{"id":17628,"date":"2025-04-16T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-16T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\/?post_type=project&p=17628"},"modified":"2025-12-05T15:35:43","modified_gmt":"2025-12-05T13:35:43","slug":"literary-bench-12-km-bank-sint-jacobiparochie","status":"publish","type":"project","link":"https:\/\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\/en\/project\/literary-benches\/literary-bench-12-km-bank-sint-jacobiparochie\/","title":{"rendered":"Literary bench {12 km bank} | Sint Jacobiparochie"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

Poem<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instructions<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step 1: Count how many steps in the Oudebildtdijk

Step 2: Look for the light switch that turns on the view

Step 3: Never ask how old a dike is
there\u2019ll be more noughts than you thought and maybe
they\u2019re softer with question marks

Step 4: Celebrate the wind
always, in whatever form it might come
(strong, gentle, decisive, capricious)

Step 5: Promise to not take any more photos with your phone
from now on just with your eyes
(and preferably of things nobody else sees)

Step 6: Lay your thoughts along the dike like a tape measure

Step 7: Add question marks to all the sentences 
you have spoken in public spaces in the last two years

Step 8: Step over your ego or act like you are a potato

Step 9: Build a house that is made up of different layers
(like a pi\u00f1ata cake)

Step 10: Count down, hide between the gold of the corncobs
(if they\u2019re tall and ready to harvest)
optional: count the heads sticking up

Step 11: Skip, don\u2019t bottle up your feelings but
don\u2019t make them bigger than they are either

Step 12: Think of a word that rhymes with \u2018twelfth\u2019
search for it, don\u2019t find it

Sannemaj Betten<\/strong><\/em>
(translation: David Colmer)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

About the bench<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Machiel Braaksma: \u201cHere, we look out over \u2018the longest street in the Netherlands\u2019: 12 kilometres long. That is a special fact. Designing a bench based on the length of the dike seemed really cool to me. I wanted to \u2018collect\u2019 that entire distance by dividing the 12 kilometres into 12 slats and \u2018compressing\u2019 the dike using the bench. Something like folding and unfolding a map, or a ruler, but now using horizontal slats that you can \u2018read\u2019 from top to bottom. This place almost automatically unfolds a story in images, thoughts and experiences. It is wonderful what Gerard de Jong \u2013 the translator of the poem in Bildts \u2013 remarked so beautifully earlier: \u2018with a concrete carpet\u2019. I think it is completely Bildts, because it is literally straightforward. Sannemaj Betten has written a beautiful poem for this bench and place: inventive, exciting and intriguing. For every kilometer, every step, she wrote a brilliant interpretation. The poem seems to be a kind of \u2018guide\u2019 for the environment and your mindset, which challenges your senses, feelings and way of thinking. The bench is an extension of that in the form of resolute visual poetry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
Location of the bench<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About the makers<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Poet<\/strong> | Sannemaj Betten (they\/them, 29 years old) is a spoken word artist and theatre maker. They grew up in Sint Jacobiparochie, Friesland. In their work, Sannemaj is looking for the things you\u2019d rather leave alone. They then show them as they are: raw, pure and bitter (a little like how chocolate sometimes tastes). They also think it is important to invite people to tell their own story, to search for their own voice. Since the age of 16, Sannemaj has performed on various (literary) stages throughout the Netherlands (Oerol theatre festival, Wintertuin literary festival, festival Explore the North, National Poetry Slam).

