Side programme featuring, among others, Salih el Saddy and Eelko Hooijmaaijers
From 18 to 22 November, the Nomadic Monument for Gaza can be seen at Stadsschouwburg De Harmonie in Leeuwarden, as part of Stadshart and the Explore the North Festival. The Nomadic Monument for Gaza is an initiative by artists and architects from The Hague in response to the genocide in Gaza. With this travelling monument, money is being raised for the HOPE Foundation, which is rebuilding the destroyed primary school and Academy for Young Talent.
HOPE has worked for 33 years with children in Gaza who experience war trauma and loss, offering lessons in various art forms together with local artists and teachers. Around sixty staff members reach about a thousand children every day, under the protection of the Netherlands Red Cross and the Palestinian Red Crescent. The monument invites visitors to pause and reflect on the victims in Gaza.
Artist Ingrid Rollema unveils the monument on Tuesday 18 November at 18:30. The travelling artwork consists of felt columns with more than 65,000 burned-in marks—one for every Palestinian who has been killed. Each day at 17:00, a ritual takes place during which new names are added. Around the monument, a side programme of lectures and film screenings takes place.
Programme
During the days the Monument for Gaza is on display in De Harmonie, several related events can be visited.
Tuesday 18 November
Opening including lecture
18:30 – Opening by Ingrid Rollema
19:30 – Lecture by Salih el Saddy – Today was worse than yesterday
Register for this lecture in De Harmonie
Wednesday 19 November
14:00 – Slieker Filmhouse – Put your soul in your hand and walk
16:00, 16:20 & 16:40 – Talks at the artwork D9T (Rachel’s Tribute)
17:00 – Memorial Ritual – Ingrid Rollema
Thursday 20 November
17:00 – Memorial Ritual – Ingrid Rollema
20:30 – Historical lecture – Eelko Hooijmaaijers
Register for this lecture in De Harmonie
Friday 21 November
17:00 – Memorial Ritual – Ingrid Rollema
Saturday 22 November
17:00 – Memorial Ritual – Ingrid Rollema
Stepping ‘into’ Gaza
Walking through soft felt pillars three metres high, you step into the Gaza Strip. The pillars are arranged in the shape of Gaza. The felt dampens the sound, creating a quiet, subdued atmosphere. Beneath this stillness lies a carpet printed with the map of The Hague and its surroundings—from Hoek van Holland to Noordwijk and, at its narrowest point, from the coast to the Hofvijver—precisely the size of the Gaza Strip. Inside the monument, each victim is commemorated with a manually burned mark in the felt, making the value and fragility of human life tangible and palpable. The Nomadic Monument for Gaza invites you to reflect on the human tragedy unfolding before our eyes.
More information via De Harmonie.