In the Cultural Capital year 2018, artist Marten Winters and designer Aad van Altena made language vivid with their project Sichtberens with striking roof texts at visible locations in Leeuwarden. Sichtberens was developed on behalf of the province of Fryslân and with support from Lân fan taal (from which Leeuwarden City of Literature resulted) and the municipality of Leeuwarden.
Taking away JA JONGE NEE JUH! NEE JONGE JA JUH! from buildings on Zaailand elicited many reactions last week. The owners of the buildings now have other plans for the roofs.
Marten Winters: “Although we knew from the start that the texts could be there temporarily, over the years we began to secretly hope that they could stay. Because, how long is temporary? The reactions of the viewers in the square and through various media were heart-warming and sometimes funny. That did help to soften the sad tackling a bit. The texts have now been temporarily stored along the track at the former postal sorting center in the station quarter and we are busy to see what happens next. To be continued.”
Photos: Aad van Altena