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 ‘right’ way. “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.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With thanks to<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Provincie Frysl\u00e2n, Gemeente Waadhoeke, Walter Baas, Duropanel Eindhoven, Stedon Leeuwarden
Picture: Hoge Noorden | Jacob van Essen<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":17741,"parent":17536,"menu_order":109,"template":"","project_type":[],"class_list":["post-17628","project","type-project","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLiterary bench {12 km bank} | Sint Jacobiparochie - 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-12-km-bank-sint-jacobiparochie\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Literary bench {12 km bank} | Sint Jacobiparochie - Leeuwarden City of Literature\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\/en\/project\/literary-benches\/literary-bench-12-km-bank-sint-jacobiparochie\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Leeuwarden City of Literature\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-05T13:35:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DS160425JE5106.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1280\" \/>\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=\"4 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-12-km-bank-sint-jacobiparochie\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\\\/en\\\/project\\\/literary-benches\\\/literary-bench-12-km-bank-sint-jacobiparochie\\\/\",\"name\":\"Literary bench {12 km bank} | Sint Jacobiparochie - Leeuwarden City of Literature\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\\\/fy\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\\\/en\\\/project\\\/literary-benches\\\/literary-bench-12-km-bank-sint-jacobiparochie\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\\\/en\\\/project\\\/literary-benches\\\/literary-bench-12-km-bank-sint-jacobiparochie\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/DS160425JE5106.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-16T07:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-05T13:35:43+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\\\/en\\\/project\\\/literary-benches\\\/literary-bench-12-km-bank-sint-jacobiparochie\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\\\/en\\\/project\\\/literary-benches\\\/literary-bench-12-km-bank-sint-jacobiparochie\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\\\/en\\\/project\\\/literary-benches\\\/literary-bench-12-km-bank-sint-jacobiparochie\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/DS160425JE5106.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/DS160425JE5106.jpg\",\"width\":8256,\"height\":5504,\"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. Sannemaj Betten \\\/ Sint Jabik\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\\\/en\\\/project\\\/literary-benches\\\/literary-bench-12-km-bank-sint-jacobiparochie\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Projecten\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\\\/project\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Literary benches\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\\\/en\\\/project\\\/literary-benches\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Literary bench {12 km bank} | Sint Jacobiparochie\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\\\/fy\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\\\/fy\\\/\",\"name\":\"Leeuwarden City of Literature\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\\\/fy\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Literary bench {12 km bank} | Sint Jacobiparochie - Leeuwarden City of Literature","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\/en\/project\/literary-benches\/literary-bench-12-km-bank-sint-jacobiparochie\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Literary bench {12 km bank} | Sint Jacobiparochie - Leeuwarden City of Literature","og_url":"https:\/\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\/en\/project\/literary-benches\/literary-bench-12-km-bank-sint-jacobiparochie\/","og_site_name":"Leeuwarden City of Literature","article_modified_time":"2025-12-05T13:35:43+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DS160425JE5106.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\/en\/project\/literary-benches\/literary-bench-12-km-bank-sint-jacobiparochie\/","url":"https:\/\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\/en\/project\/literary-benches\/literary-bench-12-km-bank-sint-jacobiparochie\/","name":"Literary bench {12 km bank} | Sint Jacobiparochie - Leeuwarden City of Literature","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\/fy\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\/en\/project\/literary-benches\/literary-bench-12-km-bank-sint-jacobiparochie\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\/en\/project\/literary-benches\/literary-bench-12-km-bank-sint-jacobiparochie\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DS160425JE5106.jpg","datePublished":"2025-04-16T07:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-12-05T13:35:43+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\/en\/project\/literary-benches\/literary-bench-12-km-bank-sint-jacobiparochie\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\/en\/project\/literary-benches\/literary-bench-12-km-bank-sint-jacobiparochie\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\/en\/project\/literary-benches\/literary-bench-12-km-bank-sint-jacobiparochie\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DS160425JE5106.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DS160425JE5106.jpg","width":8256,"height":5504,"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. Sannemaj Betten \/ Sint Jabik"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\/en\/project\/literary-benches\/literary-bench-12-km-bank-sint-jacobiparochie\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Projecten","item":"https:\/\/www.leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\/project\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Literary benches","item":"https:\/\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\/en\/project\/literary-benches\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Literary bench {12 km bank} | Sint Jacobiparochie"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\/fy\/#website","url":"https:\/\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\/fy\/","name":"Leeuwarden City of Literature","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\/fy\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project\/17628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/project"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project\/17628\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22194,"href":"https:\/\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project\/17628\/revisions\/22194"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project\/17536"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17741"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"project_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project_type?post=17628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}