

Next year, the Amersfoort City Council's open call will take place for the tenth time. A good reason for Esther Didden to talk to Leontine Sies and Marieke Sikkens, both responsible for Amersfoort's visual arts policy.

Helmond artist Tinus Derks was working on a plan in which everyone who makes art could participate. After his death, two close friends gave themselves the task of realizing his idea after all, and recently the center of Helmond has become a lively breeding ground. Esther Didden spoke with Julienne Tullemans and Ine van...

Ever heard of Strukton? It is a Dutch construction and rail company with over 6,600 employees and annual revenues of about two billion euros. They deal with the design, financing, construction, management and maintenance of (large-scale) infrastructure. In short, a business world in which (very) large sums of money are involved and all kinds of interests are constantly at stake....

For several years now there have been two large display cases for art at Breda Station. This year KOP (Kunstenaars Ontwikkel Platform) programmed them; in the months of April, May and June it was Loran van de Wier's turn. During the exhibition period, he organized several meetings. Esther Didden attended one.

"RAUM is the place we make together. On the Berlin Square in Leidsche Rijn (Utrecht) you can experience how much fun it is when we arrange public space just a little differently and more creatively," reads the RAUM website. Esther Didden visited RAUM and spoke with Theo Tegelaers.

On a cold, stormy Monday in March, Esther Didden cycled through Tilburg with Arno van Roosmalen, adviser on art in public spaces. They see many good and interesting works of art, including John Körmeling's Turning House doing its tour. Enough conversation material.

On the table is the Volkskrant which contains an extensive interview with Job Hof. He recently turned 100, and since the Volkskrant is also celebrating 100 years, the newspaper interviews people of the same age. Briefly mentioned in the article, artist Dike Hof, the journalist describes how her father shows one of her sculptures....

On the edge of downtown, near the Groninger Museum, on a wide green strip stands the Tschumi Pavilion. For a year now, site-specific works of art have been made there. Esther Didden went there to visit and wrote about it.

If you make work as an artist for public space, after a while you usually have quite a few works in that public space. After the festive unveiling, you would like to let go of a work of art and concentrate on new work, but practice shows that letting go is actually not an option. Suddenly...