{"id":17624,"date":"2025-04-16T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-16T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\/?post_type=project&#038;p=17624"},"modified":"2025-12-05T15:35:13","modified_gmt":"2025-12-05T13:35:13","slug":"literary-bench-elf-bench-oranjewoud","status":"publish","type":"project","link":"https:\/\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\/en\/project\/literary-benches\/literary-bench-elf-bench-oranjewoud\/","title":{"rendered":"Literary bench {Elf bench} | Oranjewoud"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div id=\"narrow-column-1764758271581-143\" class=\"wp-block-custom-narrow-column narrow-column offset-space-16\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Where are you really?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"font-size:18px\">if you pause for a moment traveller<br>you can hear a rustling maybe<br>a forest of your own in need<br>of an ear, hands on the bark<br>breath caught<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em><strong>Edwin de Groot<\/strong><\/em><br><em>(translation: David Colmer)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">About the bench<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"font-size:18px\">Machiel Braaksma: \u201cThe concept for this literary bench came about while philosophizing and walking with writer Edwin de Groot. We walked through the forest and \u2013 to my mind \u2013 word and image found each other almost automatically. That is probably thanks to the magic of a forest and the state of mind it can bring you. Edwin\u2019s poem is preceded by a question. A very rich question, which allowed me to make all kinds of connections right away. And that is how I ended up with an &#8216;elf bench&#8217; (the Dutch name for the turkey tail mushroom, or Trametes versicolor). \u2018The question opens the spiritual door a crack,\u2019 said Edwin. The person who sits on the bench can open the door further. With an enlarged &#8216;elf bench&#8217;, you as an adult become part of something fairytale-like for a moment. There is almost a kind of \u2018teleportation\u2019, because you can take on the role of being \u2018small\/insignificant\u2019. It evokes a situation of \u2018being in your head\u2019. The recurring descriptive rings are reminiscent of something mental and they almost function as a kind of aura. Inviting, soothing, festively decorative. Is the &#8216;elf bench&#8217; an oracle, a listening big ear, does it represent the zooming in or out of a big bang, or do we see the cross-section of our brains? Shut yourself off and let yourself be enchanted.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-luminous-dusk-gradient-background has-background wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/maps.app.goo.gl\/K4tRzYT1vGjcqgXd7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Location of the bench<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">About the makers<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"font-size:18px\"><strong>Poet<\/strong> | Edwin de Groot (Heerenveen, 1963) is a poet and editor of the Frisian literary magazine <em>ensafh<\/em>. De Groot publishes in various magazines in Frisian and Dutch. A 6th poetrybook is planned for 2025. He has won a Rely Jorritsma Prize several times for Frisian poems. In addition to writing poetry, he is active in photography and visual arts. Has exhibited with it several times. Both writing and making images are strongly rooted in the landscape, which, as a nature guide for various nature organizations, he likes to talk about during excursions. Language and image increasingly go together in his work.<br><br><strong>Visual artist<\/strong> | With a lightly Dadaist slant, Machiel Braaksma takes objects out of daily life, with which he creates new images and situations which are funny, moving or confusing, and nuance or comment on life. He chooses things from everyday life, reassembles them and creates new pieces. Braaksma says about his work: \u2018I put everything in the wrong order in the &#8216;right&#8217; way. &#8220;What I want from my work is that it\u2019s original, unmistakable and that it has longevity. I\u2019m looking for resilient, sturdy objects that can unashamedly be themselves yet engaging. Images with an exuberant integrity and a shameless, inner beauty.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">With thanks to<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"font-size:18px\">Provincie Frysl\u00e2n, Gemeente Heerenveen, Walter Baas, Repos Dokkum, Piemschuimletters.nl IJlst<br><em>Picture: Hoge Noorden | Jacob van Essen<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":17734,"parent":17536,"menu_order":103,"template":"","project_type":[],"class_list":["post-17624","project","type-project","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Literary bench {Elf bench} | Oranjewoud - Leeuwarden City of Literature<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\/en\/project\/literary-benches\/literary-bench-elf-bench-oranjewoud\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Literary bench {Elf bench} | Oranjewoud - Leeuwarden City of Literature\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\/en\/project\/literary-benches\/literary-bench-elf-bench-oranjewoud\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Leeuwarden City of Literature\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-05T13:35:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/160425ZJE_4333-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1703\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\\\/en\\\/project\\\/literary-benches\\\/literary-bench-elf-bench-oranjewoud\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\\\/en\\\/project\\\/literary-benches\\\/literary-bench-elf-bench-oranjewoud\\\/\",\"name\":\"Literary bench {Elf bench} | Oranjewoud - Leeuwarden City of Literature\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\\\/fy\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\\\/en\\\/project\\\/literary-benches\\\/literary-bench-elf-bench-oranjewoud\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\\\/en\\\/project\\\/literary-benches\\\/literary-bench-elf-bench-oranjewoud\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/160425ZJE_4333-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-16T07:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-05T13:35:13+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\\\/en\\\/project\\\/literary-benches\\\/literary-bench-elf-bench-oranjewoud\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\\\/en\\\/project\\\/literary-benches\\\/literary-bench-elf-bench-oranjewoud\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\\\/en\\\/project\\\/literary-benches\\\/literary-bench-elf-bench-oranjewoud\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/160425ZJE_4333-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/160425ZJE_4333-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1703,\"caption\":\"\u00a9 Foto: Hoge Noorden \\\/ Jacob van Essen 16-04-2025 City of Literature feestelijke onthullingen van 5 po\u00ebziebanken (Dokkum, Sint Jabik, Leeuwarden, Heerenveen en Workum) die Machiel Braaksma samen met 5 dichters in opdracht van LWD CoL gemaakt heeft. 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